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Successive Nigerian administrations have pursued one variant of reform or another in the federal civil service since the country’s attainment of political independence. Yet, the federal civil service, as an essential organ of the executive arm of the government, still requires more reforms. The problems that instigated the introduction of a series of reforms in the federal civil service in 1999 consequent upon the inauguration of the democratic government included erosion of public service ethics, ageing workforce, poor succession planning, inappropriate organisational structures, unproductive work operations, lack of competent leadership, etc. However, these problems are currently the same problems facing the federal civil service after 16 years of implementation of reforms by the government of Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). However, the emergence of a new government with its populist and progressive policy thrust, the rising awareness among civil servants, the global obligation of the Nigerian government to public service reforms, the proven efficacy of the ballot as an instrument for effecting change of government, coupled with the readily available support of donor agencies, which together, have the prospects of creating the right political atmosphere for the implementation of requisite reforms in the Nigerian federal civil service with utmost efficiency and likelihood of success.

The quest to modernise the Nigerian armed forces has gone beyond mere declaration of policy intent by the Nigerian government. Processes for defence transformation have entailed the establishment of relevant committees to generate blueprints for actualising the initiative. The prospects of defence transformation can be seen in the efforts of the leadership of the armed forces to implement the various recommendations of the transformation committees as well as the incorporation of the requirements of the armed forces in the long-term perspective plan of the government, in addition to the palpable commitment of the country's National Assembly to appropriate requisite financial resources to the defence sector. Regardless of these prospects, certain structural and institutional problems which could hinder the realisation of the objectives of defence transformation still exist. These include wrong deployment of personnel to the Ministry of Defence (MOD), the dichotomy between MOD and Defence Headquarters (DHQ), lack of transparency in procurement and project implementation, among others. However, the main goal of transforming Nigerian armed forces has regained renewed salience in the face of the challenging security concerns which the recent terrorist onslaught against the Nigerian state portends. Therefore, the issue is not the desirability or otherwise of defence transformation, but whether it is achievable in spite of all the odds against it.

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