university of nigeria o_2001_01… · university of nigeria research publications author onoriode,...

University of Nigeria Research Publications

Aut

hor

ONORIODE, Endurance O.

PG/MPA/99/OW/0146

Title

National Minimum Wage and Productivity in the

Nigerian Civil Service: A Case Study of Post Primary School Teachers in Delta State

Facu

lty

Social Sciences

Dep

artm

ent

Public Administration

Dat

e

October, 2001

Sign

atur

e

' i NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE AND PRODUCTIVITY

I N THE NIGERIAN CIVIL SERVICE:

A Case Study Of Post-Primary School Teachers

I n Delta State

ENDURANCE 0. ONORIODE (MPA/99/0 W/Ol46)

SUBDEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND

LOCAL GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

NSUKKA.

OCTOBER, 2001

I

TITLE PAGE

NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE AND PRODUCTlVlT

CIVIL SERVICE: A CASE STUDY OF POST-PRI

TEACHERS IN DELTA STATE.

BY

Y IN THE NIGERIAN

MARY SCHOOL

ENDURANCE 0. ONORIODE MPA/99/OW/Ol46

A RESEARCH PROJECT

SUBMIllED TO THE SUB-DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND

LOCAL GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA, IN PARTIAL

FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (MPA)

OCTOBER 2001

I I

CERTIFICATION PAGE

This is to certify that work for the Project:

NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE AND PRODUCTIVITY IN THE NIGERIAN CIVIL

SERVICE:

A Case Study Of Post-Primary School Teachers In Delta State

Was carried out under my supervision

BY

Endurance 0. Onoriode

(MPAl99lO W10 146)

, - I his is to approvc thc project:

NA'I'IONAL MINIMUM WAGE AND I'RODUCI'IVITY IN '1'1 IE NIGIXIAN CIVII.,

S ERV ICE:

A Case Study or Post-Primary School 'fenchers 111 Delta Stale

L ~ e a d of Deparlmncnt

~eanhff Faculty

IV

DEDICATION

I dedicate this project to the loving memory of my beloved late fhther, Pa Lawrence

Atiyo Arubi, who not only passed on brain and beauty to his children, but also gave them the

lifetime legacy of a very sound basic education and a strong desire to excel in all we do.

Papa, thank you!

First and foremost, I want to acknowledge the contributions of my Project

Supervisor, Dr.N. Elekwa, who monitored the project so closely from start to finish,

making suggestions and corrections where necessary so that I did not waste precious

time writing out of point. Thank you, Sir.

I wish to recognise the assistance of the Commissioner for Education (Delta

State), Chief lghoyota Amori, for promptly granting me approval to gather information

from the departments and agencies under him. I do not forget the co-operation of staff

of the Office of the Director of Exams and Records in furnishing me with details of

JSSCE Results needed for this work, particularly Mrs. Young and Mr. Odebili.

I thank Mr. Philip I. Awhana, Administrative Officer in the Directorate of

Establishment and Pension, for information and materials given me on the Civil

service in ~ e l t a State.

All principals and staff of the various secondary schools used for the

administration of the questionnaires are not left out: Otu-Jeremi Grammar School,

Owian Secondary School; Obiaruku Grammar School; Boys' Secondary School,

Obiaruku; Our Lady's Model High School; Army Day Secondary School; Urhobo

College, Effurun; St. Patrick's Boys' School, Asaba; Asaba Girls' Model School,

Asaba; Uwangue Secondary School, Warri; Yonwunre Secondary School, Warri; Essi

College, Warri; Zik Grammar School, Sapele,to mention just a few. I thank you all so

very much.

Also acknowledged here is my employer, Terino Surveys Ltd, for allowing me

to start the course and completing it in spite of the attendant absences from work

resulting thereof. The support of my colleagues cannot be quantified, particularly our

Secretary, Gideon Ikpe, who tirelessly helped in the typing and re-typing of my various

assignments and term papers and our Accountant, Julius Etebele for holding the fort

whenever I am away. I say thanks to you all.

I hereby acknowledge the indefatigable support of my husband, Jude Onoriode

throughout the programme. Thank you, My Love, for your moral and financial support.

I shall not fail to recall the encouragement of other members of my family, particularly

John and Joyce Edun & Emma and Favour Arubi. I cannot forget the massive support

from the Oloke family: Engr.and Mrs John Oloke, Shalom, Yohanan, Obehi, Osose,

and, of course, Roseline. Thank you for keeping me company on occasions too

numerous to recall.

And most gratefully, I acknowledge the sustaining power and grace of my Lord

God, Jehovah, whose banner over me is Love, for providing all my needs (spiritual and

material) throughout the programme according to his riches in glory. Thank you, Lord!

Endurance Onoriode.

This study is an empirical investigation in Post-primary schools in Delta State,

which set out to collate and appraise the views of teachers in the state on the influence

of the national minimum wage on their productivity. The study was motivated by the

observed low productivity among Civil Servants in Nigeria that has grossly affected

national productivity too.

The study posed some research questions as four hypotheses were postulated.

The data collected were analysed statistically by means of percentages, rank order

and Spearman's Rank Order Correlation (r').

Some of the major findings of the study were that an almost perfect positive

degree of correlation exists between wage and productivity and that, workers in the

public service needed more than just money to maintain a high productivity level

because paying them high wages alone is not enough.

Major suggestions for future improvement include ensuring that minimum wage

is reviewed constantly to reflect the realities of the times and the devising of a system

of measurement of workers' productivity in the public sector as is being done in the

private sector.

3.2 An Overview of Post-Primary Schools in Delta State, Nigeria. 62 3.3 Results and Findings 72

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 Implications of Results and Findings.

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 Summary, Recommendations and Conclusion.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDIX I - Questionnaire Administered to Teachers

APPENDIX Il- Application to Hon. Commissioner For Edu cati

APPENDIX Ill- Lists of Schools Studied for 1997,1998 & 2000 110

APPENDIX IV- Summary of State Performance for 1997,1998 & 2000 113

APPENDIX V - State Comprehensive Reports for each LGA. 114

APPENDIX VI- List of Establishments in the Public Service of Delta State 117

APPENDIX VII-Summary of Responses to Questionnaire in Senatorial Districts 1 19

APPENDIX VllC List of LGAs where Questionnaires were Administered. 120

IX

3.2 An Overview of Post-Primary Schools in Delta State, Nigeria. 3.3 Results and Findings

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 Implications of Results and Findings.

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 Summary, Recommendations and Conclusion.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDIX I - Questionnaire Administered to Teachers

APPENDIX Il- Application to Hon. Commissioner For Educati

APPENDIX III- Lists of Schools Studied for 1997,1998 & 2000

APPENDIX IV- Summary of State Performance for 1997.1 998 & 2000

APPENDIX V - State Comprehensive Reports for each LGA.

u APPENDIX VI- List of Establishments in the Public Service of Delta State

APPENDIX VII-Summary of Responses to Questionnaire in Senatorial Districts 119

APPENDIX VIII- List of LGAs where Questionnaires were Administered. 120

LIST OF TABLES TABLES

Table 1 .

Table 2.

Table 3.

Table 4.

Table 5.

Table 6.

Table 7.

Table 8.

Table 9.

Table 10.

Table 1 1.

Table 12.

Table 13.

Table 14.

Table 15.

Responses to Question 1 on Questionnaire















PAGE

76

78

79

80

80

81

82

84

85

85

86

87

88

88

89

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1 . I BACKGROUND TO THE PROBLEM

The task of maintaining high productivity in an economy undergoing or

experiencing arbitrarylconstant wage review is a Herculean one. The

intervening role of the government in performing this Herculean task is crucial,

given the fact that the fixing of national minimum wage is a government-

.- imposed and directed labour welfare programme, even where there is a

seeming appearance of negotiation among stakeholders.

In September 1998, the Abdulsalami administration declared a National

Minimum Wage of N3, 500.00 per month, aimed at alleviating the sufferings of

workers. While some states and parastatals were yet to commence payment

due to claims of inability to pay, the Obasanjo administration on May 1st 2000

announced a new National Minimum Wage of N7,500.00 for Federal Civil

Servants and N5,500.00 for those of States, a step that threw almost all sectors

of the economy into a state of heightened industrial disharmonyldispute

between workers and employers of labour as many state governments bluntly

refused to be saddled with a huge wage bill without a corresponding asset

base. This is usually the pattern that develops with every announcement of

wage increase in national minimum wage, and so it is usually met with

scepticism on the part of workers. For instance, the civilian government elected

in 1979 increased the monthly minimum wage from sixty naira to one hundred

naira in 1980, even though the Nigerian Labour Congress demanded three

hundred naira. After a partially successful general strike in May 1981, the

government conceded another 8125, more than doubling the pre-1980 level

(Otobo, 1981 ; van Hear, 1988). Union reports speak of a sharp reduction in

employment in nearly all companies; a few closed down immediately after

negotiations on the National Minimum Wage were concluded or threatened to

do so (Textile Workers Union Zonal Reports, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, 1982)'.

Others retrenched, with many shedding more than half of their workforce over a

period of two to three years. While the reasons were many, the wage hike

exacerbated an already problematic situation of low productivity in the Public

Sector.

Productivity is a key indicator of economic progress of an industry in

particular and the economy in general. It is generally related to the real income

of workers and with the standard of living of the populace. Its measurement

therefore is a useful tool in economic forecasting.

The major determinants of productivity are quantities and qualities of the

resources used: state of technology available' for use; the degree of

conduciveness of the work environment to attain the output including the

system of rewards to the owners of the resources; the extent to which initiatives

and ingenuity are employed or suppressed, as well as the political, social and

economic environment. However, labour is generally the largest cost element in

many industries, consequently, the approach in such industries is based

essentially on output per man-hour measures. The definition of productivity in

such cases is narrowed down to real output per hour of work, that is, the

effectiveness with which we use the productive resources of labour. Thus an

increase in output achieved by raising the output per hour of work does more

good than an increase in output achieved by working more hours. This

approach that focuses on the productive capacities of individuals is useful,

provided the limitations are recognised. This is particularly important in our own

.. circumstances in Nigeria. We must recognise the factors which inhibit

productivity in our own case because the performance of an individual at work

is a function of certain factors, including his knowledge, skills, motivation,

attitudes and certain aspects of the environmental situation which in turn

include the nature of the job, rewards associated with his performance and the

leadership provided for him. All these factors bear upon him, and depending on

the direction, they may enhance or inhibit productivity.

There is no gainsaying the fact that wages must bear some relationship

to productivity; how this relationship affects workers productivity is the crux of

this research.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The main purpose of wage increment is to improve workers' standard of

living and to encourage higher productivity through greater commitment to one's

job. Unfortunately, this does not seem to apply to civil servants in Nigeria, as

any announcement in wage increment is greeted with groans and sighs as

workers now know, from experience, that either inflation will quickly steal the

benefits of the wage increase from them or state governments would refuse to

pay. Yet workers must earn a decent wage if they must satisfy their basic

human needs as highlighted by Abraham Maslow in his hierarchy of human

needs.

The problem now is that available facts show that in spite of improved

national minimum wage in the country, the Nigerian Civil Service is stilled

dogged by low productivity in practically every sector of the economy.

Conversely, the Private Sector seems to have thrived in similar areas

considered unprofitable when run by government. Why is this so?

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The aims of the study are:

P To find out whether there is any relationship between National Minimum

Wage and Productivity among the Nigerian Civil Servants, particularly post-

primary school teachers in Delta State;

)- To ascertain the extent of relationship;

P To establish other variables that influence productivity; and,

). To proffer suggestions to improve workers' output or productivity in Public

Agencies.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is hoped that the findings of this research study will help to settle the

endless debates on whether wage increase is really the solution to low

productivity among civil servants in Nigeria. The conclusion(s) drawn in this

study should help administrators in finding lasting solutions in motivating

workers in order to improve their productivity. The study might also signify the

beginning of the solution to solving the problem of productivity measurement

that has defied solutions in the past when it comes to measuring services.

1.5 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The study covers Civil Servants in Nigeria in general and teachers in

post-primary schools in Delta State in particular. However, only teachers in

public secondary schools were covered. And though Delta State is about a

decade old, only the results of three years (1997,1998 and 2000) were studied

because these three years represent three different national minimum wage

structures in the country.

The main limitation is the difficulty that concerns the question of

measurement. Statistical measurement of productivity of labour services (such

as teaching) is difficult partly because in the productivity of labour, there are

contributions of capital. Thus, the productivity of labour is usually measured in

terms of output and output is usually measured in physical or real terms, that is,

work done. Work done can be translated as amount of work added when you

are talking of physical commodity. The result of that activity and not the activity

of the worker is what is being looked at in the measurement of productivity. In

other words, while activity is measured in man-hour worked, the output or end-

result of that activity is what is measured in productivity.

In the measurement of services rendered, however (such as teaching), it

is difficult to measure productivity without tying it to the receiver of the service

being rendered. For instance, in measuring teachers' productivity, should one

use the fact that a teacher taught everything in the syllabus as a measure of his

productive level? Or should one use regular attendance at school (work place)

to measure teachers' performance? The problem of how to measure teachers'

productivity was a real source of limitation to the researcher.

In this study, therefore, the researcher has chosen to use students'

performance at the Junior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (JSSCE)

as the basis for assessing the productivity level of teachers in Delta State since

the overall purpose of all the activities of teachers in post-primary schools is to

ensure that students are equipped adequately for useful living in the society and

equally prepare them for tertiary education. Only a good performance in the

approved examinations will prove the achievement of this overall aim. An

average or above average performance on the part of students would tend to

prove the productiveness of teachers, and anything less would prove their poor

level of productivity. In other words, this measurement shall determine whether

teachers' productivity has any impact on students' performance. As to whether

students' performance is the true measurement of teachers' productivity or not

remains to be proven beyond reasonable doubt.

Another limitation of the study is the difficulty experienced in gathering of

data, particularly data to do with past JSSCE results of schools to facilitate the

computation of average performance of students for the period covered.

Moreover, there has been little research into minimum wage issues in

Nigeria and so the existing literature is meagre. Accordingly, most of the

information on which this study is based had to be drawn together from a

,, variety of secondary sources, especially from reports of the International Labour

Organisation.

Also, due to limitations of financial, material and time resources, the

sample used was small in relation to the entire population. For instance, in

spite of the numerous schools available in the State, only were selected for

study. Besides, the questionnaires could not be taken to respondents in the

riverine areas of the State for logistics reason, although some rural areas were

covered.

REFERENCE

1) Gunilla, A. & Bjorn, B. (1996), BARGAINING FOR SURVIVAL: Unionized Workers in the Nigerian Textile Industry (Discussion Paper 78), France: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), (October), p.5.

CHAPTER TWO

RESEARCHPROCEDURE

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1.1 The Evolution and Purpose of Minimum Wage Fixing

While precursors go back to the Hammurabi Code, 2000 B.C., the

practice of minimum wage regulation is generally considered to have first

developed in New Zealand and Australia around the turn of the century (Starr:

1981)' Initially it was used in these two countries as part of the procedure for

the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes. Under the New Zealand

Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act of 1894, the Court of Arbitration was

empowered to settle industrial disputes by issuing awards fixing minimum

wages that could be made binding for all workers in the industry in the district

where the dispute had taken place. Soon afterwards the system of fixing

minimum wages through arbitration awards spread to a number of Australian

jurisdictions. At about the same time there also were experiments with using

minimum wages regulation to eliminate "sweating" - that is, the payment of

exceptionally low wages. The most important development in this regard was

the adoption in 1896 by the Australian state of Victoria of legislation establishing

a system of wages boards. Originally only six trades were covered but the

application of the law was gradually extended. By 191 1 all the states except

Western Australia had systems of wages boards. Protection against unduly low

wages in New Zealand and Australia also took the form of direct legislative

action. Thus minimum wages were fixed in New Zealand for unorganised

factory workers by the Employment of Boys and Girls without Payment

Prevention Act of 1899 and for shop assistants by the Shops and Offices Act of

1904. Similar legislation was also introduced in a number of Australian States.

Other countries soon followed suit in providing protection against unduly

low wages, with the difference, however, that the protection was confined in

most cases to particular categories of workers considered to be especially

vulnerable. After a careful study of the Australian systems the British

Parliament adopted minimum wage legislation in 1909 aimed at abolishing

"sweating". Originally only four industries were covered. With the Trade

Boards Act of 1918 the purpose of minimum wage fixing was broadened

somewhat and by the end of 1926 minimum wages were applicable to about 40

trades, employing approximately 1% million workers. Minimum wage fixing

through a series of committees was also provided for by the Coal Mines

(minimum wage) Act, 191 2, and the Agricultural Wages (Regulation) Act, 1924.

During these early days minimum wage fixing among continental

European countries, where it existed at all, was very limited in scope, being

basically confined to the setting of minimum wages for home workers. France

(1 91 5), Norway (1 91 8), Austria (1 91 8), Czechoslovakia (1 91 9), Germany

(1923), Spain (1926) and Belgium (1934) adopted this kind of legislation. In the

i case of Hungary it was agricultural workers who were singled out for protection I

of their wages by special legislation. Among these countries there were no

instances of departure from systems with very limited coverage until after the

end of the Second World War.

