THE CHALLENGES OF PROMOTING ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR IN THE NIGERIAN PUBLIC SECTOR

The promotion of ethics in the public sector is one of the positive steps in ensuring excellent performance in governance. This paper discusses the challenges of promoting ethical behaviour in Nigerian public sector*. Using data generated from secondary sources, it has been realized that uptake of ethics in the public sector within Nigerian context has been very minimal. This has been attributed to factors such as lack of commitment on the part of government to continue to situate stringent measure on ethical violations into the mainstream of government institutions, poor adherence to ethical standards by public officers, absence of rules and regulations that could enhance good ethics and performance in the public sector, poor political leadership and corruption. In the light of the above findings, the paper recommended among others that there should be a mass education campaign on the extent and cost of corruption and unethical behavior; enacting, improving and effectively enforcing legal instruments, code of conduct and regulations for promoting ethics and performance; and ethics and societal norms should be taught in primary and secondary schools and should be introduced as compulsory course under general studies department of all higher institutions in Nigeria.