Introduction
1.1 Background And The Need For The Study
With the emergence of modern state and development of the parliamentary system of government, the civil service or public service has evolve as the bed-rock of the executive arm of government. Its main task has been the implementation or execution of government policies and programmes.
In addition, it is also responsible for the management of the machinery of government and carrying out daily duties that public administration demands. The public service administration is made up of ministries or parastatals or extra-ministerial departments.
There has been an impairment of discipline in the public service that the traditional role of policy implementation has been affected adversely. The civil service commission which is the body responsible for the effective maintenance of discipline hardly can perform this task these days. (Adabayo, 1994: 199(.
According to Ani, (1991: 10), a good number of our public servants believe that the public service belongs to our then colonial masters and as such they throw discipline in the service to the winds. Under such condition of indiscipline, productivity in the service in adversely affected.
In the words of Ciroms, (1985: 5) the high rate of cases of indiscipline in the service has rendered the public service an adhoc affair instead of a permanent future of our modern government and administration.
The rules and regulations are given various interpretation to suit certain perceptions and to achieve selfish motives.
Adebayo, (1994: 180) believes that the high degree of indiscipline in the public service had give rise to (god-fatherism) nepotism, favouritism and inefficiency in the service. He went further to trace the cause to the attitude of our political leadership.
The views of Adebayo have gone to give credence to the fact that even public servants themselves no longer trust their colloquies. Appointments, promotions and even benefits have been offered to under public servants against the laid down civil service rules.
Worse still the public themselves (the tax payers) no longer have confidence on the civil servants and the necessary co-operation the public would have offered has been withdrawn. The net effect is that entire system is suffering and even getting to a total collapse.
1.2 Statement Of The Problem
The civil service has remained the bed-rock of modern government for the realization of goals and objectives in order words, it has remained as a very veritable instrument to sell government programmes to the public and to achieve concrete result in order to improve on the lives or welfare of the populace. Unfortunately the public service has been bedeviled with misconduct.
For an illustration the present day public servants have been guilty of dishonesty, drunkenness during official hours, false claim against government, falsification or suppression or cards, loitering, engaging in trade or business without authority, to mention but a few. (Monoh 1988: 40).
Adebayo, (1994: 168), admitted that indiscipline in the service had given room for inefficiency among the public servants. He blamed both government and the public servants themselves for this disease which had eaten deep into the fabrics of the public service in Nigeria.
Again, indiscipline in the public service has been used as major reasons to indict various government in our country. Indeed, it has been responsible for the poor economy of our nation. For instance, the inflation of contract award by the civil servants, embezzlement of public fund, civil servants, engage in political activities, they even go to the extent of disclosing unofficial information and so on and so forth (Nnawuba, 1996: 15).
It is point of fact that the civil service has a great role to play in the lives of both of the greatest problems impediments to the smooth administration of service is indiscipline. The researchers have therefore been compelled to carry out a study on discipline in the public service − a case study of ministry of Justice, Enugu.
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