The first minimum wage laws introduced in the United States were

different in that the vulnerable categories of workers singled out for protection

were female and minors. In 1912 and 191 3 mine states adopted such minimum

wage laws, and by the end of 1923 the number had grown to 17. At this point

further development was temporarily checked through constitutional challenges

,. in the courts. A parallel pattern of minimum wage regulation occurred in

Canada. Between 1917 and 1920 seven out of the nine provinces had passed

minimum wage laws, most of which were restricted in scope to females.

Early experiments with minimum wage regulation were also carried out in

a number of developing countries. As elsewhere, the laws were for the most

part limited to certain categories of workers judged particularly vulnerable.

Thus in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) the minimum wages (Indian Labour) Ordinance

of 1927 was passed in order to regulate the wages of Indian Workers employed

on plantations. In Africa, a number of colonies introduced minimum wages

soon after the First World War in order to prevent abuses in the hiring of

indigenous workers under forced labour arrangements (Starr: 1981).~ Thus in

the Belgian Congo decrees issued in 1922 permitted provincial governors to fix

minimum wages in their territories. The British Colonial Office commended the

minimum wage-fixing Machinery Convention, 1928, to the governments of the

overseas territories and urged the adoption of simple legislation in every colony

empowering the government to intervene in any case where illiterate workers

were receiving unduly low wages. During the 1930s a number of minimum

wage ordinances, along with other forms of protective legislation, were issued in

British colonies in Africa as well as in the Caribbean (Starr: 1981)~

Early interest in minimum wage regulation was particularly apparent in

Latin America. In some cases it led to the establishment of special machinery

for particularly vulnerable categories of workers, as in Argentina, where the

Home Work Act adopted in 1918 was in line with similar legislation then being

introduced in Europe. More often in this early period, minimum wages were

fixed through ad hoc legislative measures. A particularly significant

development was the inclusion of a reference to minimum wages in the Federal

Constitution of Mexico adopted in 1917. Article 123, VI, of that instrument

states that -

"The minimum wage to be received by a worker shall be that

which is considered sufficient, according to the conditions of

each region, to satisfy the normal needs of his living, education

and honest pleasures, considering him as the head of a family

(Starr: 1 98 1) '"

This constitutional provision, the first of its kind any where to recognise

explicitly the responsibility of the State for ensuring minimum standards of

living, eventually led to the creation in 1937 of a National Minimum Wage Board

for the fixing of general minimum wages applicable to all workers throughout the

country. Legislation introducing similar minimum wage regulation systems with

a broad purpose and scope was introduced in a few other Latin American

countries around the same time (Costa Rica and Cuba 1934) and Brazil (1938)

(ILO: 1954).~ Although there were a few exceptions, in general minimum wage

fixing remained a rarely used and limited instrument of government policy in

both industrialised and developing countries before the Second World War.

Many countries had no legislative provisions and those that did had frequently

restricted their application to only a few categories of workers. Minimum wages

were often fixed through ad hoc measures and machinery established by law

was not used regularly, if at all. Towards the end of the economic depression of

the 1930s and during the Second World War, the situation gradually began to

change. More and more countries began adopting minimum wage legislation

and extending wage protection to larger numbers of workers. While this

development was noticeable in all parts of the world, the pace of the extension

of minimum wage regulation and its forms have differed markedly among

groups of countries.

While legislation on minimum wages was adopted quite early in many

parts of Africa, it was not until the 1940s and 1950s that effective laws and a

number of minimum wage fixing decrees were implemented on a significant

scale. The systems of minimum wage regulation introduced at this time were

heavily influenced by the colonial ties of most of the countries of the continent.

The form of the legislation introduced in the British colonies followed, for the

most part, the pattern of the Trade Boards Act of 1918 and the Wages Council Act of

1945 of the United Kingdom. Wages councils or boards were to be established by the

responsible Minister where he was of the opinion that no adequate machinery existed

for the effective regulation of remuneration or terms of employment of any employees

or class of employees in particular industries, or sometimes simply where he

considered it expedient to do so. The councils or boards, tripartite in form, were

composed mainly of members of the industries concerned. They regulated not only

minimum wage rates for the lowest paid categories but also minimum wage rates for

various occupational classifications, as well as other conditions of employment such

as hours or work, rest periods, holidays and annual leave. In certain territories the

colonial practice differed from that of the United Kingdom in one important respect,

namely that the legislation sometimes gave authority for the fixing of minimum wages

of general application. It was intended that these rates, established on the basis of

iecommendations of regional or national labour advisory boards, would apply chiefly in

certain urban areas where economic activities were diversified.

In most of the British colonies minimum wage regulation, although authorised

by legislation, was not extensively or regularly practised. Minimum wage orders,

where they existed, were usually limited to just a few trades, only a few of general

application were issued. However, after independence the role of minimum wage

fixing changed markedly, particularly in East Africa, where a series of general

minimum wage orders directed to raising the general level of wages were adopted. In

some of the countries (e.g. Kenya and Zambia) there has also been more or less

continued use of the wages council system. The situation in the former colonies of

West Africa evolved quite differently. The fixing of legally enforceable minimum wages

appears to have been abandoned in Nigeria and is carried out only very irregularly in

Ghana. However, in both these countries the lowest wage set for workers in

government employment has to a certain extent acted as a de facto minimum wage,

influencing considerably the setting of wages in the private sector (ILO: 1975).

Minimum wage fixing was introduced at a much earlier date and on a much

more comprehensive scale in the French colonial territories in Africa. In fact, owing to

concern about the employment of indigenous workers, general minimum wage

regulation in the French colonial territories pre-dated that in France. However, it was

not until the adoption of the Labour Code for Overseas Territories in 1952 that the

approach to minimum wage regulation became more or less comprehensive and

standardised throughout the French colonies. The system adopted followed closely

the one that had just been introduced in France. Section 95 of the Code stated that

the chief officer of the territory shall, after receiving the recommendations of the labour

advisory board, issue orders prescribing the wage zones and the general guaranteed

minimum wages for all occupations. A distinction was typically made between the

guaranteed minimum wage for non-agricultural workers and the guaranteed minimum

for agriculture.

Since independence the minimum wages systems introduced by the Code,

although altered in some respects, have continued to be applied. Adjustments to the

rates have been made from time to time and there are only a few cases where the

adjustments have been so delayed that minimum wage regulation appears to have

been abandoned. In most of the countries concerned minimum wages tend to

predominate in wage determination, with many unskilled workers being paid the

minimum rates and only receiving increases when the statutory levels are changed.

Moreover, the rates laid down in collective agreements for semi-skilled and skilled

workers have frequently been linked to the minimum wages (ILO: 1978).'

Although in the territories formerly administered by Belgium, Portugal and Spain

minimum wage regulation did occur at a comparatively early date, its used did not

become well established until long after the Second World War. Thus in the Belgian

Congo, now Democratic Republic of Congo, minimum wage regulation did not become

really effective until 1954, even though enabling laws had been adopted many years

earlier. After independence in 1960 some modifications were made to the system but

the principle of fixing general minimum wages by zone in line with the cost of living has

continued basically to be adhered to.

In the other Africa countries subject to a quite distinctive external influence,

minimum wage regulation also developed in the post-Second World War period. Thus

in Egypt and Libya, although there is no regularly operating minimum wage fixing

machinery, decrees or laws fixing minimum wages have been issued from to time. In

the Sudan generally minimum wages were declared in 1974 for the first time for the

workers in establishments with ten or more workers, in major urban areas or

developed regions.

In summary, almost all countries in Africa have minimum wage fixing

programmes, the notable exceptions being Ethiopia, Nigeria and Somalia (Starr,

1981:l I ) .~ Since the prevalent procedure is to issue general minimum wage orders, a

large majority of African wage earners in organised private employment in urban and

rural areas are covered. Moreover, often minimum wage regulation is regarded as a

key determinant of general wage movements and structures.

The sketch provided above of the evolution of minimum wage fixing in various

regions reveals a number of patterns that might usefully be summarised at this point.

. Undoubtedly the most apparent is the prevalence of minimum wage laws in

developing counties. The number that have not undertaken minimum wage regulation

in some form or another is now quite limited. The rapid extension in the number and

scope of minimum wage laws since the Second World War is characteristic of both

industrialised and developing countries, but it appears that, despite the apparent

obstacles, acceptance of the need for the government to become directly involved in

wage determination has been more widespread and in many cases has taken place

earlier among developing countries.

The reasons for this are multiple and complex. Clearly one important

influencing factor has been the historical ties of many developing countries with

industrialised countries that accepted the principle of minimum wage regulation at a

relatively early date. However, as the experience of other developing countries in

Latin America and elsewhere shows, this constitutes only a partial explanation.

Another noteworthy influence has been the desire in a number of developing countries

to bring about an alignment between their labour legislation and the ILO's standards

on minimum wages. More fundamental causes reside in labour market conditions and

the general orientation of government policies in developing countries. The

desperately low living standards of many wage earners and their vulnerability owing to

illiteracy and the scarcity of jobs have undoubtedly intensified the pressure on

governments in developing countries to take direct remedial action. As a policy

instrument for such direct action minimum wage regulation has had considerable

appeal. While not involving any significant government expenditure it constitutes a

simple and visible means of providing the required protection and achieving the

frequently declared development objectives of social justice and an improved

distribution of income. Moreover, given an apparent need, the governments of many

developing countries have not been reluctant to intervene directly in the labour market

via legislation. In part this reflects legal traditions and political pressures. It also

reflects the comparatively narrow coverage of collective bargaining or other forms of

wage regulation (e.g. arbitration, collective agreement extension, etc.), in most

developing countries. Unlike the situation in industrialised countries, in developing

countries minimum wage fixing has represented one of the few practical alternatives

for establishing minimum standards of protection against the vagaries of the labour

. market.

Another significant pattern is the diversity in the basic purposes and role of

minimum wage fixing. Existing systems range from those whose scope is limited to

just a few workers in selected industries to those covering virtually all workers. The

rates fixed may be limited to a single basic minimum or consist of complex

combinations of industry and occupational minima. Important differences among

minimum wage systems are also to be found in the levels of the rates fixed and the

frequency of their adjustment. In developed market economies these are such that the

wages of only a comparatively small number of workers are affected, even where

coverage is broad. Although meaningful, minimum wage regulation is clearly of

secondary importance compared with collective bargaining or other methods of wage

determination. In contrast, in at least some developing counties minimum wage

adjustments at certain times have affected virtually all workers and have been the

predominant influence on the wages actually paid.

There is also considerable diversity in the ways in which minimum wage

systems are administered in developing countries. In many of them, in line with

normal practice in industrialised countries, minimum wage regulation is carried out on

a more or less regular basis in pursuit of well-defined objectives. But in some this is

clearly not so, Nigeria being one of such countries. The attention paid to minimum

wage fixing is intermittent at best, the initial objectives apparently having been lost

sight of. Where minimum wage rates have actually been fixed, coverage does not

always extend to the target groups of workers or the rates have been allowed to

become so out of date that they have ceased to provide meaningful protection. In

some instances minimum wage regulation is the result of ad hoc government action

rather than being carried out by machinery established for the purpose. Elsewhere

certain approaches to minimum wage regulation, after being followed for a time, have

been abandoned or radically altered.

These patterns of irregular implementation appear to reflect in large measure

the intense controversy and uncertainty surrounding minimum wage fixing in many

developing countries. Frequent doubts about the extent to which this type of

government intervention is effective in achieving various objectives have made it

difficult to reach broad agreement on the appropriate role for minimum wage fixing

within the national system of wage determination.

.. On its part, finding ways to ensure the payment of decent wages has been a

fundamental concern of the lnternational Labour Organisation (ILO) since its

foundation. The original Constitution of the Organisation, established in 1919, listed

"the provision of an adequate living wage" among the improvements in conditions of

labour urgently required to combat social unrest and promote peace. It specified as an

objective for member States "the payment to the employed of a wage adequate to

maintain a reasonable standard of life as this is understood in their time and country".

The 1944 Philadelphia Declaration concerning the Aims and Purposes of the

lnternational Organisation affirmed that "poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to

prosperity everywhere" and advocated world programmes that will achieve "a

minimum living wage to all employed and in need of such protection".

In order to encourage the extension of minimum wage protection to as many

workers as possible, the lnternational Labour Organisation adopted the Minimum

Wage Fixing Convention (No.131) in its Conference in 1970, which requires the

establishment of minimum wage systems covering virtually all workers (Starr, 1981:

6).9

Similarly, ILO stated in its Recommendation No. 135 (1970) that the purpose of

minimum wage fixing with special reference to developing countries should be thus:

1. Minimum wage fixing should constitute one element in a policy designed

to overcome poverty and to ensure the satisfaction of the needs of all

workers and their families.

2. The fundamental purpose of minimum wage fixing should be to give

wage earners necessary social protection as regards minimum

permissible levels of wages.

2.1.2. CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING THE LEVEL OF MINIMUM WAGES

Still under Recommendation 135 (1970), the Conference recommended

that in determining the level of minimum wages, account should be taken of the

following criteria, amongst others:

a) The needs of the workers and their families;

b) The general level of wages in the country;

c) The cost of living and changes therein;

d) Social security benefits;

e) The relative living standards of other social groups;

9 Economic factors, including the requirements of economic

development, levels of productivity and the desirability of attaining

and maintaining a high level of employment.

In developing more than in developed countries, minimum wage fixing

has to be seen as one among a battery of measures aimed at over-coming

poverty by promoting the growth and fair sharing of the national income.

Governments that decide to fix minimum wages need to have regard to the

effect of wage decisions on costs, prices, productivity, employment, the balance

of payments and the prospects of economic growth.

It is important to note that wage determination is far from being guided all

the time by immutable or natural economic laws. In fact, as William Brown

rightly pointed out, 'pay is a normal affair and is also extremely complex

depending upon the interaction of social power, market forces, customer, and

perceptions of fairness with little apparent consistency' (Yesufu, 1 984).1°

Underlying the marginal productivity and the bargaining theories of wage are

certain socio-economic and political factors that affect the nature of wage

structure in an organisation. These factors include existing wages in

comparable organisations, the ability of the organisation to pay, cost of living

index (consumer price index), the relative scarcity value of various kinds of

labour, government policy and regulations. As Yesufu (1 984) pointed out, 'the

degree of potency of each of these factors and the resultant wage structure

differ as to time and place"'. The relevant task therefore is to examine the

factors that largely determine the fixing of wages in the Nigeria Public Sector.

And the pertinent question is: does wage determination process in the Nigerian

Public Sector obey the marginal productivity and the bargaining theories of

wages? The probable answer(s) to this and other related questions shall be left

for the appropriate persons to be answered as it is outside the scope of this

work.

2.1.3. WAGE FIXATION PROCESS IN THE NIGERIAN PUBLIC SECTOR

The National Minimum Wage Act (No. 6 of 1981) became effective from

3rd September 1981) and provides that all employers employing fifty workers

upwards must pay a minimum wage as specified to every worker under his

establishment, for performing services on the basis of a forty-hour week.

Employers are also expected to keep records to confirm that they comply

with the provisions of the Act. However, in addition to employers employing

less than fifty workers, employers in agricultural projects, establishment in

which workers are employed on part-time, pieces rate or commission basis and

those employing workers in a vessel or aircraft to which the laws regulating

merchant shipping or civil aircraft applies are exempted from the provisions of

the Act (Onasanya, 1970: 99). '* Looking at the history of wage determinationlfixation in the Nigerian

public sector, one will discover that it has been very unilateral because the

economic laws based on the marginal productivity theory or the bargaining

theory were not the determinants of wage structures that existed over the years.

The resultant wage structures remained largely the products of unilateral

administrative decisions taken by the successive governments, using wage

review commissions. Some of these wage review commissions are: the

Bridges Committee of 1942; Miller Committee of 1946; Gorsuch Commission of

1955; Mbanefo Commission of 1959; Morgan Commission of 1967; Adebo

Commission of 1970 -71, Udoji Commission of 1972 - 74; Cookey Commission

of 1981; and the Onosode Commission of 1991.

By using these Commissions, the successive governments relegated to

the background the interplay of the forces of demand and supply, the

bargaining strength of workers vis-a-vis that of government and the issue of

fairness, in determining the wage structure at a particular period. This situation

was different from the nature of wage determination process in the organised

private sector where collective bargaining process is used to determine

minimum wage, although any increment in the national Minimum Wage

automatically renders the agreement void where the new National Minimum

Wage is higher than the previously negotiated rates. In other words, the

unilateral character of wage fixation has rendered the use of collective

bargaining machineries ineffectual in the Nigerian Public Sector.

In fact, starting from 1937 when the initial attempt was made to establish

joint negotiation or consultation machineries, the successive Nigerian

governments have played a dominant role in the fixation of wage structure. In

1937, the Provincial Wage Committees were established to undertake periodic

review for daily paid workers in the public sector. Members of these

committees were exclusively government official; hence wage determination for

this category of workers was unilateral.

The Morgan Commission of 1964, among its various recommendations,

suggested the establishment of various wage determination councils for

categories of public servants. For example, it created the National Joint

Negotiating Machinery for Teachers. Indeed, the commission's

.. recommendations emphasised the desirability of collective bargain in the public

sector, although these suggestions were practically rejected. Instead, periodic

wage commissions remained as the effective machinery for the determination of

wages, salaries and employment conditions in public employment, although the

government accepted in principle the establishment of Public Service

Negotiating Council.

