ABSTRACT
Nigeria became an independent nation on October 1st, 1960. Since this date the expanding role of the government has required the citizens of the nation to demand more services from the government. At independent, the civil service inherited the Westminster model from Britain, but over the past forty years it has metamorphosed into being a Nigerian oriented civil service. The current civil service in Nigeria continues to remain competent in the discharge of routine services, however, the attitudes of public servants and their operational capabilities are not adequate. Civil servants in Nigeria have distance themselves from the act of governance by refusing to accept responsibility, by share lack of competence to generate policies, innovative ideas and by being lazy couple with the notion that they have secured jobs. Nosakhare Isekhure (1998) contends those government officials during the military regime in Nigeria; tacitly colluded with soldiers to destroy credibility and accountability at all cost. Jide Balogun and Gelase Mutahaba (1999) pointed that the civil service in Africa (especially Nigeria) has been involved in various forms of ethical violation and buccaneering that have resulted in the distortion of internal rules and procedures. They further describe this notion as a localized form of corruption, one that takes place within the organization, as against other forms involving the external clients of the organization.
