ABSTRACT
The traditional, uncritical commentator views the public service as the glue that prevents the political system from coming unstuck. The harshest critics contend that the Nigerian public bureaucracy is a "parasitic class" that exploits the wealth of the nation and the labor of its dispossessed masses in alliance with and for the principal benefit of foreign capitalist interests. Many public servants in Nigeria have effectively employed the power of the state to establish a strong position for themselves in the private sector and, thereby, to consolidate their central strategic location within the domestic bourgeoisie. The main problem is that the object requiring reform constitutes the subject which is typically relied upon to undertake the reform. The public sector reform tactic, which has been favored by donor agencies pushing structural adjustment, emphasizes changes in the size, functions, and efficiency of the national bureaucracy. The demand by donors for public service staff cutbacks also must be treated cautiously.