Between 1974 (when the Udoji report was published) and the present,

wage determination in the public sector has followed the usual unilateral

process, thus reflecting the limits of collective bargaining (Gunilla & Bjorn,

1996). l 3 A government order or law may fix a minimum wage to be paid by all

employers in this country. A good example is the National Minimum Wage Act

of 1981 that fixed the national minimum wage at N125 per month. All

employers in the public and organised private sectors are expected to abide by

the new rate, whether they can afford it or not. Also, the Government may and

does change conditions of service of public servants unilaterally without

consultation. This it does through the issuance of circulars from the Federal

Ministry of Establishments.

In conclusion, the wage fixation process in Nigeria does not follow any

predetermined indexation, but rather depends on the magnanimity of the

incumbent government. For instance, during negotiations with other

stakeholders preceding the most recent National Minimum Wage increment

(2000), the Federal Government agreed to increase the national minimum wage

. by another 25% in the year 2001. But, alas, it has since reneged on its promise

without apology, claiming to have made that promise based on the national

economic growth index.

2.1.4. WAGES AND PRODUCTIVITY IN THE NIGERIAN CIVIL SERVICE

The policy that wages and salaries would be designed to keep in step

with productivity and other incomes - the national income, profits, etc,

postulated by the military and reaffirmed in 1980 by the civilian regime, has

hardly begun to be implemented (Yesufu, 1984: 193).13 Instead, the military

government studiously resisted any general increases in wage, even when

negotiated (Yesufu, 1984: 1 93).14 The fear that has always haunted the country

has been that wage increases, just as the military government argued during

the 1977/78-budget release, for example, leads to inflation and negates any

improvement in the employees' real purchasing power. Undoubtedly, Nigeria

suffered from hyperinflation, especially after the Civil war. But the causes could

not be ascribed to increased purchasing power due to wage increases alone or

even predominantly. During the Civil War, high prices were due to extreme

shortage of consumer goods, poor or destroyed distribution network, and

relative decline in productive capacity, etc. Since then, much of Nigeria's

inflation has been imported, being part of the world's inflationary malaise.

The first half of the 1980s was a period of turmoil and decline (Gunilla &

Bjorn, 1996).16 Much of the decline occurred when the national economic crisis

. set in with the sharp drop in petroleum prices and export earnings. For Nigerian

industries in general, the crisis, if measured in financial losses, retrenchment,

closures and under-utilised capacity, had already reached alarming proportions

during the latter years of the oil boom. Market potential was undermined by the

distortions that accompanied the boom. Externally, the naira was strong, but

domestically it was eaten by oil-fed inflation. While the procurement of foreign

machinery and inputs should been facilitated by the overvaluation of the naira,

the rush for imports caused serious congestion and corruption, including in

import licensing, customs and ports handling, thus added heavily to import

costs. With big swings and uncertainties in world oil markets, foreign exchange

management was characterised by stop-and-go policies, adding to the decline.

The cost of putting imported inputs to productive use continued to rise.

Production costs in industries were exacerbated by numerous bottlenecks, not

the least in power supply. Wages were also volatile, with government

intervening intermittently either to impose wage freezes or to concede,

administratively, large wage increases to compensate for long periods of

declining real wages. Such sharp increase in wages added greatly to the

vulnerability of the Nigerian economy and that of the workers. With the

explosion of economic opportunities, the labour force was unstable and difficult

to discipline. Skills were lost through the rapid turnover of labour.

In fact, the overvalued naira at the beginning of the decade had made

imported inputs cheap and domestic labour expensive. And within the confines

.. of a given technology, much was done to raise productivity by shedding labour,

intensifying labour utilisation and upgrading skills. Moreover, Egbe (1 987) in an

interview, revealed that the retained workers were obliged to man more

machines or do more than their fair share of work.17

It would appear from the preceding discuss that wages and productivity

are two variables that are invariably linked by virtue of their connection to the

worker who must produce to earn wages and who must earn wages after

having produced.

2.1.5. THE IMPACT OF WAGES ON PRODUCTIVITY

There is a close relationship between the concept of productivity and

wage. The word 'produce' from which the term productivity is derived, has been

defined as the act of bringing something into existence, to make or to bring into

being or to yield; while the word 'productive' is described as the ability to

produce something that generally yields favourable results, such as goods and

services that has exchange value in an economic sense. The synonyms to the

word productive also include the words creative, fertile and efficient. Arising

from these definitions, when we speak about increased productivity or the need

for higher corporate or national productivity, we are making a case for increased

efficiency directed at increasing our corporate or national output in other to

create values that would improve the social and economic well being of our

people. In the light of the above definitions, which we will adopt in this study as

.. our definition of productivity, we must agree that productivity is a great concept

that should be encouraged and promoted as a national movement and way of

life, especially in the developing countries of Africa. This is because it is the

level of productivity that makes the difference between the relative poverty of

the developing countries and the national affluence of the developed and

industrialised nations. To survive economically in the new millennium, African

countries must evolve a national culture of efficiency and productivity in all their

undertakings. These countries should constantly remind themselves that any

nation that does not fully embrace the concept of productivity as a way of life

would never rise above the prevailing level of poverty and inefficiency.

Although everyone, without exception, has a role to play in promoting national

productivity, the Nigerian Civil Service agencies and parastatals have a greater

role to play because of their strategic positions in promoting corporate and

national productivity.

The success or failure of every economic enterprise or institution depends on its

level of productivity that may be high or low depending on several factors or

circumstances. Sometimes, commercial organisations that are anxious to improve

their productivity at a given time for one reason or the other do enter into a productivity

pact with their employees, in the sense that they undertake some form of collective

bargaining with their employees in which salary or wage increases are agreed, subject

to a corresponding increase in productivity. The American would call it a 'productivity

deal'. Therefore, when an American refers to a 'productivity deal', in a corporate

setting, what he means is that the organisation concerned has entered into a formal

agreement with the workers whereby the workers would receive increased wages or a

special payment if they agree and achieve increased output thereby increasing overall

productivity.

Generally, it is believed and expected that higher wages automatically leads to

higher productivity among workers. Consequently, the sensitive impact of wages on

productivity demands that the formulation and enforcement of a fair wages policy

should be a matter of central importance, whether at national, industrial, or the

enterprise level. The essence of such a wages policy should be to establish coherent

and acceptable principles for continuous application in determining the levels of

. wages, how these can be changed, on what basis, to what extent, and how often.

However, these are influenced not only by economic, but by social as well as

political factors. On the economic plane, the level of the wage or salary is influenced

very much by the forces of demand and supply.

The social element takes cognisance of the fact that the worker has social

responsibilities, and that the purpose of work would be largely defeated if his earnings

were not adequate for him to meet, at least, the essential requirement of his family as

well as the worker himself, and to maintain modicum of human dignity. This principle

constitutes the main kernel of the 'living wage' as a basis for fixing a national minimum

wage.

Quite clearly, the current national minimum wage of N7, 500.00/month

approved by the Obasanjo Administration on May 1'' 2000 falls short of the much-

yearned for living wage as demanded by the Nigerian Labour Congress, although it is

a highly appreciated improvement on the 1998 national minimum wage of N3, 500.00

fixed by the General Abubakar Abdulsalami Administration.

Unfortunately, struggles to make employers, particularly public employers, live

up to this federal wage offer dominated the labour scene for many months to come.

Their failure to do so resulted in a spate of strikes - in some cases, but not always,

resulting in the federal government, belatedly, rushing in with fresh money to allow

cash-strapped public agencies to pay their angry workers.

It is based on this background that one wonders how workers react to

announcements of increases in wages. Are they excited and look forward to working

' harder to show appreciation to government for its generosity? Or do they return

government's magnanimity by a marked lack of gratitude through unimproved

productivity or performance?

Having witnessed several antecedents of lack of co-operation on the part

of employers and the effect of the attendant inflation, one should not be

surprised to find that an increase in the national minimum wage might not

necessarily lead to an increase in workers' performance. However, our findings

later in this project shall reveal the true position to us.

2.2. HYPOTHESIS

It is a widely held hypothesis that wages and productivity are highly

. related. To verify the validity of this hypothesis, the following issues shall be

investigated:

The degree of correlation co-efficient between wages and productivity

Whether a change in wages causes a change in workers' productivity.

Whether the changes in productivity are due to changes in other variables.

OPERATIONALISATION OF KEY CONCEPTS IN THE HYPOTHESIS

Minimum Wage

Productivity

The Nigerian Civil Service

The Nigerian Public Service

o Post-Primary Schools.

*:* WAGEISALARY

In many countries, a clear distinction exists between the terms

"salary" and "wage". Whereas salary is generally associated with the

income received by office-based staff, including senior executives, wage

on the other hand refers to the income received by menial labourers or

factory workers, with the exception of their supervisors, who receive a

salary. Another distinction is that while wages are calculated at an

hourly rate, salaries are calculated at a monthly rate (Ubeku, 1984).

In Nigeria, although we talk about wage and salary earners, however, the

use of these words is historical in that British companies introduced the

concept into Nigeria during the colonial period. In reality, and for the

purpose of this research work, the distinction between the two terms is

meaningless and they are used interchangeably.

*:* MINIMUM WAGE

The term 'minimum wage' is used in a variety of ways throughout

the world. In this study it is used to denote legally enforceable lower

limits to wages fixed by a process invoking the authority of the State.

Wage limits that only have the force of a recommendation are not

covered. Also excluded are lower limits to wages fixed in collective

agreements. Even though in some countries these may have the force

of law, they are essentially established through the private agreement of

those directly concerned, or through dispute settlement procedures,

rather than by a statutory process aimed at achieving a more generally

applicable lower limits to wages. For similar reasons the lowest rates

fixed in public service or public sector wage and salary scales are not

considered as minimum wages (Starr, 1981). l9

In view of the difficulties associated with industry minimum wage

systems, a growing number of countries have introduced general

minimum wages that are applicable uniformly to almost all workers or all

those within broadly defined sectors. This trend was one of the reasons

for the adoption by the International Labour Conference in 1970 of

Convention No. 131 and Recommendation No. 135, which envisage

minimum wage system covering virtually all wage and salary earners

(Starr, 1981). *' *:* PRODUCTIVITY

As an economic term, productivity is a measure of the efficiency of

a given resource input, such as labour or capital in producing a given

output. It can also be described as the output of goods and services in a

company, a factory or a country in relation to inputs, such as men,

machines or land, used to produce them. Output per man-hour can be

used as a guide or measure of productivity.

Productivity is a measure of the output of goods and services

relative to the inputs. In other words, productivity is simply the ratio of

output to input. It is a functional relationship between inputs and outputs.

Generally speaking, productivity is defined as the relationship of output

to the associated productive inputs: labour, capital and natural resources in real

terms, based on physical or deflated values (Ubeku, 1984). *' When output is

related to all the associated inputs, changes in the resulting 'total factor

productivity' measures reflect changes in productive efficiency generally. When

output is related to only one class of inputs, such as labour in the customary

'output per man-hour' measures, increases also reflect factor substitutions,

such as capital for labour, as well as changes in productive efficiency. Besides,

labour is generally the largest cost element in many industries; consequently,

the approach in such industries is based essentially on output per man-hour

measures. The definition of productivity in such cases is narrowed down to real

output per hour of work, that is, the effectiveness with which we use the

productive resources of labour. Thus an increase in output achieved by raising

the output per hour of work does more good than an increase in output

achieved by working more hours. This approach that focuses on the productive

capacities of individuals is useful, provided the limitations are recognised. This

is particularly important in our own circumstances in Nigeria. We must

recognise the factors which inhibit productivity in our own case because the

performance of an individual at work is a function of certain factors, including

his knowledge, skills, motivation, attitudes and certain aspects of the

environmental situation which in turn include the nature of the job, rewards

associated with his performance and the leadership provided for him. All these

factors bear upon him, and depending on the direction, they may enhance or

in hibit productivity.

Productivity measurement varies with the type, goal and objectives and

functions of the organisation. These can either be profit, or customer

satisfaction, although this is a measure of how effectively and efficiently all the

factors of production have been put to use.

*:* THE NIGERIAN CIVIL SERVICE

The entire service of government that is divided into departments and in

.. which civil servants work is called the Civil Service (Adebayo, 1986). 22 Each

department caters for one particular subject or programme of Government, and

the Government implements its policies through it. A generally accepted

definition of the Civil Service is that it comprises all servants of the state, other

than those holding political appointments; those who are employed in a civil

capacity by the Civil Service Commission and whose remuneration is paid out

of money voted by the Legislature. This means teachers being paid by the

government are also Civil Servants.

43 POST-PRIMARY SCHOOLS

For the purpose of this work, the term 'post-primary schools' simply

refers to secondary schools as against other forms of post-primary education

such as Trade Schools, Technical Schools, Teacher Training Colleges, etc.

2.4. METHODOLOGY

2.4.1 Theoretical Framework

2.4.1 (1 ) Introduction: Productivity And The Workforce

Every productive enterprise or institution requires capital, which translates

to machinery, buildings, office and other equipments as well as working capital

in order to take off and to function efficiently. Similarly, no productive

organisation can function efficiently without an efficient workforce. In the past,

organisations attached a lot more importance to capital, to the neglect of labour,

but the situation has change in favour of labour. Most enterprises now

recognise the fact that their most valuable asset is their workforce because it is

the effectiveness and efficiency of the employees that determine the

organisation's productivity level. Arising from the importance of the workforce

as the dominant factor in productivity enhancement, most organisations, almost

invariably, require their human resources managers to remember always that

their primary responsibility is the employment and retention of first class

employees. Undoubtedly, employee performance and satisfaction are definitely

the most important responsibilities of management today. This is mainly

because they are the primary factors that ensure the achievement of corporate

and national productivity goals. Investors may make their investments,

governments may enunciate their laws, regulations and policies, while

organisations and managers may establish their structures, plans and

programmes, but without the human beings, the workforce to ensure their

3 8

implementation, nothing productive would take place and all the efforts would

have been in vain. It is for this reason that we must constantly give appropriate

attention to those factors that influence and determine the productivity level and

efficiency of the worker. Such factors include:

The individual worker's knowledge, ability and skill;

The individual worker's level of motivation;

The particular organisation's corporate policies as they affect the

workforce or the individual employee;

The organisation's working environment, which some experts have

described as 'organisational climate';

The national political, social and economic environment as they affect

the individual worker, and finally,

The individual worker's family situation, such as his family background

and upbringing.

It is important to know that these factors generally operate jointly,

collectively and simultaneously to influence and determine the individual

worker's level of productivity in the execution of his work. Therefore, we can

only expect high productivity from the individual worker when all these factors

exists and are positively presented in the context of the individual worker

concerned. For example, we may have a first-class organisational set-up with a

decent working environment and good personnel policies and programmes, but

with an individual worker who does not possess the necessary knowledge, skill

and ability for the job. In such a situation, you cannot expect and will never

have high productivity from the worker concerned because of the absence of

the key requirements for high productivity. In all cases, if we are to achieve

high productivity, we must ensure that all the necessary variables or ingredients

are present.

Having acknowledged the vital position of the workforce in promoting

corporate and national productivity as well as the factors that determine the

individual worker's level of productivity, we expect that policy makers in both the

private sector and government enterprises will note these and respond

appropriately. The starting point should be to educate every worker to

. understand that he has a personal stake in the fortunes and misfortunes of the

organisation in which he works and from which he earns his living. In particular,

the worker should know that he has both a moral and legal duty, not only to

justify his earnings, but above all, to maximise the productivity of the enterprise

in the interest of the organisation and in the overall national interest.

In enforcing this principle, most commercial enterprises insists, as a

matter of corporate policy, that no one should earn more than he contributes to

the productivity of the enterprise. To this end, they maintain that each worker

should be remunerated or rewarded only to the extent of his contributions to the

organisation's level of productivity. In this context, productivity is measured as

a ratio of output to input, taking into account the relevant cost of production. In

practice, however, it is difficult to assess the individual worker's contribution to

the organisation's productivity, due to the inherent problem associated with

isolating the individual worker's contribution to what is produced by the

organisation as a result of the collective efforts of all other workers.

2.4.1 (2) MOTIVATION OF EMPLOYEES FOR HIGHER PRODUCTIVITY

As stated earlier, no organisation can achieve the desired level of productivity

without an efficient workforce. It is therefore a major corporate responsibility of

management to recruit and retain a productive workforce and to ensure that they are

adequately motivated. In line with the foregoing, every employer, leader or manager

must take appropriate steps to ensure that their organisation's workforce are duly

inspired and motivated at all times. This is crucial because people will only work for

the right motive and human motives are based on needs. These needs may be

primary needs, such as the need for food, shelter, water, air, sex and sleep, or

secondary needs, such as the need for affection, status or self-esteem. The intensity

of these needs tend to vary from one person to another.

As a management concept, motivation is concerned with the techniques applied

by the manager in inspiring and leading his team of workers in such a way as to

ensure that their individual abilities are welded into a smooth and efficient team with

very high morale resulting in high productivity.

It therefore follows that motivation is essentially any action of the management

that has the effect of influencing staff behaviour in such a way as to enhance their

morale and increase productivity. Since it is the duty of the manager to mobilize the

workers under his leadership to contribute effectively to the achievement of the

organisation's corporate goals through high productivity, the manager must possess

adequate knowledge of the needs of the workers and all that it takes to motivate them.

Textbooks worldwide have not been able to prescribe any foolproof techniques

that must be applied in all cases in motivating the employees of all organisations.

