Patronage Versus Merit: A Systemic Review of Recruitment Dynamics in the Nigerian Public Service

John E. Bassey & Edem E. Edemidiong

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Abstract

A contest for superiority between patronage and merit has ensued in the recruitment process of the Nigerian public service in recent time. This battle for supremacy arises from the fact that political connectedness, ethnic fantasy, religious identity, party affiliation and other primordial considerations have become the criteria for accessing employment into the Nigerian public service. The objective of this paper is to examine the interplay, conflict and superiority challenge between patronage and merit in employment into the public sector. Data for the study was gotten from secondary sources and the framework of analysis adopted was the capture theory. The findings of the paper revealed that the capture instincts of the political elites whereby governance position is seen as an extension of their private estate and the intense pressure on them to reward supporters, associates and party loyalists gave credence to the practice of patronage in recruitment. The study concluded that the culture of emphasizing patronage and quota at the detriment of merit has caused primordial considerations to outshine merit in the recruitment matrix of the public service, with the implication that effective, qualitative, efficient service delivery and productivity has become a mirage in the Nigerian public service. From the foregoing, the paper recommended that meritocracy should be fostered in the process of recruitment into the public service and that the practice of substituting recruitment with replacement should be stopped by legislation by the national and state assemblies.

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