Most Civil Servants Lack Needed Skills, Says FG
The Federal Government has revealed that the real issue with the civil service is not the number of workers, but a widespread lack of relevant skills and poor utilisation of available talent.
The Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof. Tunji Olaopa, disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday at the commission’s first-ever strategic plan unveiling, during a three-day retreat held from June 30 to July 2, 2025.
Olaopa said Nigeria has a pool of workers, majority of whose skills are no longer required and are therefore redundant.
He said, “If you benchmark the workforce of the federal civil service against other countries, you’ll find that our workforce is actually small.
“But the problem is we have a huge number of staff, most of whom lack the requisite skills to function, while the skills that the system needs are scarce.”
To address this, Olaopa said the commission is introducing a performance management system, reskilling and redeploying underutilised personnel, and encouraging voluntary exits with incentives.
“It’s about putting the right people in the right roles and building a civil service that supports national priorities,” he added.
He said this is to overhaul the commission’s bureaucracy to align with the country’s economic ambition of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
The plan, which covers the period from 2025 to 2029, is expected to reposition the federal civil service as a key enabler of national development.
Olaopa said, “The civil service must no longer be seen as a stifler of economic growth.
“We are reengineering the Federal Civil Service Commission to be performance-driven, reform-oriented, and aligned with the President’s vision of making Nigeria a $1 trillion economy by 2030.”
He noted that this shift follows a direct charge from President Bola Tinubu during the inauguration of the current commission on December 13, 2023.
According to him, the President had urged the body to “completely facilitate the transformation, reorientation, and digitisation of the federal bureaucracy to enable, not stifle growth and enhance the private sector in the development of the Nigerian economy.”
To meet this mandate, he said the commission has developed a strategic roadmap anchored on merit, accountability, and digital efficiency.
“The public sector must be an engine of national growth, not a deadweight.
“Our strategic plan is structured to make that happen by attracting the best minds, deploying technology in recruitment and promotion, and linking advancement to measurable outcomes,” he stated.
Olaopa noted that one of the key highlights of the plan is the institutionalisation of transparent, merit-based recruitment processes.
“This is about eliminating patronage and putting merit at the heart of everything.
“We’ve already begun implementing these reforms. For the first time, vacancies were advertised publicly, and applications were processed online.
“We want to attract the brightest Nigerians into the civil service,” he said.
He also called for a renewed pledge to institutionalise performance, reward excellence, and ensure accountability across ministries, departments, and agencies.
Olaopa said, “We are laying the foundation for a civil service that is future-ready and fit for purpose.
“Our mandate is clear: to create a service that fuels the economy, not frustrates it.
“The $1 trillion goal is not a political slogan, it’s a strategic target we are now helping to build toward.”