Therefore, the method employed by each manager would depend on the particular

environment and the individual manager's personal skill. However, since there is

general agreement that people are usually motivated by their needs, as dictated by

their environment and circumstances, it follows that the first step for the leader or

manager in evolving his motivating technique would be to ascertain the needs of his

people, and thereafter to respond appropriately. There is no doubt that in Nigeria, the

main motivator for workers is money.

The theoretical framework of this research work entails examining some

conventional motivational theories in order to help one ascertain, first, the factors that

motivate among various categories of workers in an economy; second, whether higher

wages can motivate higher productivity; and third, whether the Nigerian Public Sector

obeys these theories.

2.4.1(3) EXISTING THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

The word 'Motivation' comes from the Latin verb 'movere' that means, "to

move". Thus, motivation involves movement of some type - specifically

movement relating to satisfying a need. The movement may be psychological,

as when one changes an attitude, or physiological, as when one works faster.

Motives can simply be defined as drives, desires, needs, wishes and similar

forces that activate, move, direct or channel human behaviour towards goals.

Motivators can thus be seen as the forces that induce individuals to act or

behave in a particular way, forces that influence human behaviour.

To motivate, therefore, is to stimulate on a continuing basis human

action to accomplish pre-defined desired goals. This is to trigger on a

continuing basis efforts towards the achievement of pre-defined desirable

objective. In the context of organisations, this relates to creating on-going

. stimulation. In this case, motivation can be defined as the ability to identify and

channel employee drives, desires, needs, wishes and similar forces toward

effective task performance and productivity.

Among the most popular theories of motivation in the literature today are

those of McGregor; Maslow; Hertzberg and Vroom.

McGregor (1960) gave the popular theory X (negative motivation, effort

elicited through coercion) and theory Y (Motivation as a derivative of self-

commitment to desired rewards). McGregor was of the opinion that workers are

lazy and do not like to work. An employer would need to use punitive measures

to get them to work.

In relation to the Nigerian Civil Service today, McGregor might not be far

from been right since productivity in the Nigerian Civil Service is at an all time

low. Workers in the public sector seem to get away with gross misconduct with

impunity and this has greatly affected their desire to be totally committed to their

jobs. Those who want to work are discouraged from doing so when they find

that whether or not they work hard they will get their pay at the end of the

month. Only the issuance of threats of punishment from their employers

themselves has had any effect on them, and this effect is only temporary. This

problem applies to all categories of workers in the civil service. In this instance

low or high minimum wage seem to have little or nothing to do with workers'

productivity.

Maslow (1940) identified and arranged in a hierarchy, the needs of

. individuals, the satisfaction of which at the right time motivate individual workers

to produce. This theory applies to every human being in general, but to the

worker in particular. However, while the high level officers (management)

aspire to the achievement of self-esteem and self-actualisation, the lower grade

workers seem content to satisfy just their physiological needs. it would

therefore seem that Nigerian civil servants at the lower cadre would certainly

prefer to have a high minimum wage than have recognition at work. Indeed,

quite often, one would hear them make comments like, "as long as I get my pay

to buy garri I'm not bothered whether we're producing or not1'. The only time

such workers are bothered about whether their organisation is producing or not

is when their monthly pay is threatened.

Hertzberg's (1 958) contribution classified motivations into two - Hygiene

or Extrinsic factors whose presences do not motivate but whose absence

causes dissatisfaction. These are the physical environment; interpersonal

relationship; salary; and security. The second are Intrinsic factors within the

work itself. They include opportunity of advancement; recognition of

achievement; responsibility; the work itself, etc. These are the real motivators.

He posits a positive relationship between their availability and motivation on the

part of the worker. This theory is very relevant to the Nigerian Civil Service as it

seems to reflect what happens in the civil service. In spite of the poor physical

environment of their offices, the almost none existent interpersonal relationship

due to bureaucratic bottlenecks, meagre salary and inadequate security, most

.. civil servants, though dissatisfied with this' state of affairs, continue to retain

their jobs because of the availability of opportunity of advancement,

responsibility, job satisfaction (particularly among the senior staff), and any

other recognition of their importance in the system of things.

And lastly, we have the basic hypothesis of Victor Vroom's Expectancy

Theory, which is a positive relationship between degree to which workers

expectations are met and levels of effort exerted by employees. Vroom's

(1962) Theory states that Performance (productivity) is a multiplicative function

of Motivation and Ability (that is, P = f (M x A). Motivation in turn varies with the

valences (V) or attractiveness of outcomes upon the performance of the task,

and the Instrumentality (I) of performance for attaining the outcome. Outcomes

identified include money (salary), fringe benefits; promotion; supportiveness

behaviour (leadership style); group acceptance (the attitude of other people

towards hard work); and the joy derived in doing the work itself (internalised

motivation). In other words, Vroom is saying that performance or productivity is

dependent on the incentiveheward been offered the worker for carrying out a

task and the worker's ability to do that job (skill). He is also saying that if a

reward is not attractive to the worker, the employee will not strive nearly as hard

to attain it as if it is highly attractive. This view gives the impression that

workers have a choice to work hard or not. No employer should tolerate that

attitude, least of all the government. Unfortunately, in the Nigerian Civil

Service, the government tolerates worse than this, to the detriment of national

. productivity.

2.4.1 (4) MOTIVATION - THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

In Nigeria, the average worker (teachers inclusive) has a high aspiration

for money and wealth: i.e. not just to live on but also for luxuries - a situation

that seems to contradict Herzberg's postulate that money is not a major

motivating factor. We are all aware of the various means - normal and

abnormal - employed by some workers to come by money and wealth within

the shortest possible time. Thus, when one considers the many uses of money

(for personal and extended families, influences from the external environment in

terms of social demands and expectations, the need for acceptance into a

special group, etc.), employers of labour will be failing in their duties if they fail

to recognise this very essential element as a major motivating factor, at least in

this part of the world.

The point being made here is that the worker has the belief that

improvement of status is possible mainly through the acquisition of wealth. In

other words, the need to grow 'from grass to grace' has served as a strong

motivating factor to acquire riches (money) that can buy a lot of symbols of

prestige - material and social. Whatever the case, it is important that a worker

should be able to maintain himself and his family at whatever level of affluence

that he can achieve. Nobody can therefore pretend that pay and allowances is

not a major contributor to productivity level of workers,

Consequently, it has been argued that the low productivity of the

Nigerian economy can be traced to the workers who are reported to be ill

motivated to produce. But, who can explain why the self-employed Nigerian is

highly motivated to produce while the typical Nigerian worker in the public

sector is not; why most workers in the organised private sector seem to

demonstrate higher work motivation than the public sector worker? Answers to

these questions will no doubt help bring solution to the problems of inefficiency

and indifference in the Nigerian Civil Service that in turn has resulted in low

productivity.

Wiley (1959: 146-185).), states that it is believed in some quarters that

because labour is relatively cheap in developing countries, there is a tendency

to use it wastefully, "a practice which does not breed careful (productive) habits

in the labourer himself'. 23 Bergk studies in the former French West African

territories also confirm that workers seem to be quite responsive to the

economic incentives that are customary in advanced countries.24 He found, for

example, that many employers justified the low wages they were paying by the

theory of the backward bending labour supply function. On closer inquiry, Berg

found that the labour available to an employer was directly related to wages and

conditions of employment and that the supply curve of labour was positively

inclined throughout its relevant portion. Lack of economic motivation by

workers did not appear anywhere as a serious consideration.

Furthermore, there is no evidence to show that the Nigerian worker lacks

.. commitment to his employer either in form of low productivity, or a high rate of

absenteeism andlor labour turnover. Hans Seibel has argued that it is without

foundation to assume that there is something inherent in the African worker that

produces this result (Wiley, 1959: 255-257). 25 In Seibel's view, wages labour

has become fully integrated into normal life, because for many, wages labour is

not only a means of earning one's living but has an end in itself.

Peter Kilby, who has studied the Nigerian workers closely, has been able

to established that the Nigeria workers is capable of producing as much as his

counter part in Europe, but that the limitation factors were a number of

management functions, namely, the provision of adequate incentive, adequate

supervision & the proper organisation of work (Kilby, 1960: 171-180). 26 The

issue of poor supervision might explain why the Federal Executive Council

(FEC) in one of its weekly meetings recently was compelled to amend the

Public Service Rule 04601, investing the President of the country with absolute

power to sack any "corrupt" civil servant. Until now, the Federal Civil Service

Commission was responsible for the appointment, promotion and discipline of

civil servants in the country. According to FEC, the absolute power that was

conferred on the President was informed by the "inefficiency and corruption" in

the civil service (Obasanjo, 2001 : 1). 27

Where these improvements were made, productivity was as high as it

could be. Kilby published his research findings about two decades ago but they

are as valid today as they were then.28

2.4.2 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION

2.4.2(1) Area of Study

The area of study is the Nigerian Civil Service, with particular reference

to post-primary schools in Delta State. Delta State is divided into three

Senatorial Districts (Delta South, Delta North and Delta Central) with each of

them comprising 8, 9 and 8 Local Government Areas respectively, totalling 25

Local Government Areas altogether in the State. There are three hundred and

sixteen government-owned secondary schools in the State as at now, according

to data gathered from the Department of Planning, Research and Statistics.

2.4.2(2) THE POPULATION OF THE STUDY

The population is made up of teachers in Delta State teaching in

government-owned secondary schools.

2.4.2(3) THE SAMPLING SIZE AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUE

With nine thousand nine hundred and fifty-one (9,951) teachers in

government-owned secondary schools in Delta State, the researcher has used

a sample size of six hundred (600) respondents representing about 6%, which,

according to Nwana (1981:72) is acceptable. Due to the hugeness of the scope

of study (the whole State) and the complexity of the distribution of the

population, the researcher has adopted a Multi-stage Sampling Technique. In

. other words, both the probability and the non-probability sampling methods

have been used to carry out this survey.

2.4.2(4) INSTRUMENTS OF DATA COLLECTION

The instruments used in gathering data for this study are both the written

questionnaire with the performance results of students in the Junior Secondary

School Certificate Examination over a period of three years (1997, 1998 and

2000).

The first instrument, a three-page questionnaire containing fifteen

leading questions was administered to 600 respondents made up of teachers in

post-primary schools in the three Senatorial Districts of Delta State. No options

were provided for the respondents to choose their answers from. Respondents

were required to answer "Yes" or "No" or "Undecided".

Two hundred copies of questionnaire were administered to secondary

school teachers in different schools in each of the Senatorial Districts in the

State. Out of the two hundred copies earmarked for each district, one hundred

questionnaires were administered to teachers in rural areas while the remaining

one hundred copies were administered to teachers in urban centres.

Convenience Sampling Method chose schools selected in the sense that only

the opinions of teachers teaching in schools within easy reach of the researcher

were sought. However, the restriction still ensured that all three Senatorial

Districts of the State were covered. Thus the non-probability sampling method

was used to administer this instrument.

Altogether, six hundred questionnaires were administered to the sample

population, representing about 6% of the total population of teachers in Delta

State, which currently stands at 9951 (Office of the Delta State Head of

Service).

On the other hand, the researcher used the probability sampling method

to administer the second instrument of the survey, (that is performance of

students in the JSSCE for 1997, 1998 82000). For instance, out of the 316

(three hundred and sixteen) public secondary schools in the State, one school

was systematically selected from each of the 25 local government areas,

bringing the total number of schools studied to 25 (see Appendix Ill),

representing about 8%. The systematic sampling technique (a probability

sampling method) was used to select the schools whose performances were

studied based on the Delta State Ministry of Education lists of local government

areas and schools in each of the local government areas. Picking the seventh

school from the list of schools in each local government area carried out the

systematic selection of the schools, but where the seventh school was not a

publiclgovernment-owned school, the first public school on the list was

selected. Also, where the number of schools in any local government area was

not up to seven, the first public school on the list was selected. The data

gathered from the Department of Exams and Records, Asaba, made it possible

to determine the State Summary Report (1997, 1998 & 2000) of students'

performance in the whole of Delta State (Appendix IV) and the State

Comprehensive Report of the performance of each of the 25 local government

areas in the state over the three-year period covered by this research work (see

Appendix V).

2.4.3 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS

It is the aim of this study to verify the widely held hypotheses that there is

a high degree of correlation between wage and workers' productivity and that

an improved national minimum wage leads to improved

productivitylperformance among civil servants in Nigeria in general, and

teachers in Delta State in particular.

To verify these claims, the following strategies were employed:

i. Designing of a questionnaire aimed at obtaining statistics to prove

or disprove the hypothesis that an improved minimum wage would

lead to improved productivity among civil servants in general and

teachers in post-primary schools in Delta State in particular, and

also, to find out whether other factors other than increased wages

can improve teachers' productivity.

ii. Collating of performance statistics from the Ministry of Education,

Asaba (Exams and Records Office precisely), for the Junior

Secondary School Certificate Examinations conducted in 1997,

1998 and 2000 to enable the researcher compare students'

performances during periods of wage increment. It is expected

that the performance of students who are the receivers of the

teachers' services should be able to reflect whether teachers'

productivity/performance has improved or not.

By adopting the first strategy, the researcher hopes to prove or disprove

whether the correlation co-efficient between minimum wage and productivity is truly

high as claimed by past researchers, using the Spearman's Rank Order Correlation

formula. Moreover, this strategy will enable the researcher to establish whether or not

an increased minimum wage will automatically result in higher productivity among civil

servants. And last, but not least, one should be able to find out what other

factors/variables can improve teachers' productivity through the questionnaire.

On the other hand, the second strategy using data gathered about students'

performances over a period of three years should confirm the teachers' responses. In

other words, if the responses to the questionnaires show that teachers' productivity

has truly improved since the new minimum wage of May 2000, then students'

performances in the prescribed junior Secondary School Certificate Examinations

(JSSCE) should also improve. Where both strategies give opposite results, then one

shall be compelled to conclude that an increased minimum wage might not be the

solution to low productivity among civil servants in Nigeria in general and among

teachers in Delta State in particular. However, where both strategies correlate, then

the hypothesis would have been proven and re-confirmed.

The responses from the respondents were collated and classified under "Yes",

"No" or "Undecided" responses according to the various leading questions and

according to Senatorial Districts. The data were then converted to percentages for

easy interpretation.

Responses relating to the hypothesis and the research questions raised were ranked

and then tested with the Spearman's Rank Order Correlation after they have been

analysed in percentages. All other questions on the questionnaire were analysed

using percentages only.

REFERENCES

1) Starr,G.(1981),MinimumWaqeFixinq:AnlnternationalReviewof Practices and Problems, Geneva: lnternational Labour Office, p. 1.

2) Belgian Congo (1 922), French Equatorial Africa (1 923), Madagascar (1 925) and French West Africa (1 926).

3) Starr, G. (1981). Minimum Wage Fixing: An lnternational Review of Practices and Problems, Geneva: lnternational Labour Office, p. 2.

4) Ibid, p.3. For example: Equador - workers engaged in the transport of kerosene, 1896, and agricultural workers, 1900: Uruguay - agricultural workers, 1923, Peru - indigenous workers employed in the Sierra, 1916, maritime workers, 1922, and homeworkers, 1937.

5) See ILO (1954), Minimum Wages in Latin America, Studies and Reports, New Series, No. 34 (Geneva).

6) See ILO (1 981 & 1 975), Report of the ILO/DANIDA African Regional Wages Seminar, Dar es Salaam, 18 - 29 November 1974 (Geneva), pp. 39 - 57 and 79 - 96.

7) ILO (1 978), "les salaire dans less pays d'Afrique francophone", Labour- Management Relations Series, No. 55 (Geneva).

8) Starr, G . (1981), Minimum Waqe Fixinq: An lnternational Review of Practices and Problems, Geneva: lnternational Labour Office, p. 11

9) Ibid, p. 6

10) Ubeku, A. K. (1 984), Personnel Management in Nigeria: Principles and Practices, London: Macmillan Publishers.

11) Ibid.

1 2) Onasanya , S.A. B. (1 970), Effective Personnel Management & Industrial Relations, Nigeria: CMD, p.99.

13. Gunilla, A. & Bjorn, B. (1 996), BARGAINING FOR SURVIVAL: Unionized Workers in the Nigerian Textile Industry (Discussion Paper 78), France: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), October, p.5.

Yesufu, T.M. (1 984), The Dynamics of lndustrial Relations, London: Oxford University Press, p.193.

Ibid, p.193.

Gunilla, A. & Bjorn, B. (1996), BARGAINING FOR SURVIVAL: Unionized Workers in the Nigerian Textile Industry (Discussion Paper 78), France: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), October, p.4.

Ibid, p.7.

Ubeku, A. K. (1 984), Personnel Management in Niqeria: Principles and Practices, London: Macmillan Publishers, p.. .

Starr, G. (1 981), Minimum Wage Fixing: An International Review of Practices and Problems, Geneva: International Labour Office, p.vii.

Ibid, p.vi.

U beku, A. (1 984 ,) Personnel Management in Nigeria: Principles and Practices, London: Macmillan Publishers, p.. .

Adebayo, A. (1986), Power in Politics, Nigeria: Spectrum Books Ltd., p.84.

Harbison, F.H. 'Egypt', in Labour & Economic Development, ed. W. Galenson (John Wiley, 1959), pp.146-185.

