Abstract
This article addresses the
most important yet least investigated issues in public Administration: values
and Ethics. What difference does values and ethics make in the life and
behavior of men and women in pursuit of public service careers in Nigeria?
Indeed, most of the reported
and general backwardness of our
public service institutions are largely
attributed to lack of proper values and ethical behaviour required to generate
the desired change. The essence of this is
to investigate the roles which values and administrative ethics play in Public
Administration Nigeria, the evolution of ethical consideration in public
Administration and what have you. Stated differently does values and ethics
pedagogy matter? And if it does, what are the key variables are influences that
are brought to bear on the ethical outlooks and behavior of public
administration practitioners in pursuit of public service career in this
country. Conversely, what factors of influences diminish the desired outcomes
of values and ethics in Nigeria? It was discovered that presently there are
institutional mechanisms in place to help enforce values and ethical behaviours
in Nigerian Public Administration.
We evaluated these
institutions and appreciated their efforts so far, and hope that they will
survive and continue to doggedly fight to enthrone enviable values and ethical
behaviours as obtains in advanced democracies of Europe and America.
Key
Words: VALUES, ETHICS,
AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION.
INTRODUCTION
The
concept of values and ethics has been a subject of serious scholarship in
recent times and has gained popularity and great interest to public administration
practitioners and governments of countries of civilized world. before this
awareness, little attention was paid to administrative values and ethics. The reason
for this lack of interest by Public Administrationists is not far-fetched.
To
Henry (1995) quoted by Ezean (2006) posited that prior to the abandonment of politics/administration
dichotomy and the principles of administration, the public administrator needed
morality no more than a hotel clerk carrying out his or her daily duties. After
all, of what use was morality to a person who did no more than execute the will
of the state according to certain scientific principles?
Provided
that public administrators accomplished their given tasks effectively and economically,
they were by definition, moral in the sense that they were responsible. Based
on the foregoing, therefore, there is increasing interest and belief on the values
and ethics in public administration.
In
developing countries like Nigeria, that faces ethical crisis, there is urgent need
for its institutionalization in our public service. That is why Rasheed (1995)
also cited by Ezeaiai (2006) postulated that lack of accountability, unethical behavior
and corrupt practices have become so pervasive, and even institutionalization norms
of behavior in Africa may Nigeria to the extent that one may conveniently speak
of a crisis of ethics in African public
services.
In Public Administration, questions of morality
and ethics became captives of the Wilson legacy of neutral competency which found
expression in the dominant operating philosophy of public mangers to get the
job done. Getting the job done right meant for all practical purposes doing
what was right or ethical. Professionals in the prostrate”, tirelessly pursued
the holy trilogy of efficiency, economy and effectiveness stillman,
References
BBC
English Dictionary, Harper Collins publishers, 1992, in association with
Africana – FEP publishers.
Chandler,
R.C (1983). “The Problem of Moral Reasoning in American Public Administration:
The case for a code of Ethics”, Public Administration Review, vol. 43,
No. 1.
Ezeani,
(2006). The Nigerian civil Service and National Development since independence:
An Appraisal. African Journal of political and Administrative studies, Vol. 2,
No.1.
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