In an extensive interview with BusinessDay NG, published on September 7, 2026, Professor Franca Ovadje, the Founder and Executive Director of Danne Institute for Research, articulated Nigeria’s urgent need for a comprehensive public sector overhaul. Drawing on her expertise and her new book, “Leading and Sustaining Change in the Public Sector,” Professor Ovadje stressed that without profound transformation and resolute political will, Nigeria’s ambitions for sustained economic growth and foreign investment will remain out of reach.
Her insights, rooted in extensive research, underscore a fundamental truth about Nigeria’s development. She points to the public sector, which once attracted the nation’s brightest minds, as now posing a significant impediment to progress. Building a thriving economy, she argues, depends directly on a revitalised and accountable civil service.
These detailed perspectives from BusinessDay align with general remarks Professor Ovadje also made during a virtual interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on June 19, 2024. In that discussion, Professor Ovadje, a Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management at Lagos Business School (LBS), emphasised the public sector’s efficiency and its direct impact on the private sector’s ability to thrive. She noted its current state as “not encouraging” due to “poor service delivery, corruption, and inefficiency.”
Understanding the Need for Public Sector Overhaul
Professor Ovadje views the public sector as the foundational engine for any nation’s economic advancement. Its proper functioning creates a conducive environment, allowing the private sector to innovate and grow. An efficient civil service clears bottlenecks and fosters prosperity.
However, Nigeria’s public sector often falls short of this ideal, she argues in the BusinessDay interview. Instead of facilitating progress, it has become a “roadblock” for businesses and for the flourishing of lives. This reversal impacts the nation’s ability to attract investment and foster job creation.
Historically, Nigeria’s civil service was a respected institution, attracting top talent in the 1960s and 1970s. During those decades, being a civil servant was a coveted career path for educated citizens. This robust system provided stability, even through the complexities of its early years, as recounted by Philip Asiodu.
Asiodu, a prominent civil servant of that era, noted how leaders like General Yakubu Gowon empowered civil servants to perform their duties with competence. The public sector at that time acted as a true facilitator, aiding the growth of emerging sectors such as telecommunications and banking through strategic liberalisation efforts.
Beyond Leaders: Building Enduring Institutions
Professor Ovadje’s book, “Leading and Sustaining Change in the Public Sector,” explores the experiences of 12 agents who successfully navigated Nigeria’s public service. Her work extends beyond merely diagnosing problems; it seeks to understand how reforms can outlast the tenures of individual leaders. She asserts that “institution-building” is fundamental to achieving lasting change.
She observed that many well-intentioned individuals enter public service to contribute, but their reputations often suffer. They confront a system resistant to change, where progress relies more on a strong leader than on established structures. This pattern of temporary reform followed by eventual reversal is what her research aims to disrupt.
Lessons from Obasanjo’s Reform Era
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s second term, from 2003 to 2007, provides a compelling case study in reform-driven leadership. Professor Ovadje interviewed President Obasanjo for her book, highlighting his personal commitment as crucial to empowering technocrats like Dora Akunyili, Bode Augusto, Oby Ezekwesili, and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Obasanjo offered essential backing, enabling these individuals to implement significant changes without excessive political interference. Bode Augusto recalled receiving reassurance directly from the presidency when challenges arose. This high-level support allowed figures like Dora Akunyili to enforce regulations rigorously, even against powerful interests, such as shutting down a bakery belonging to the wife of a former military ruler.
Strategies for Sustainable Change
True sustainability, Professor Ovadje contends, stems from deliberately implementing mechanisms that survive beyond individual leadership. She highlights strategies reformers adopted, even if not universally applied. Staff development, for example, builds internal capacity, ensuring expertise remains within the institution.
Osita Chidoka, in his public service tenure, pursued ISO 9001 certification to document and certify processes. Such measures make it harder for subsequent leaders to dismantle established procedures. While political appointments complicate succession planning in the public sector, building internal systems can still foster continuity and institutional resilience against leadership changes.
The Imperative of Political Will
Professor Ovadje insists that political will is not merely an advantageous quality; it is the cornerstone of any successful public sector reform. Without leaders who are “insanely committed,” as Peter Obi described his approach in Anambra State, even the most meticulously crafted strategies will falter. This commitment involves consistent follow-up, diligent monitoring, and decisive implementation.
She points to instances where political backing empowered reformers to enact challenging decisions, like the demolition of an illegal structure built on a drainage in Abuja by a PDP chairman. Such actions necessitate leaders who not only endorse change but actively protect those implementing it from undue pressure. This fosters an environment where accountability can genuinely take hold.
The absence of this political commitment often results in superficial or short-lived reform efforts. Committees may produce reports with actionable recommendations, but these frequently accumulate dust due to a genuine lack of intent to implement them comprehensively. This recurring pattern breeds cynicism and perpetuates the belief that genuine change is unattainable.
Education, Health, and a New Incentive Structure
Looking ahead, Professor Ovadje, in her BusinessDay interview, identifies education and health as two critical areas demanding immediate attention. These sectors are fundamental to human capital development, which underpins any nation’s long-term economic prospects. She questions Nigeria’s outdated curriculum and the ongoing exodus of medical professionals, advocating for significant investment and comprehensive reform.
Beyond specific sectors, the entire civil service requires a cultural transformation. The values of integrity and professionalism that once characterised Nigerian public service need to be reignited. In the 1960s and 1970s, the “value of your name” motivated public servants. Restoring such an ethical framework, she argues, is paramount.
Ovadje champions rebuilding an incentive system that rewards competence and performance, moving beyond loyalty or patronage. This shift would attract new talent and motivate existing public servants to prioritise service delivery over personal gain. It aims to create a system where ethical conduct is rewarded and inefficiency is penalised, fundamentally altering the operating environment for civil servants.
A Call for Transformative Action
Professor Ovadje’s message resonates deeply within a nation confronting economic challenges. She expressed hope in young Nigerian entrepreneurs, including those at a fintech company with 870 employees who are thinking globally, as mentioned in the BusinessDay interview. Yet, these private sector engines, she cautions, are often hampered by systemic public sector inefficiencies.
Roadblocks such as inadequate infrastructure and complex tax regimes disproportionately affect small businesses, which represent the largest employers of labor. Addressing these systemic issues requires more than just good intentions; it demands an institutional transformation that makes it difficult for individuals to undermine established processes.
The journey from temporary fixes to sustainable change involves a multi-pronged approach: robust institutions, thorough documentation, continuous staff development, and unwavering political support. Professor Ovadje’s work, a “contribution to nation-building,” seeks to equip current and future reformers with the knowledge to build a public sector that truly serves its citizens. It’s about creating a Nigeria that can attract its diaspora and flourish for generations to come, moving past the cycles of fleeting reforms to embed lasting progress.