Berg, E.J. 'French West Africa', in Labour & Economic Development, ed. W. Galenson (John Wiley, 1959), pp. 186-254.

Seibel, H.B. (1973) 'The Process of Adaptation to Wage Labour', in Social Change & Economic Development in Nigeria, ed. U.G. Damachi and H.D. Seibel, Praeger: pp.3-10.

Kilby, P. (1960), 'Some Determinants of Industrial Productivity in Nigeria', in Proceedings of the Nigerian lnstitute of Social and ~conomic desearch (December) pp. 171 -1 80.

Federal Executive Council (2001), Vanguard, 16 August, p. I

U beku, A. K. (1 983), lndustrial Relations in Developing Countries: The Case of Niqeria, London: Macmillan Publishers, p.6.

CHAPTER THREE

RESULTS AND FINDINGS

3.1 AN OVERVIEW OF THE NIGERIAN CIVIL SERVICE

3.1.1 The Nigerian Public Service Versus Civil Service

Among the major administrative problems that attend the advance of

colonial territories to self-government and their final attainment of independence

is the manning of their public services during and immediately following the

transition. Nigeria, as a former British colony, also inherited this problem.

It is widely acknowledged that one of the most important legacies

bequeathed to this country by the colonial powers is the Civil Service. This

peculiar bureaucratic machinery is the major organ for formulating,

implementing and re-appraising Governmental policies and programmes. It is

. also the instrument for the day-to-day Administration of the State. When all is

said and done, the Civil Service is the wheel, the load-bearing hub on which

Government moves the State forward. However, it needs several other

organisations and agencies which are closely related to it to function optimally.

It is the mix of the Civil Service and the associated establishments that is known

as the Public Service. 1

There is need to clarify the difference between the Public Service and

the Civil Service. The Public Service can be defined in various ways.

Generally, it includes all public servants working in any organisation in which

government financial interest is not less than 20% of the capital base (Ibid: 10).

In Delta State, the Public Service includes Boards, Corporations, Staff of

the Legislature, the Judiciary, Local Government, the Civil Service and other

Bodies such as Commissions and government-sponsored companies. On the

other hand, the Civil Service per se is smaller than the Public Service. It

comprises Ministries, Extra-Ministerial Departments and Agencies whose staff

members are exclusively appointed by the Civil Service Commission. By this

definition, teachers are certainly civil servants since the Civil Service

Commission exclusively appoints them, at least in Delta State.

The African Training and Research Centre in Administration for

Development (CAFRAD) in 1994, at its first Biennial Conference of African

Ministers of Civil Service in Tangiers, adopted a declaration making it

mandatory for all African countries to commemorate the African Day of

Administration and Civil Service on 23rd of June of every year. Nigeria

celebrated its Civil Service Day for the first time since the adoption of the

Tangier Declaration in 1999.

In Delta State, the event was celebrated for the first time in the year

2000. According to Mr. S.E.O. Mordi, the Head of the State Civil Service, this

was on account of the felt need to provide for our Public Service an opportunity

to display its size, scope and relevance.

It might interest one to know that the Delta State Civil Service is an

offshoot of the then Mid-Western Region and later Bendel State Civil Service,

which was itself an offshoot of the then Western Regional Civil Service. Today,

there are about fifty-two establishments under the Public Service of Delta State

(see Appendix VI), amongst which are the Civil Service Commission, the

Ministry of Education and the Post-Primary Education Board.

3.1.2 ROLE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE CIVIL SERVICE

From the earliest times, the importance of having a permanent body of

officials to implement the decisions of government has been recognised

worldwide. The Greeks and the ancient Chinese had worked out systems for

the .employment and grading of officials to work for the government and for

paying them. With the emergence of modern states, the need for a permanent

civil service became very great, and the main functions of the Civil Service can

be summarised thus:

To implement and execute the policies and decisions of those in authority

that decide policy, be they Kings, Presidents, Governors or the Legislature

who make the laws.

To assist the policy-makers by gathering and supplying facts and

information which will assist those in authority to take decisions.

To assist in policy-making by pointing out various alternative means by

which a particular policy may be implemented and leaving those in authority,

that is, the policy-makers to consider the advice and take the decision. In

this way, the Civil Service assists in the formulation of policy.

To ensure the continuity of policy as far as this is possible, irrespective of

what government is in power. This role of providing continuity is most

valuable in times of political instability when governments change abruptly

and frequently, especially during coup d'etats. At such times, there can be

political vacuum and uncertainties, and it is the Civil Service, with its store of

knowledge and experience, that keeps the ship of the state steady and

afloat until the political storm subsides.

To present whichever government is in power, the point of view that is in the

best interest of the nation. In this way, it can be described as a corrective of

party government.

And last but not least, the Civil Servant is duty bound to place before his

political master, be he President, governor, Minister or Commissioner, all

arguments on both sides of a given case, fully and fairly.

3.1.3 ETHICS OF THE CIVIL SERVICE

In order to be in the best position to play its national role, the Civil

Service is expected to observe strict political neutrality.

Also, for a civil servant to fulfil the roles and functions set out above,

there are certain code of ethics, some of which can be summarised as follows:

He must not allow his own sympathies or prejudices to influence him in

presenting his arguments and views.

Once the political master has taken his decision on a given matter, it is the

duty of the civil servant to carry our loyally the decision, even though it may

be different from, or contrary to, the advice he has given.

He must not take credit for any measure accepted by government and of

which he may be the author. The decision, once taken, is that of the political

master.

He must observe absolute silence and be discreet as to what takes place in

the office, since responsibility for policy rests upon Ministers/Commissioners

etc and civil servants are merely the instruments and not the masters of

policy. So, he is not to express official views in public.

He must resist illegitimate political pressures, although this may be difficult

as it often results to conflict. But the law protects him and so has nothing to

fear so long as he is transparently honest and impartial. Indeed, the civil

servant must obey the triple maxim of Impartiality, Neutrality and Anonymity.

3.1.4 CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION

Sections 140 and 178 of the suspended Constitution provided for the

establishment of the Civil Service Commission whose main functions were:

To appoint persons to offices in the Civil Service, and

To dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over persons holding

such offices.

With the above functions under its portfolio, the Civil Service

Commission does all employment into the Civil Service, including the

recruitment of teachers. Although this situation does not go down well with

some departments or ministries due to the delays experienced in getting new

employees, their hands are tied unless an amendment is made to the

empowering laws. In fact, in the area of staff discipline, the Constitution had to

be amended recently, at the instance of the Federal Executive Council, to

enable Mr President take over the role of discipline of civil servants because he

was not satisfied with the Commission's performance. 3

3.1.5 HEAD OF SERVICE

The Office of the Head of Service is specifically provided for in the

suspended Constitution - Section 157 (1) and 2 (b) in the case of the Federal

Civil Service, and Section 188 (1) and 2 (b) in the case of the Civil Service of

the States.

The Head of Service is the leader of all civil servants who ensures that

all parts of the Civil Service machinery function smoothly. The management of

the entire Civil Service depends on him. It is his duty to provide the civil service

. with the right kind of leadership, motivation and inspiration. It is his main

responsibility to ensure that the Civil Service develops into hard-working,

contented and dependable machinery for economic and social development.

Besides the President or the State Governor, the Head of Service is the

only other public functionary whose influence and authority extends beyond any

single department, from the senior to the most junior employee in every Ministry

and Department.

The main responsibilities of a Head of Civil Service should be:

a) Provision of leadership and direction to the Civil service by:

(i) Maintaining high morale and esprit de corps among

employees throughout the Civil Service;

(ii) Maintaining a good image of the service through the

observance of the codes of conduct as stipulated in the

Constitution;

(iii)

b)

Stimulating in employees of all grades an attitude to work that

generates maximum efficiency and prompt execution of

government policies and programmes.

Management of the carriers of employees in the Civil Service and

co-ordination of civil service matters and advising Government on

establishment matters including:

(i) Staff complements, Grading, Conditions of Service;

(ii) Organisation and Methods;

(iii) Pensions and Gratuities;

(iv) Public Service Management Reforms;

(v) Salaries, Wages, Compensations;

(vi) Staff Development and Training and Staff Negotiating

Council;

(vii) Continuous review of Civil Service Rules and Regulations.

When the Head of Service is unable to perform his functions effectively,

it will reverberate with adverse consequences on the civil service and this will in

turn affect efficiency and productivity in government as a whole (Adebayo,

1986: 109).

3.2 AN OVERVIEW OF POST-PRIMARY EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

According to Professor Babatunde Fafunwa (1974: 190), there are six

types of post-primary schools in Nigeria. These are:

i) Secondary Grammar Schools

ii) Secondary Modern Schools

iii) Craft Schools

iv) Trade Schools, Technical Schools and Trade Centres

v) Grade It Teacher-Training Colleges, and

vi) Secondary Commercial and Comprehensive Schools.

Major educational expansion at the post-primary level took place between 1955

and 1965. This period coincided with the era of self-government and self-

determination, as the table below shows:

TYPE OF SCHOOL

Secondary Grammar

Vocational, Technical & Commercial

Teacher-Training I

Source: Fa fun wa (1 974: 190)

For the purpose of this research, as earlier stated, post-primary schools shall

refer simply to secondary schools, as against other forms of post-primary schools such

a,s Trade Schools, Technical Schools, Teacher Training Colleges, etc.

No, country in Africa south of the Sahara can claim to have been uninfluenced

by any colonial system of education (Fafunwa, 1967: 44). ~ h u s , secondary schools in

Nigeria are patterned on the English grammar school system with its classical

orientation. Its main aim, according to Lord Macauley in his 'Minutes on Education',

was to train 'at least a class of persons Indian (or Nigerian in this case) in blood but

English in opinion, in morals and intellect" (Fafunwa, 1974: 190). ' The early secondary schools (the oldest being the C.M.S. Grammar, Lagos,

now Anglican Boys Grammar School, Bariga, founded in 1859) taught little or no

science. Nigerian secondary school pupils sat for the same examinations as English

pupils. In 1956, however, the examination system was West Africanised and a West

African Examination Council (WAEC) replaced the Oxford and Cambridge examination

syndicates. In 1956, too, in order to conform to the changes in the English system, the

length of the secondary school course was reduced from six years to five. However,

secondary education has once again been reverted to six years.

Today, the secondary school curricula offers a wide range of arts and science

courses, all geared towards entry to higher education: English language and literature,

history, geography, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, religious knowledge, art,

music and physical education. Some secondary schools have even modified their

curricula to include technical, commercial and agricultural subjects. Students who

complete secondary school and successfully pass the West African School Certificate

Examination (or the West African Senior School Certificate Examination as it is called

today) may proceed to a two-year Advanced Level course (based on the English

System and introduced in1956) for the Higher School Certificate (H.S.C), which in turn

is geared to university entry requirements or go through the Joint Matriculation

Examination Board (JAMB).

3.2.1 EXAMINATIONS

All schools at this level gear their programmes to meet the requirements

of examinations administered by the West African Examinations Council. It is

an educational truism that examinations control the curriculum and, whosoever

controls a country's examination system controls its education. Also, the

success of a secondary school is judged strictly by the performance of its

students in the examinations set by this council (Fafunwa, 1974: 193).~ The

examinations conducted by WAEC are the WASC (now known as SSSCE), the

JSSCE and the GCE.

3.2.2 THE ORGANISATION AND ADMINISTRATION

OF POST-PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA.

All educational institutions are, by the Nigerian Constitution, on the

Concurrent List of the Federal and the State governments. In 1967, the year in

which the former four regions of Nigeria were carved into twelve states, all

secondary schools, except the federal schools, became the responsibilities of

the states and started to be fully administered by the state governments in

whose area of jurisdiction the secondary schools were located. Consequently,

instead of four former ministries and ministers of education, there were now

twelve commissioners of education. Today, Nigeria has 36 states and a

Federal Capital Territory, bringing the number of education commissioners to

thirty-seven (37).

The organisation and administration of secondary education Nigeria is

such that each state has a Post-Primary Education Board (PPEB), with the

Chairman of the Board answerable to the Commissioner for Education; and in

the schools there are Principals who handle the day-to-day running of the

schools.

3.2.3 FINANCING EDUCATION

The people of Nigeria attach considerable importance to the education of

their children. Consequently, the federal and state governments as well as the

Nigerian public (private sector) commit substantial funds to education in their

annual budgets. Indeed, the present democratic dispensation promised free

education up to post-primary level in most states of the nations, but most state

government could not live up to their election promises because Nigerian

education continues to cost more daily, especially with the depreciation of the

Naira against the British pound sterling and dollar.

3.2.4 GOALS OF SECONDARY EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

The goals of Nigerian secondary education are similar to the goals of

secondary education in colonial times. Indeed, except for a few minor

modifications, the structure, content and teaching methods of secondary

schools in Nigeria follow closely those of Britain, in spite of the cultural, political

and economic differences that exist between the two countries.

But, if education is the aggregate of all the processes by which a person

develops abilities, attitudes and other forms of behaviour of positive and

meaningful value in the society in which he lives, if it is a system based on

certain philosophical or theoretical assumptions and seeks to justify its

usefulness in terms of its practices and results, it is no wonder then that the

Nigerian educational system has failed to stand the test. The present system,

instead of developing positive values in the society in which the Nigerian child

lives. tends to alienate him from his cultural environment. Traditional Western

education has contributed in no small measure to the failure of social and

economic progress in Africa in general and in Nigeria in particular.

To reduce the effect of alien culture in our society, the aim of secondary

education in Nigeria according to Fafunwa, (1974: 195), should be to develop

the following abilities in the Nigerian youth:

i. To think effectively;

ii. To communicate thought clearly;

iii. To make relevant judgements;

iv. To play his part as a useful member of his home and family;

v. To understand basic facts about health and sanitation;

vi. To understand and appreciate his cultural heritage;

vii. To understand and appreciate his role as a citizen of a sovereign

country;

viii. To develop economic efficiency both as a consumer and a producer

of goods;

ix. To acquire some vocational skills;

x. To recognise the dignity of labour;

xi. To develop ethical character;

xii. To appreciate the value of leisure;

xiii. To understand the world outside his environment;

xiv. To develop a scientific attitude; and,

xv. To live and act as a well-integrated individual.

3.2.5 THE 6-3-3-4 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

There is indeed no greater force for social, economic and political

advancement than a good educational system realistically organised and

judiciously administered with skill and insight. The recognition of this fact no

doubt contributed to the formulation of the 6-3-3-4 Educational Policy, which is

being currently practiced in the country.

The new National Educational Policy of Nigeria, also known as the 6-3-3-

4 System, is the most relevant and ambitious educational policy so far

introduced in Nigeria, at least in theory. The policy was published in 1977. It

came into operation with effect from I *' April, 1985.

The initial groundwork towards the new policy was started in 1973 when

some distinguished educational experts, under the chairmanship of Chief S. 0.

Adebo deliberated on all aspects of national policy on education. A substantial

part of the deliberation formed the provisions of the 6-3-3-4 Educational Policy

(Ujo, 1994: 132).

The general objectives of the policy are:

1) The inculcation of national consciousness and national unity.

2) The inculcation of the right type of values and attitudes for the

survival of the individual and the Nigerian society.

3) The training of the mind in understanding of the world around, and

4) The acquisition of appropriate skills, abilities and competence both

mental and physical as equipment for the individual to live and

contribute to the development of his society.

3.2.5(1) PRIMARY SCHOOL STAGE

The first stage of the educational policy is the primary education stage

that is expected to last for six years. The six years is designed for children

aged normally six to eleven. The training at the primary level is aimed at the

following objectives:

i. The inculcation of a sound basis for scientific and reflective thinking.

ii. To inculcate the skill of reading, writing and ability to communicate

effectively.

iii. Character and moral training and the development of sound

attitudes.

iv. The provision of basic tools for further educational advancement,

including preparation for trades and crafts of the locality (National

Policy on Education, 1 977: 23).

3.2.5(2) SECONDARY SCHOOL STAGES

i. Junior Secondary School

The junior secondary education is the main thrust of the 6-3-3-4

Policy. Its main philosophy is to prepare pupils for useful living in the

society; and equally prepare them for higher education. The curriculum

for junior secondary school is oriented towards both pre-vocational and

academic. It is therefore expected to inculcate and teach all the basic

subjects which will enable pupils to acquire further knowledge and

develop skills. To achieve these goals, the areas of study designed for

junior secondary School are divided into three categorisations, that is,

Core subjects, Pre-vocational subjects and Non-vocational electives.

The core subjects include Mathematics, English, Nigerian Languages,

Social Instructions, Physical education, etc. Pre-vocational subjects are

metalwork, electronics, mechanic, local crafts, home economics and

business studies.

At the end of the junior secondary school, pupils either proceed to

the senior secondary school or opt for an apprenticeship or some other

scheme for out-of-school vocational training.

i i) Senior Secondary School

Senior Secondary School is a prelude to higher education. It is

aimed at having a core-curriculum designed to broaden pupils'

knowledge and outlook. On successful completion of the Senior

Secondary School, students will proceed to a higher institution where

they are to spend four years or more, depending on the course of study

chosen.

3.2.6 THE ROLE OF TEACHERS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION

OF THE 6-3-34 EDUCATIONAL POLICY.

It was observed earlier in this research work that civil servants were the

instruments through which government policies and programmes were

implemented. Similarly, teachers are the instruments by which the Federal and

State Governments intend to achieve the objectives of the current national

educational policy.

Consequently, teachers are expected to work with the infrastructures and

facilities put in place by the government to ensure the success of the

programme.

Unfortunately, government did not put much in place, and, to compound

the problem, most of the teachers used for the pre-vocational subjects were not

specifically trained to teach those subjects or to use the few equipment that

were supplied in a few schools. Besides, there were no vocational workshops

for practical training in most schools; where there are workrooms, they are

either not adequately equipped or not equipped at all.

The end result is that, right from the Junior Secondary School level which

happens to be the main thrust of the 6-3-3-4 policy, the programme has failed

as the teachers are not able to sieve through the students to identify those with

academic aptitude and those with vocational aptitude.

In other words, because the Federal Government, the policy-maker, has

not prepared both teachers and schools adequately for the smooth take-off of

the programme, it has made it equally difficult, if not completely impossible, for

teachers in public schools to play their part successfully in the implementation

of the 6-3-3-4 National Educational Policy of Nigeria.

3.2.6(1) TEACHERS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN DELTA STATE

i. Number of Public Secondary Schools and Teachers in the

State:

Delta State is divided into three Senatorial Districts (Delta South,

Delta Central and Delta North) with each of the districts comprising

8, 8 and 9 Local Government Areas respectively, totalling 25 Local

Government Areas altogether in the State, with three hundred and

sixteen (316) government-owned secondary schools in it. In

addition to the government-owned schools, there are thousands of

other secondary schools owned by private individuals or

organisations in the state. However, this research work is

concerned with the public sector

Government is the biggest employer in the whole nation, and as

such there are more teachers in government-owned secondary

schools than in the private schools. Consequently, the Delta State

government is the biggest employer of teachers in the state.

Currently, there are nine thousand, nine hundred and fifty-one

secondary school teachers in the State. l 2 The huge staff strength

is to ensure specialisation and adequate spread of teachers all over

the state, especially in the remote rural areas. In other words, in

public secondary schools, a teacher is assigned just one subject

area. This way, one is not overly stressed with an unmanageable

workload while at the same time one is able to perform maximally in

one's area of specialisation.

Minimum Qualification for Teachers in Delta State:

To maintain a high standard of education in the state, teachers in

public schools are expected to have a minimum qualification of a Bachelor

of Education (B.ED) degree in their area of specialisation. This is why in

Delta State, teachers with the National Certificate of Education (NCE) are

being encouraged to upgrade their qualification to reflect the present reality,

and those graduates who did not have education background in their first

degree are required to go for a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education

(PGDE). The State Government on its part tries to ensure that all newly

employed teachers meet the mkimum requirements and that old employees

who upgrade themselves to meet the new requirement are also upgraded in

terms of their job level.

iii) Recruitment, Posting, Promotion, and Welfare Packages for Teachers

in Delta State:

Since the inception of the present administration of Governor James Ibori, there

have been at least two recruitment exercises in the State for teachers. In the words of

the Commissioner for Education, lghoyota Amori, in The Pointer, "...since 1991,

teachers had not been employed in the state. They die, they resign, they retire, but

they were never replaced ... so, we have employed more teachers and non-teaching

staff' (2001: 6). l3 The recruitment policy of the State Government is such that every

qualified Deltan stands a chance of being employed into the State's Civil Service.

Indeed, none-Deltans married to Deltans are also given the opportunity to apply for

employment in the state.

Posting of teachers in the State is done in line with laid down rules to ensure

fairness and even distribution between urban and rural areas. However, for obvious

reasons, teachers usually resist postings to riverine areas. This has forced the

Chairman of the State's Post-Primary Education Board, (Mrs Irene Imilar) while

addressing applicants for teaching jobs recently, to threaten applicants who resist

postings to rural areas with the loss of their offer of employment.

On the question of promotion, the Honourable Commissioner declared that

besides employing more teachers to inject new blood into the system, the ministry has

also promoted those due for promotion to boost their morale.

As for the welfare package for teachers in the state, one is yet to see a more

magnanimous state government in the whole nation than the Delta State Government,

b d e r the present leadership of the amiable and "Big Heart" State Governor, Chief

James Onanefe Ibori. Not only is he paying the best wages amongst all the states, he

pays promptly and has even now approved car loans for all qualified civil servants,

teachers included. In addition, the State Government through the able supervision of

the Commissioner of Education, Chief lghoyota Amori (JP) is renovating schools all

over the State. Indeed, only recently, Chief lghoyota was quoted as saying that "the

best is yet to come in education," (The Pointer, 2001: 5). l4

Consequently, with the establishment of a conducive teaching and

learning environment created by the Delta State Government for teachers in

public secondary schools, it is not surprising to observe that there seem to be

more commitment to the job amongst the teachers and more graduates are

eager to go into the teaching profession from which they had hitherto run away.

In fact, from the responses given by teachers to the questionnaire given them

(see Appendix I), one can safely. conclude that increased wage has indeed

increased productivity among teachers in public schools. However, as earlier

mentioned in the course of this write-up, the true determiner of improved

performance among teachers is the overall performance of the students who

are the recipients of the teachers' productive efforts. After all, the teacher is an

agent of change whose goal of teaching is to change the learner.

3.3 RESULTS AND FINDINGS

3'.3.1 Data Presentation and Analysis

In this section, data and results are presented according to the various

fundamental questions in the questionnaires andlor hypotheses.

Question 1

As a Civil Servant, do you think there is any relationship between national

minimum wage and workers' productivity/ performance?

Hypothesis 1 :

"Wages and Productivity are highly related"

The data relating to the above question (see Table 1 below) show that a

majority of the respondents numbering 537 (89.5%) are of the opinion that there is

definitely a relationship between national minimum wage and productivity. This goes

to re-confirm the widely held hypothesis that not only is there a relationship between

wage and productivity, but also that the relationship is very high. By mere inspection

one can conclude that the correlation is positive. Only 42 (7%) respondents felt that

there is no relationship between minimum wage and productivity. And still 21 (3.5%)

were undecided.

Table 1: Distribution of responses of teachers as to whether there is any relationship between national minimum wage and productivity.

f SENATORIAL I YES I % I NO 1 % I UNDECIDED I % DISTRICT RESPONSES REEEN~ES. ~ / R E S * O N S ~ ~ - I-.. Delta North 169 84.5 15 7.5 8

Delta South 181 90.5 14 7 ( 5 ( 2 . 5

Delta 187 93.5 Central TOTAL 537 - 42 -

' 3 6 " 5 '2

TOTAL 1 % NO. 1.- ..

To determine the strength or degree of correlation co-efficient of this

relationship, the Spearman rank order correlation (r') was used to prove my No.1

hypothesis by first ranking the percentages taken from the above Table las follows:

TOTAL

Where X= Independent variable

Y= Dependent variable and

d2 = (rx -ry)'

Therefore, r' = I - 6 7d2 n (n2 - 1)

Where:

n = number of cases studied (in this case 600 respondents)

This shows an almost perfect positive correlation between minimum wage and *

productivity and the degree of correlation is high indeed, as postulated in the

hypothesis of this study.

Question 2

Do you believe that an increased minimum wage will automatically result in

higher productivity among teachers?

Hypothesis 2: Does a change in wages cause a change in workers' productivity?

Five hundred and thirty (representing 88.3%) out of six hundred respondents

answered "Yes", indicating that a change in wages causes a change in workers'

productivity. The results are summarised in Table 2.

Table 2: Distribution of responses of teachers as to whether an increased national minimum wage will automatically result in higher productivity among teachers.

SENATORIAL DISTRICT Delta North

Delta South

Delta

Central

TOTAL

Question 3

YES RESPONSE

170

1 84

I76

530

88.3

UNDECIDED I % TOTAL NO.

200

200

200

Would you say that the current National Minimum Wage has improved the attitude/output of teachers in the country?

7 0

A total of 554 teachers out of 600 respondents answered "yes", indicating that

the current national minimum wage has improved the attitude /performance of

teachers in the country.

Table 3: Distribution of responses of teachers as to whether the current National Minimum Wage has improved the attitude/output of teachers in the country?

SENATORIAL DIS TRlC T Delta North

Delta South

Delta

central

TOTAL

YES 1 % NO RESPONSE

13

6

5

24

4

UNDECIDED RESPONSE I NO.

Question 4

Would you say that teachers in Delta State have improved productively since the approval of the N7,500 new minimum wage by the IboriJs government?

The data presented in Table 4 show that almost all the teachers (93.2) claim

that teachers in Delta State have improved productively.

Table 4: Distribution of responses of teachers as to whether teachers in Delta

State have improved productively since the approval of the N7,500 new

minimum wage by the Ibori's government.

Question 5

As a teacher, should you be given the credit when your students pass their

SENATORIAL DISTRICT

Delta North

Delta South

Delta Central TOTAL

O/o of 600

external exams, e. g. JSSCE?

From the opinion expressed by the respondents in Table 5 below, 89% of

teachers feel that teachers should be given the credit when their students pass

prescribe exams. Only a mere 6.2% answered in the negative while 4.8% were

undecided.

TABLE 5: Distribution of responses of teachers as to whether teachers should be

given the credit for their students' successes in external examinations.

YES RESPONSE

176

193

190

559

93.2

%

88

96.5

95

-

-

Central

SENATORIAL DISTRICT

Delta North

Delta South

Delta

NO RESPONSE

9

0

9

18

3

NO RESPONSE

16

YES RESPONSE

165

187

182

%

4.5

0

4.5

-

-

%

8

%

82.5

93.5

91

UNDECIDED RESPONSE

15

7

1

23

3.8

UNDECIDED RESPONSE

19

8

13

%

9

3.5

0.5

-

-

%

9.5

TOTAL NO. 200

4

6.5

TOTAL NO. 200

200

200

600

-

%

100

100

100

100

100

5

5

2.5

2.5

200

200

Question 6

Should teachers take the blame for students' poor performance in exams?

Ironically, data in Table 6 below show that 63.3 percent of teachers refuse to

accept blame for students' poor performance in exams, whereas 20.5% believe that

teachers should be blamed. Further investigation reveals that teachers would like

p.arents, the students themselves, and the government to share in the blame, a

sentiment that was not so overtly expressed when they eagerly agreed that they

(teachers) should be given the credit for the success of their students in external

examinations (See Question 5 above).

TABLE 6: Distribution of responses of teachers as to whether teachers should take

TOTAL

% of 600

the blame for students' poor performance in examinations.

534

89

-

-

%

100

100

100

-

-

37

6.2

%

27

7

15

-

-

SENATORIAL DISTRICT

Delta North

Delta South

Delta Central TOTAL

% of 600

TOTAL NO. 200

200

200

600

100

%

61

65

63.5

-

-

-

-

UNDECIDED RESPONSE

54

14

30

98

16.3

YES RESPONSE

24

56

43

123

20.5

29

4.8

%

12

28

21.5

-

-

NO RESPONSE

122

130

127

3 79

63.2

-

- 600

100

-

-

Question 7

Would you say that students' performances in prescribed external exams have

improved since the new minimum wage was approved in Delta State?

The data summarised in Table 7 indicate that only 51.3% (three hundred and

eight out of six hundred) of teachers believe that students' performances in external

exams have improved since May 2000 when the new minimum wage was approved in

Delta State. 39% of respondents feel otherwise, while 9.7% respondents were

undecided because they say they have no access to statistics to prove the truth one

way or the other.

TABLE 7: Responses of teachers as to whether students' performances in external

examinations have improved since the new minimum wage was approved in Delta

State.

However, the researcher took pains to collate data on JSSCE exams conducted

in Delta State in 1997,1998, and 2000. The summary of performance for the period

under review is as shown below:

TOTAL - NO. ._

200

200

200

600

100

SENA TORlA L DISTRICT

Delta North

Delta South '

Delta Central TOTAL

% of 600

UNDECIDED up. RESPONSE__ -- . . -

30

14

14

58

9.7

%

15

7

7

-

-

YES RESPONSE

89

116

103

308

51.3

%

44.5

58

51.5

-

-

NO RESPONSE

81

70

83

234

39

%

40.5

35

41.5

-

-

From the analysis above, it would appear that there is a significant improvement

SUMMARY OF PERFORMANCE FOR 1997,1998 AND 2000.

in students' performance in the year 2000 (46.28%) when minimum wage increased to

SIN

1

2

3

4 -

5

6

7

N7, 500 in Delta State as against 28.85% in 1998 when the minimum wage was just

N3, 500. Barring any other explanations for the improved performance, one could,

Source: Data compiled from original records of State Summary Report from the Office of the Director, Exams and Records, Post-Primary Education. Board (Ministry. of Education), Asaba, Delta State.

DETAILS

No. of Candidates Registered

No. of Candidates Present

No. of Passes

No. of Resits

No. of Failures

No. of Absent

No. of Repeats

and should conclude that increased National Minimum Wage actually leads to

increased productivity among teachers as evidenced by the improved performance in

1997

57,115

56,885

79,782

17,437

19,666

230

0

prescribed external examinations. See details of results for 1997,1998 and 2000 in

Appendix Ill.

%

100

99.6

34.78

30.65 - - - -

34.57

0.4

0

Question 8

Do you believe that the major objective of teachers in secondary schools is to ensure

1998

49,265

48,921

74,774

20,295 - - - .

14,465

344

47

that students are adequately prepared to face the challenges of the wider society?

%

100

99.3

28.85

41.49

29.57

0.7

0.1

2000

35,857

35,703

76,518

11,830

7,349

154

6

Yo

100

99.6

46.28

33.13

20.58

0.4

0 02

From the data gathered below, we can see that over 90% of teachers answered

in the affirmative. This goes further to prove that students' performance is a veritable

tool of measurement of teachers' productivity.

TABLE 8: Distribution of responses of teachers as to whether the major objectives of teachers in Secondary schools is to ensure that students are adequately prepared to face the challenges of the wider society.

SENATORIAL 1 YES

Delta North

Delta Central TOTAL

NO RESPONSE

18

11

% I UNDECIDED I %mm1

Question 9

9

Is it correct to say that passing prescribed exams is the approved method in

Nigeria to prove that students have learnt well?

The distribution of responses indicate that 62.2% think it is correct to say "Yes"

to the above question while 33.8% think otherwise. But 4% of respondents are unable

to decide. Further inquiries reveal that many teachers are not happy about the

. emphasis placed on paper qualification, especially in these days of nefarious acts of

examination malpractice.

RESPONSE 5 2.5

NO. 200 100

TABLE 9: Distribution of responses of teachers as to whether it is correct to say that passing prescribed exams is the approved method in Nigeria to prove that students have learnt well.

Question 10

SENATORIAL DISTRICT

Delta North

Delta South

Delta Central TOTAL

% of 600

Can we say that teachers are working hard when students pass their exams?

The majority of teachers responded positively to this question, with 89.7%

YES RESPONSE

118

134

121

373

62.2

saying "yes". Only 7% said "No", while 3.3% were undecided.

%

59

67

60.5

-

-

TABLE 10: Distribution of responses of teachers as to whether we can say that teachers are working hard when students pass their exams.

NO RESPONSE

70

60

73

203

33.8

7

SENATORIA L DISTRICT

Delta North

Delta South

Delta Central TOTAL

O/o of 600

%

35

30

36.5

-

-

YES RESPONSE

177

185

176

538

89.7

UNDECIDED RESPONSE

12

6

6

24

4

%

88.5

92.5

88

-

-

%

6

3

3

-

-

NO RESPONSE

13

13

16

42

.-

7

TOTAL NO. 200

200

200

600

100

%

6.5

6.5

8

-

-

%

100

1 b O

100

-

-

UNDECIDED RESPONSE

10

2

8

20

- 3.3

%

5 .

1

4

-

-

TOTAL NO. 200

--- 200

200

600 -

I 00

%

100 -- .

100

100

-

-

Question 77

Would you say that teachers in private secondary schools show more

dedication to work than those in public secondary schools?

Over 70% of respondents vehemently refuted the suggestion that teachers in

private secondary schools show more dedication to work than those in public

secondary schools. They claim that teachers in private schools only show dedication

because if they do not do so they will be disciplined. This seems to suggest that there

is less discipline in the Public Sector than in the Private Sector.

TABLE 11 : Distribution of responses of teachers as to whether teachers in private secondary schools show more dedication to work than those in public secondary schools.

I SENATORIAL 1 YES RESPONSE

55

Delta South 42

Delta 46 Central

Question 72

Do you think other factorfs) can result in improved productivity among

teachers?

Hvpothesis 3: Can changes in productivity be due to changes in other variables?

%

4

UNDECIDED RESPONSE

8

%

27.5

TOTAL NO. 200

NO RESPONSE

137

%

100

%

68.5

The overwhelming response was "Yes" with 95.5%. Less than one percent

responded in the negative and 4.3% could not decide. Some of the variables listed by

teachers are in-service training, car loans, accommodation, payment of salaries

without delays, and conducive teaching environment, to mention but a few.

TABLE 12: Distribution of responses of teachers as to whether changes in productivity be due to changes in other variables

I SENATORIAL I YES 1 % I DISTRICT 1 RESPONSE 1 / Delta North 1 189 1 94.5

Delta South

NO I % 1 UNDECIDED 1 % I TOTAL 1 % I

' Delta Central TOTAL

% of 600

RESPONSE RESPONSE NO. 1 0.5 10 5 200 100

189

Question 13

94.5

195

573

95.5

Do you subscribe to the view that government's work is nobody's work?

97.5

-

A mere 15% of respondents confidently affirmed that they do subscribe to the

view that government's work is nobody's work. Of the 83.2% that responded in the

negative, their verbal comments to the hearing of the researcher implied that even if

they did subscribed to this view, thy would never admit it on paper!

TABLE 13: Distribution of responses of teachers as to whether they subscribe to the

view that government's work is nobody's work.

SENA TORIA L YES DISTRICT RESPONSE

Delta North 11

Delta South 69

Delta 10 Central TOTAL 90

% 1 NO I % I UNDECIDED 1 % I TOTAL RESPONSE RESPONSE NO.

5.5 182 91 7 3.5 200

Question 14

Has the above attitude affected workers productivity/performance in

government's institutions and parastatals?

While majority of respondents claim they do not subscribe to the view that

government's work is nobody's work, 71.7% also admit that such a negative attitude to

work has greatly affected the productivity of most civil servants.

TABLE 14: Distribution of responses of teachers as to whether the attitude that government's work is nobody's work has affected workers productivity/performance in government's institutions and parastatals.

TOTAL NO. 200

200

200

600

100

SENA TO RIAL DISTRICT

Delta North

Delta South

Delta Central TOTAL

% of 600

%

100

100

100

-

-

YES RESPONSE

135

146

149

430

71.7

%

67.5

73

74.5

-

-

UNDECIDED RESPONSE

20 -

11

36

6

%

10

5-2.5

5.5

-

-

NO RESPONSE

45

49

40

134

22.3

%

22.5

24.5

20

-

-

Question 15

Do you think government considers Civil Servants' productivity first before

approving new minimum wage in this country?

Out of six hundred respondents, three hundred and fifteen (52.5%) of them

believe that government takes the productivity or contributions of civil servants to

nation building into consideration before approving new minimum wage in this country.

However, two hundred and fifty-five (42.5%) believe the opposite, saying increases in

minimum wages are usually mainly determined by political reasons. Some 5% of

respondents are undecided as to what government considers before increasing new

minimum wages in this country.

TABLE 15: Distribution of responses of teachers as to whether government considers Civil Servants productivity first before approving new minimum wages in this country.

-

%

8.5 --

2

4.5

-

SENATORIAL DISTRICT

Delta North

Delta South

Delta Central TOTAL

O h of 600 I 52-5 I - I 42-5 I - I 51 -

YES RESPONSE

94

119

102

315

%

47

59.5

51

-

NO RESPONSE

89

77

89

255

%

44.5

38.5

44.5

-

UNDECIDED RESPONSE

17

4

9

30

REFERENCES

lnformation contained in the Delta State Programme of Activities on Civil

Service Day, 2000, p.9.

lnformation contained in the Delta State Programme of Activities on Civil

Service Day, 2000, p.10.

FEC (2001), Vanguard, 16 August, p.1.

Adebayo, A. (1986) Power in Politics, Ibandan: Spectrum Books Limited.

Fafunwa, A.B, (1974), History of Education in Nigeria, London: George Allen

& Unwin, p.190.

Fafunwa, A. Babs. (1 967), New Perspective In African Education. Nigeria:

Macmillan and Company (Nig.) Ltd., p.44.

Fafunwa, A.B, (1974), Histow of Education in Nigeria, London: George Allen

& Unwin, p.190.

Ibid, P.193.

Ibid, p.195

Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Policy on Education, Lagos: Federal

Ministry of Information, 1977, p.23

Ujo, A. A, Understanding Development Administration in Ni~eria, Kaduna:

~ o l h o r a Ventures Ltd., 1994, p. 1 32.

lnformation from the Dept. of Planning, Research and Statistics, Post-

Primary Education Board, Ministry of Education, Asaba.

Amori, 1 (2001) "The best is yet to come in education", The Pointer, June 13,

p.6.

Ibid, p.5.

CHAPTER FOUR

IMPLICATIONS OF RESULTS AND FINDINGS

The implications of the results and findings of this study for the Nigerian Civil

Service in general, and Delta State Civil Service in particular are enormous in view of

the fact that all the three issues investigated in the hypotheses of the research were

resolved beyond reasonable doubts.

The first issue sought to determine the degree of relationship between wages

and productivity among civil servants in the State. We found that there is indeed a

very high degree of correlation between wage and productivity. People seek money,

ideally, not for the sake of it but because it gives the financial ability to procure the

essential necessities of life.

The second issue raised was whether there was a cause and effect relationship

between wages earned and workers' productive efforts. The answer was a

;esounding 'yes'!

The last, but not the least, issue investigated in this study was whether changes

in productivity could be due to changes in variables other than money. The results

showed that other non-monetary variables (incentives) could encourage workers to

increase productivity.

The summary of all these results and findings is that government workers are

no different from workers in private organisations. The general view of government

ministries, agencies, institutions and parastatals as being inefficient and hardly

justifying the monies spent on them is myopic. It must be recognised that a big

handicap to parastatals is political interference, particularly concerning staff

appointment and promotion. These parastatals take their cues from their owners and

adhere to practices such as federal character, remuneration and conditions of service.

They also face inadequate funding and are forced to operate in climates that make

effectiveness and efficiency impossible.

The implication here is that government needs to consider other options, apart

from increasing national minimum wage, to improve national productivity through the

Civil Service. For starters, the various levels of government should consider the

following question:

"How much of the low productivity in the public enterprises can

be attributed to Human Resource Development and Utilisation

factors rather than on inadequate national minimum wage?"

The National Productivity Centre was established to stimulate productivity

donsciousness and to promote productivity improvement in all sectors in Nigeria

economy. The main functions of the centre among others are the provision of

assistance to firms in the setting up of productivity schemes; conducting studies on

productivity in every sector; disseminating information on methods and programmes

. for improving productivity in industries and organisations. ' But, alas, the impact of

this centre is not being felt in the country, no doubt, because of poor funding.

There is no denying that the long period of starvation wages paid government

workers contributed to low morals and low productivity in the public sector. However,

because of global inflationary trends, the value of money, particularly the Naira, has

continued to fall thereby reducing the "real" wage of the worker while the nominal

wages continue to rise. Thus continuous wage demandlincrease fuels the inflationary

trend that always makes the worker the loser. * It is therefore up to the government to

formulate policies that would ensure that workers get real value for their money.

A final implication of the results and findings of this research is that the

government and those in authority have a larger role to play in improving the

productive level of their workers as no employee can dictate to his or her employer

how much work he or she wants to carry out. The employer is responsible for setting

of targets to be achieved. And implementation of disciplinary measures is also in the

hands of the employer. In other words, the Nigerian Civil Service urgently needs a

productivity-oriented management to re-engineer her function to commence a gradual

but necessary shift from her present posture of Father Christmas or Charity

Organisation to a result-oriented organisation even while it retains the welfarist

principle of providing goods and services for the masses.

When government begins to take her functions and responsibilities seriously, I

have no doubt that productivity in the civil service will be revived as in the days of old!

REFERENCES

1. Igun, U.A. (1999) "The Relevance of Human Resource Practice in a

Developing Economy1', Paper Presented at the Institute of Personnel

Management of Nigeria, Delta State Branch's Seminar, SPDC Training

Office, Edjebah, August 1 3th, p. 6.

2. Benson-Eluwa, V. (1998) The Practice of Human, Industrial & Public

Relations, Nigeria:Virgin Creations, p.30.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

5.1 SUMMARY

The concept of 'minimum wage' is by no means new, neither is it applied only in

Nigeria. Indeed, Nigeria only adopted the idea of a National Minimum Wage in 1981

when The National Minimum Wage Act (No. 6 of 1981) became effective from 3rd

September 1981. Minimum Wage is used worldwide to give wagelsalary earners

necessary social protection as regards minimum permissible levels of wages and to

overcome poverty and ensure the satisfaction of the needs of all workers and their

family.

This study has tried to establish the effect of national minimum wage on the

productivity of Civil Servants in Nigeria. The study postulated that wages and

'productivity are highly related. This means that there is a cause and effect relation

between both variables. The study has equally shown that Nigerian workers do not

possess any innate characteristics that should make them less productive than

workers of other nationalities. The question asked at the beginning of the study was

"how is it that increased minimum wage does not seem to have much impact on the

productivity of civil servants in Nigeria?" The findings reveal that the key reasons are

Money, Men and Materials, which can be broken into the following negative elements

as listed by Ejiogu (2001).

Shortage of skilled, experienced and dedicated manpower;

Absence or lack of functional operational equipment;

Lack of conducive working environment;

Inadequate funding or misapplication/misappropriation of project funds;

Lack of proper staff supervision by superior officers;

Bureaucratic bottlenecks leading to haughty and arrogant management

styles;

General indiscipline and insubordination of operative staff;

Inequity, nepotism and bigotry on the part of superordinates;

Disregard for set targets or production deadlines;

Low regard for research and research findings;

Lack of productivity consciousness;

Lack of job evaluation and job allocation, and

Poor performance monitoring, analysis and feedback.

The study also showed that while wage should be a welcome development to

workers ordinarily, it has tended to exacerbate an already problematic economic

situation for workers. This is because announcement of a new minimum wage usually

results in immediate artificial inflation; moreover, many employers (State Governments

and Parastatals) almost always protest about the huge wage liability they would be

compelled to pay and this reluctance on the part of employers almost always leads to

industrial disharmony which could be in the form of strike action, organised peaceful

protests, to mention just a few on the part of employees. Employers on their part

reflect their displeasure at the wage hike by reducing staff strength at the slightest

excuse. The consequence of all these actions is that productivity of civil servants

drops, and this in turn leads to low national productivity.

Civil Servants are workers in the Public Sector whose services cannot be

dispensed with easily by any government since they are the bureaucratic machinery

for formulating, implementing and re-appraising government policies and programmes.

This is why whatever affects their productive capacity affects the whole nation.

The study wondered why the Private Sector seem to be succeeding where the

Public Sector seem to have failed and suggested that perhaps civil servants do not

see any relationship between wage and productivity; or perhaps they see government

work as nobody's and everybody's work: whether they work or not they must surely

get paid; or maybe they need some other motivating factors that the government is yet

to know about.

In order to find answers to the above questions, the researcher designed a

questionnaire with fifteen relevant questions and administered 600 copies of the

questionnaires to teachers in Delta State Secondary schools. The study also made

use of results of students' performances in the Junior Secondary School Certificate

Exams over a period of three years (1997, 1998 and 2000) to ascertain whether there

is any marked improvement in exams written after May 2000 when the incumbent

Obasanjo's administration instituted the new national minimum wage of N7,500 which

the Delta State government of Chief James Onanefe lbori instantly implemented.

The data gathered were analysed by percentages, and also, Spearman's Rank

Order Correlation was used where necessary for further analysis to test the No. 1

Hypothesis.

The findings revealed that most civil servants acknowledge that there is a

significant correlation between wages and productivity. They claimed that they usually

work harder when the pay is better, too. Their claim was confirmed by the

performance of their students that rose sharply from 28.85% in 1998 (when national

minimum wage was N3, 500) to 46.28% in the year 2000 (when national minimum

wage was raised to N7, 500), an improvement of over 62%. And happily, the study

noted that there was an almost perfect positive correlation between minimum wage

and productivity, thereby implying that a change in wages would cause a change in

productivity.

As for whether teachers in private secondary schools are more committed to

their work than those in government-owned schools, consensus opinion refutes the

'suggestion, saying that the commitment being shown by teachers in private school is

done out of fear of reprisal from their employer who is in business mainly for profit and

so would not tolerate any act of nonchalance or negligence of duties. Respondents

also assert that given the slightest opportunity, teachers in the private sector would

move over to the public schools where discipline appears to be taken less seriously.

Fortunately, the issue of discipline in the Nigerian Civil Service has taken a new

turn with Mr. President being directly responsible for its implementation in the country.

The States, too, are not taking the issue of discipline lightly. In Delta State, for

99

example, the Commissioner for Education recently announced the suspension of three

school principals who were involved in illegal collection of fees from students and

parents seeking admission. This action has instilled a lot of fear in the hearts of erring

principals and teachers as they now recognise that no one is above the law in a

democratic setting.

And finally, the researcher discussed some of the implications of her findings

and these can be summarised as follows:

Government needs to invest more on human resource

development and utilisation since there are no inherent factors

limiting civil servants from being as productive as their

counterparts in the private sector;

The National Productivity Centre and the National Orientation

Agency should be more visible if they are to be effective in

enhancing national productivity;

In view of the corruptive effects that prolonged poor pay and

delayed salaries had on civil servants nationwide, government at

all levels should ensure that workers are paid promptly.

Government should endeavour to curb artificial inflation so that

workers can enjoy the real benefits of increased wages,

Government should interfere less in the administration of the Civil

Service, for you cannot deprive an organisation of the power over

control of its human resources and expect maximum efficiency

and productivity from such an organisation!

o Finally, the Nigerian Civil Service needs a productivity- oriented

management to re-engineer her function, to commence a gradual

but necessary shift from her present posture of Father Christmas

or Charity Organisation to a result-oriented organisation even

while it retains the welfarist principle of providing goods and

services for the masses.

5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS

Having summarised this study, I would like to recommend that

governments should devise a valid method of measuring workers' productivity

and contribution to national productivity/development through their jobs. They

can borrow a leaf from the private sector on how to go about it, as it is by no

means an easy task to take on.

I would also like to recommend that disciplinary measures in the Civil

Service Code of Conduct be implemented and that Heads of Department be

held responsible for any fall in workers' productive level occasioned by sheer

misconduct, as they are the ones that are directly in charge of their

subordinates.

For further research, I would suggest that a study on 'Staff Discipline and

Productivity in the Nigerian Public Service' be carried out as soon as possible to

determine the degree of effect the one has on the other.

5.3 CONCLUSION

From every indication, the study has succeeded in answering all the

questions raised in the research. It has shown conclusively that higher wage

certainly improves workers productivity. Not only has the study established that

there is a relationship between minimum wage and productivity, it has proven,

too, that the degree of this relationship is very high indeed. It has also shown

that in addition to a living wage, other motivating factors such as in-service

training, promotion, car loans, accommodation, payments of salaries without

delays, regular promotion and conducive teaching environment would go a long

way towards enhancing productivity.

The government (at least, that of Delta State) is trying to meet its

obligations to workers by providing as much of these rewards for hard work as

possible within available resources. The current minimum wage is the highest

that government workers have ever received and there will soon be a twenty-

five percent increment going by the agreement between the Federal

Government and the Nigerian Labour Congress.

The lingering nonchalant attitude of civil servants in the country in spite

of the new minimum wage of N7,500/month therefore can more accurately be

attributed to lack of implementation of disciplinary measures against erring

workers. No doubt the bureaucratic bottlenecks of effectively punishing the

guilty worker are a major hindrance to this issue. Moreover, because the

Heads of Departments or Ministries themselves are not without guilt, their

hands are tied when it comes to correcting or punishing those who are found

wanting. This is the difference between the Public Sector and the Private

Sector. The employer in the private sector would not hesitate to firelsack any

employee suspected to be working against the interest of the organisation.

The implications of these findings for current practice are numerous. For

one thing, the government must ensure that national minimum wage reflects the

realities of the times to ensure that national productivity does not drop. We

have seen that the higher the wage paid the higher the productivity level of the

worker.

Secondly, government needs to encourage higher productivity through

provision of additional motivating rewards and punishment. This will no doubt

bring about the kind of loyalty and commitment found among workers in the

Private Sector on the part of civil servants. This might even involve payment by

results! The more you work the more you earn.

And last but not the least, another implication of the findings is that

performance must be measured to encourage teachers to put in their best. For

instance, teachers' productivity should be measured by the performance of their

students in exams. This will make them pay more attention to students who are

slow learners rather than just leaving them to struggle on their own. In Delta

State for instance, there are currently two hundred and twenty-four thousand,

four hundred and eighteen post-primary school students (224,418) and with a

total of nine thousand nine hundred and fifty-one (9,951) teachers in the state,

every teacher would have an average of 23 students to attend to. Surely this is

not too much for a day's work?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

Adebayo, A. (1 986), Power in Politics, Ibandan: Spectrum Books Limited.

Asika, N. (1991), Research Methodology in the Behavioural Sciences, Nigeria: Longman Nigeria.

Benson-Eluwa, V. (1998) The Practice of Human, lndustrial & Public Relations, Nigeria: Virgin Creations.

Fafunwa, A. Babs. (1 967), New Perspective in African Education, Nigeria: Macmillan and Company (Nig.) Ltd.

Fafunwa, A.B. (1974), Historv of Education in Ni~eria, London: George Allen & Unwin. Federal Executive Council (2001) Vanguard, Thursday August 16, Vo1.17: No.

4816.

Gunilla, A. & Bjorn, B. (1996), BARGAINING FOR SURVIVAL: Unionized Workers in the Nigerian Textile lndustrv (Discussion Paper 78), France: UNRISD.

ILO (1951), Payment By Results, Geneva: lnternational Labour Office.

Nwana, O.C. (1981), Introduction to Educational Research, Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Books (Nig.) Ltd.

Onasanya, S.A.B. (1 WO), Effective Personnel Manaqement & Industrial Relations, Nigeria: CMD.

Starr, G. (1981), Minimum Wage Fixing: An lnternational Review of Practices and Problems, Geneva: lnternational Labour Office.

Ubeku, A. K. (1984), Personnel Management in Nigeria: Principles and Practices, London: Macmillan Publishers.

Ujo, A. A. (1 994), Understanding Development Administration in Niqeria, Kaduna: Solmora Ventures Ltd.

Yesufu, T.M. (1984), The Dynamics of lndustrial Relations, London: Oxford University Press.

Younger, K. (1960), The Public Service in New States, London: Oxford University Press.

Journals

Ejiogu, A. (2001). "Enhancing Productivity in the Public Service". Journal of Professional Administration (January - March): 19-20.

International Journal of Studies in the Humanities (IJOSH) (1998), Vol. 1, No. 1 (July).

Ma~azines and Newspapers

Amori, 1 (2001), "The best is yet to come in education", The Pointer, June 13.

Federal Executive Council (FEC) (2001), Vanquard, August 16.

Unpublished Materials

Buraimoh, D. (2001). "Building Loyal and Dedicated Workforce". Paper Presented at the Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria, Delta State Branch's Annual ~ e n e r a l Meeting, Warri, February 8th.

Igun, U.A. (1999) "The Relevance of Human Resource Practice in a Developing Economy", Paper Presented at the lnstitute of Personnel Management of Nigeria, Delta State Branch's Seminar, SPDC Training Office, Edjebah, August 1 3'h.

Igun, U.A. (1999) "Theoretical Bases of the 'Bad Attitude to Work' Among Nigerian Workers". Paper Presented Graduate Seminar Series, Delsu Study Centre, Lagos.

Ogonna, (2001), Research Methods, Handout on MPA 504, Nsukka.

Ojo, A.A. (2000), "Leadership, Decision-Making and Motivation". Paper Presented at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka Warri Outreach Centre Seminar on 'Contemporary Leadership Issues', PTI Conference Centre, Effurun, November I lth.

Programme of Activities of the Delta State Year 2000 Civil Service Day Celebration.

APPENDIX 1

QUESTIONNAIRE

INTRODUCTION

This is a student research work, being carried out by Onoriode, E. 0, a post-graduate student of Public Administration in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a Masters Degree in Public Administration (MPA) at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

The questions are designed to help the student on the topic, "National Minimum Wage and Productivity in the Nigerian Civil Service: A Case Study of Post-primary School Teachers in Delta Staten.

You are kindly requested to answer the questions, below objectively. Information supplied and views expressed will be treated strictly as confidential. Your names are not necessary.

INSTRUCTION: Tick the appropriate answerlfill in the gaps. Thanks for your co-operation. Name of School:

SECTION A: PERSONAL DATA (a). Age (i) Below 30 Years 0

(ii) 30 - 40 years 0 (iiil) Above 40years 0

(b) Sex (i) Male O (ii) Female 0

(c) Marital Status (i) Single 0 (ii) Married 0

(d) Qualification (i) N.C.E 0 (ii) Degree 0 (iii) Post-graduate 0

(0) What is your grade level? G L 1 - 6 U GL7-10 GL12-16

(f) What position do you occupy in your school'?

Academic Staff 0 Non-academic Staff 0

(g) How long have you been in the Civil Service?

Less than 5 years

More than 5 years

SECTION B

1) As a Civil Servant, do you think there is any relationship between national

.................. minimum wage and workers' productivity?

2) Do you believe that an increased minimum wage will automatically result in

higher productivity among Civil Servants? ..................

3) Would you say that the current national minimum wage has improved the

attitudelperfomnce of teachers in the country?

4) Would you say that Teachers in Delta State have improved productively since

the approval of the N7,500.00 New Minimum Wage by the present Ibori's

government? ...........................................

5) As a Teacher, should you be given the credit when your students pass their

external exam, e.g JSSCE? ................

6) Should teachers take the blame for students' poor performance in exams? .......

Would you say that students' performances in prescribed external exams

have improved since the new minimum wage was approved in Delta State?

......... Do you believe that the major objective of teachers in secondary schools is

to ensure that students are adequately prepared to face the challenges of

the wider society?. ......... Is it correct to say that passing prescribed exams is the approved method in

Nigeria to prove that students have learnt well? ............. Can we say that teachers are working hard when students pass their

exams?. ......

Would you say that teachers in private secondary schools show more

dedication to work than those in public secondary schools? ................. Do you think other factor(s) can result in improved productivity among

teachers? Name some:

................................................................................................... Do you subscribe to the view that government's work is nobody's work?

........... Has the above attitude affected worker's productivitylperformance in

government institutions and parastatals? . .; .......................................... Do you think government considers Civil Servants' productivity first before

approving new minimum wage in this country? ............................... Please return the completed forms to the Researcher, Endurance Onoriode, directly or

to the Principal of your school.

Once again, thank you for completing this questionnaire.

~ndurance Onoriode

C/o Terino Surveys Ltd., 2, Esievo Lane, Effurun. 4th April, 2001.

AP'P'LICBJIDN FOR THE RELEASE OF RELEVANT -- DATA FOR RESEARCH WORK

I write to request ycur permission to enible me gather relevant data from your

I am a Post-gradu~m student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, studying for a

blasters Degree in Pubiic Administration. My matriculation number is

I sttall be most ;srt?ful if you will give your approval to enable various

F3:: *i.~rt!~!~,\L~/Agctnci~s r.;r:M your Ministry to supply me with relevant information on

!fty topic "l\li+~tic~nai Mininil, ; Wage & Productivity in the Nigerian Civil Service: A Case . -

S!::dy of Post-Primary ScFsad Teachers in Delta State".

Tksank you for your m-operation.

.pZz Yours sincerely,

E. O. Onoriode (Mrs.)

DELTA STATE OF NIGERIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, ASABA

1998 JSSCE RESULT

LGA Sch. LGA Code: 01 Every 7th School No. No. NO. of Wecode School Name Reg. Present Passes

1 7 Mixed Sec. School 148 147 33 7 Ezemu Girls' Gramm. Sch., Ubulu-Uku 7 Kalafiogbene Gramm. Sch., Kalafiogbene 7 Torugbene Gramm. Sch., Torugbene 7 lgun Secondary Sch., lgun 7 Ofarami Mixed Sec. Sch., Ogharefe 7 Maryrnount College I, Boji-Boji Owa 7 Ekuku-Agbor Gramm. Sch. Ekuku-Agbor 7 James Welch Gramm. Sch., Emevor 7 Enhwe Comprensive High Sch., Enhwe 7 lbedeni Sec. Sch., lbedeni 7 Ezebaja Sec. Sch., Etua 7 St. Peter Clavet's College, Aghalokpe I Akwukwu-lgbo Gram. Sch. Akwukwu-lgbt 7 St. Bridget's Girls' Gram. Sch. I, Asaba I Oproza Gram. Sch., Patani 7 Okotie-Eboh Gram. Sch. I, Sapele 7 Aladja Gram. Sch., Aladja 7 Edjeba Sec. Sch., Edjeba 7 Olo,u Sec. Sch. Otorere-01omu 7 Ndokwa Sec. Comm. Sch. Obiaruku 7 Umobo College, Effurun 1 Ginuwa Gramm. Sch., Gbokoda 7 Uwangue College I, Warri

No. of I No. of I No. of ( Total I Percent I Percent I Percent Fail I Ragit

31 1 83 1 0 1 11 22.45 1 21.09 1 56.46

Percent Repeat

0.00 0.74 0.00 4.17 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 5.07 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.37 -

Schools not up to Seven


2000 JSSCE RESULT

LGA Code: 01 Every 7th School School Name

Ezemu Girls' Gramm. Sch., Ubulu-Uku Kalafiogbene Gramm. Sch., Kalafiogben Torugbene Gramm. Sch., To~gbene lgun Secondary Sch., lgun Ofarami Mixed Sec. Sch., Ogharefe Marymount College I, Boji-Boji Owa Ekuku-Agbor Gramm. Sch. Ekuku-Agbol James Welch Gramm. Sch., Emevor Enhwe Comprensive High Sch., Enhwe lbedeni Sec. Sch., lbedeni Ezebaja Sec. Sch., Etua St. Peter Ciaver's College, Aghalokpe Akwukwu-lgbo Gram. Sch. Akwukwu-lgt St. Bridget's Girls' Gram. Sch. I, Asaba

Oproza Gram. Sch., Patani Okotie-Eboh Gram. Sch. I, Sapele Aladja Gram. Sch., Aladja Edjeba Sec. Sch., Edjeba Olo,u Sec. Sch. Otorere-01omu Ndokwa Sec. Comm. Sch. Obiaruku Urhobo College, E f f ~ ~ n Ginuwa Gramm. Sch., Gbokoda Uwangue College I, Warri

, I* Ogidigben Gramm. Sch. Ogidigben I

LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMPREHENSIVE REPORT

No. I No. I No. of I No. of Reg. I ~ ~ e s e n t j Passes 1 Failures

881 88 1 42 1 9

Total I Percent I Percent ~bsent( Pass I Fail

O l 47.73 1

Percent Resit 42.05 50.25 0.00 8.65

10.7 1 2.67 7.79

41.84 65.09 30.99 4.76

30.00 49.48 18.09 67.42 53.85 0.00

21.95 10.53 28.07 28.89 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

25.77 _I__._

Percent Repeat

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.41 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.04 1

* Schools not up b Seven

APPENDIX IV 113

SUMMARY OF STATE PERFORMANCE FOR 1997,1998 AND 2000.

SIN

1

2

3

4

5 6

' 7

DETAILS No. of Candidates Registered No. of Candidates Present

No. of Passes

No. of Resits

No. of Failures No. of Absent ,No. of Re~eats

1997

57,115

56,885

19,782

17,437

19,666 230

0

%

99.59

34.78

30.65

34.57 0.4

0

I I I I

%

99.57

46.28

33.13

20.58 0.4

0.02

1998 49,26

5 48,92

1 14,11

4 20,29

5 14,46

5 W 47

%

99.30

28.85

41.49

29.57 0.7 0.1

2000

35,857

35,703

16,518

11,830

7,349 154

6


LGA Name I

hn io~ha ~ o r t h Aniocha South

, Bomadi I Burutu Ethiope East Ethiope West Ika North-West Ika South lsoko North lsoko South Ndokwa East Ndokwa West OkPe Oshimili North Oshimili South Patani sa~e le Udu Ughelli North Ughelli South Ukwuani Uwvie Wam North Warri South

25 1 ~ a r r i South-West OTAL r J

1997 JSSCE RESULT

No. of NO. of No. of No. of Total Percent Percent Percent Percent Present Passes Failures Resits Repeats Absent Pass Fail Resit Repeat

32.80 0.00


1998 JSSCE RESULT

.GA LGA Name :ode

1 Aniocha North 2 Aniocha South 3 Bomadi 4 Burutu 5 Ethiope East 6 Ethiope West 7 Ika North-West 8 Ika South 9 lsoko North 10 IsokoSouth 11 Ndokwa East 12 Ndokwa West 13 Okpe 14 Oshimili North 15 Oshimili South 16 Patani 17 Sapele 18 Udu 19 Ughelli North 20 Ughelli South 21 Ukwuani 22 Uwvie 23 Warri North 24 Warri South 25 l ~ a r r i South-West

OTAL

No. Present

I887 2488

345 702

1981 839

3577 3086 1467 1454 1067 2148 560

1400 1571 319

3810 1050 4448 1033 1781 4559

167 7086

96 4891 9 -

No. of Passes

608 245 165 432 658 439 647 685 278 31 0 326 405 238 58

51 1 107

1377 545

1974 409 329

1 2 0 133

1960 68

14114 -

No. of Failures

504 1183

55 118 655 100

1232 948 440 291 346

1038 134 789 171 95

857 134 740 252 724

121 1 2

2455' 11

14465

No. of Resits

775 1057 125 139 653 300

I698 1453 747 851 396 703 187 572 889 110

1576 37 1

1734 372 728

2142 32

2668 17

20295 -

No. of Percent Pass

32.22 9.85

47.83 61.54 33.1 1 52.32 18.09 22.20 19.02 21.32 30.55 18.87 42.68 4.21

32.53 33.54 36.14 51 .go 44.3 39.59 18.47 26.45 79.64 27.66 70.83 28.85 __.__

Percent Fail

26.71 47-55 15.94 16.81 33.N 11.92 34.44 30.72 29.98 20.01 32.42 48.37 23.92 54.93 10.88 29.78 22.49 12.76 16.64 24.39 40.65 26.56

1.2C 34.65 11 -46 29.67

P

[ Percent 1 Resit I 41.07 I I

42.48 I 36.22 I 19.80 I

32.S 35-76 47.47 47.08 50.92 58.53 37.1 1 32.78 33.39 40.86 56.59 34.4 41.38 35.33 38.98 36.01 40.88 46.98 19.18 37.65 17.71 41.49 -

i Percent Repeat

I 0.m I I

0.12 0.m

1 1.85 I

0.86 0.00 0.m 0.00 0.07 0.14 0.09 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.19 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.04 0.00 0.10


~LGA (LGA Name Code I

1 (Aniocha North

warri south-west

2 3 4 5

; 6 I 7 I 8 1 9 1 10

11 12 13 14

I 15 16

1 17 I 18 1 19

1 20 21 22 23 24

2000 JSSCE RESULT

Aniocha South Bomadi Burutu Ethiope East Ethiope West Ika North-West Ika South lsoko North ISO~O South Ndokwa East Ndokwa West Okpe Oshimili North Oshimili South Patani Sapele Udu Ughelli North UgWli south Ukwuani Uwvie Warri North Warri South

STATE COMPREHENSIVE REPORT

lo. Reg4 No. I No. of I No. of I No. of I No. of I Present I Passes I Failures I Resib I Repeats

1894) 16931 974 ( 273 1 446 1 (3

Total ( Percent ( Percent ( Percent 1 Percent I Absent

4 11 0 3

10 10 15 10 6 4 0 4 4 7 5 2 0 8

33 8 7 0 3 0

Repeat 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.06 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.80 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

APPENDIX VI

ESTABLISHMENTS IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE OF DELTA STATE

I SIN ESTABLISHMENT

1. Offie of the Deputy Governor

2. Ministry of Commerce, Industryl Co-op & Tourism

3. Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources

4.. Ministry of Infonnatbn and Culture

5. Ministry of Justice

6. Ministry of Education

7. Ministry of Finance

8. Ministry of Health

9. Ministry of Women Affairs & Social Development

10. Ministry of Works, Housing & Transport

1 1. Bureau of Special Duties

12. Office of the Secretary to the State Government

13. Ofice of the Head of Service

14. Civil Service Commission

15. Directorate of Cabinet and Administration

Directorate of Establishments & Pensions

Directorate of Government House & Pmtocol

Directorate of Lands and Surveys

Directorate of Local Government & Chieftaincy Affairs

Directorate of Youth & Sports

Directorate of Political and Secunty Services

Directorate of Pet., Minerals & Related Matters

Delta State Fire Service

State Planning Bureau

Rural Development Agency

State Emergency Relief Agency

Office of the Auditor-General (State)

Office of the Auditor-General (Local Government)

Office of the Accountant-General

Board of Internal Revenue

Judkial Sewice Committee

High Court of Justice

Customary Court of Appeal t

Delta State House of Assembly

Post-Primery Education Board

Hospital Management Board

Delta State Unban Water Board

Delta State Rural Water and Sanitathn Agency

Delta Development and Property Authority

Delta Broadcasting Sewice

Delta Library Board

Christian Pilgrims Wetfare Boa.&

Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board

Delta State Sports Council

Delta State Council for Arts and Culture

Delta State Traditional Medicine Board

Delta Agricultural Development Programme

Institute of Continuing Educatbn Limited

Delta Printing and Publishing Company

Delta State Tourism Board

Delta State Environmental Protection Agency

Agency for Adult and Non-formal Education and Mass Literacy,

Source: As compiled fmm the Pmgmmme of Activities for the Year 2000

Civil Service Day in Delta State.

APPENDIX VII (SUMMARY OF RESPONSES TO QUESTIONAIRE FOR EACH OF THE THREE

SENATORIAL DISTRICTS IN DELTA STATE) Delta Central

Delta North

I Question I Yes I % I No I % I Undecided 1 % 1 Total 1 % I I NQ. I Res~onse 1 1 Res~onse I .f .Res~onse I I No. I 1

Delta South

Source: Compiled fmm raw data gathered from the Department of Exams and Records, PPEB, Asaba.

APPENDIX Vlll (LIST OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS WHERE QUESTIONNAIRES WERE

ADMINISTERED TO TEACHERS)

I S I N M E I NO. ADMINSITERED

*Note: - Though only six hundred respondents were actually needed for the study, the

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

researcher had to administer more questionnaires to provide for 'respondents who, for

NO. RETURNED

one reason or the other, may not return their questionnaires. Thus the actual number

SENATORIAL DISTRICT

Uvwie Udu Ethiope East Sapeie Ughelli South Ukwani Oshimili South Warri South

, TOTAL

analysed were six hundred. The excess questionnaires returned were discarded

randomly.

67 43 50 20 40 60

180 206

666* .

60 40 40 20 40 60

146 201

607'.

Delta Central Delta Central Delta Central Delta Central Delta Central Delta North Delta North Delta South

university of nigeria o_2001_01… · university of nigeria research publications author onoriode,...

Documents