HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE NIGERIAN PUBLIC SERVICE (2003-2014)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Content Page
Title Page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Abstract vi
List of Tables xi
List of Figures xiii
Appendices xiv
Abbreviations xv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 6
1.3 Objective of the Study 7
1.4 Research Questions 8
1.5 Hypotheses 8
1.6 Significance of the Study 9
1.7 Scope of the Study 10
1.8 Operational Definition of Terms 10
1.9 Outline of the Study 11
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1 Human Capital 13
2.2 The Evolution of Human Capital Development 17
2.3 Human Capital Development 24
2.4 Empirical Review of Human Capital Development as
A Catalyst for Efficiency and Effectiveness in the Public Sector 33
2.5 Indices for Measuring Human Capital 39

2.6 Challenges of Human Capital Development 39
2.7 Human Capital Development in Public Service 41
2.8 The Role of Training in Human Capital Development 45
2.9 The Effects of Training on Service Delivery in Public Service 48
2.1.0 Training in the Nigerian Public Service 55
2.1.1 Service Delivery 61
2.1.2 Empirical Review of Service delivery 62
2.1.3 Peculiarity of Service Delivery in Nigeria 64
2.1.4 Human Capital Development in Other Nations of the World 65
2.1.4.1 Cooperative Systems 67
2.1.4.2 FDI-Dependent Training Strategies 68
2.1.4.3 State-Driven strategy 69
2.1.4.4 Enterprise Based Training Strategy 72
2.1.4.5 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) 72
2.1.5 Gaps in Literature 75
2.1.6 Conceptual Model 77
2.1.7 Theoretical Framework 78
CHAPTER THREE: HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
OF THE ADMINSTRATIVE STAFF COLLEGE OF NIGERIA
3.1 The establishment of the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria 86
3.2 Training Facility and Courses 88
3.3 The Reorganisation of ASCON 89
3.4 Organizational Structure and Staff Strength 90
3.5 Other Training Institution and its impact on ASCON 91
3.6 Challenges 93
CHAPTER FOUR: METHODOLOGY
4.1 Research Design 94
4.2 Population 94
4.3 Sample size and sampling Technique 95
4.4 Method of Data Collection 97
4.5 Sources of Data 97
4.6 Research Instrument 97
4.7 Validity of Instrument 98
4.8 Reliability and Instrument 99
4.9 Method of Data Analysis 99
4.1.0 Ethical Consideration 99
CHAPTER FIVE: DATA ANALYSIS, RESULTS AND
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
5.1 Administration of Questionnaire 101
5.2 Descriptive Statistics 102
5.3 Demographic Analysis of the Trainees 108
5.4 Data Analysis according to Research Hypotheses 119
5.5 Discussion of Findings 135
5.5.1 Research Question 1: How relevant is ASCON’s training programme/project to the functions and responsibilities of the different MDAs between 2003 and 2014? 135
5.5.2 Research Question 2: To what extent has there been integration of acquired skills on leadership, financial and project management by former trainees? 138
5.5.3 Research Question 3: How has the utilization of knowledge on facilities Management and ICT use by former trainees improved service delivery in their MDAs? 140
5.5.4 Research Question 4: Is there a relationship between training acquired and competence, courtesy and credibility in the public service 143
5.5.5 Research Question 5: What are the factors inhibiting the effective delivery of human capital development programmes of ASCON 145
CHAPTER SIX: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 Summary 149
6.2 Conclusion 151
6.3 Recommendations 152
6.4 Contribution to Knowledge 156
6.5 Limitation of the Study 156
6.6 Suggestion for Further Studies 157
References 158
Appendices 173

LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
2.1 Strategies employed in selected Countries 74
3.1 ASCON’s staff by Grade level and category 91
4.1 List of selected Ministries, Departments and Agencies 96
5.1 Descriptive indices of the Trainees from the 12 selected Ministries and Agencies 102
5.2 Distribution of Departments/Units Sampled from each MDA 103
5.3 Frequency Distribution of the MDAs 105
5.4 Categories of trainees who have attended ASCON training in the last
ten years 106
5.5 Number and percentage of trainees who had attended ASCON
training in the last four years 107
5.6 Gender Distribution of the Respondents 108
5.7 Age Distribution of Respondents 108
5.8 Distribution work experience(in years) 109
5.9 Distribution of the rate at which trainees are transferred within
Departments in the MDAs 109
5.10 Distribution of Trainees that has been transferred between MDAs 109
5.11 Percentage ranking of ASCON training programs by trainees 110
5.12 Distribution of Designations 111
5.13 Distribution of ASCON Courses attended by Public Servants 112
5.14 Reliability Test on the Metrics for ASCON’s Human Capital Development Programmes 113
5.15 Correlation Matrix of ASCON’s Human Capital Development
programmes and Public service delivery 114
5.16 Relevance of ASCON’s training to trainees duties 115
5.17 ANOVA (Analysis of variance of the Courses) 116

Table Page
5.18 Post Hoc Test 117
5.19 Correlation Analysis of the Impact of the Courses on Duties 119
5.20 Supervisors’ rating of trainees before and after training 120
5.21 Was there training need identification awareness before your staff was sent
On training? 121
5.22 Was there a thorough needs analysis carried out before your staff was sent on
training? 122
5.23 Paired Sample Statistics 123
5.24 Analysis of Variance of the assessment of trainees by Supervisors 123
5.25 Directional measures of impact of ASCON training programmes on leadership , financial and management skills acquired 124
5.26 Symmetric Measures 124
5.27 How will you rate the practicability of the knowledge acquired on facilities management and ICT use after training .( Cross Tabulation) 126
5.28 Correlation Analysis of the facilities management and ICT use 127
5.29 Customer’s perception of public service delivery in terms of improvement
in the last 11 years 128
5.30 Aspects of the Products/ Services customers are not satisfied with 129
5.31 Correlation Analysis 130
5.32 Cross Tabulation of Correlation Analysis 131
5.33 Regression Analysis 133
5.34 Model Summary 134
5.35 ANOVA 135

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
2.1 HRM Model 21
2.2 Conceptual Model 77
5.1 A pie chart showing the distribution of Departments/ Units from each MDA 104
5.2 A pie chart showing the Frequency distribution of the MDAs 106

APPENDICES

Appendix Page
1 Informed Consent Form 173
2 Questionnaire on Training Impact Assessment in the Nigerian 174
Public Service
3 BUHREC’s notification of approval 180
4 Interview Guide 181
5 The Organogram of the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria 187

ABBREVIATIONS
ASCON Administrative Staff College of Nigeria
HCD Human Capital Development
MDA Ministries, Departments and Agencies
MDI Management Development Institute
OHSOF Office of the Head of Service of the Federation
CONRAISS Consolidated Research and Allied Institutions Salary Structure

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
The concern of human capital and subsequently its development has been a recurrent global issue because of the major role it plays in the achievement of growth and development which has been a major challenge for African governments as a whole and to Nigeria in particular. The role of human resources in achieving organisational objectives cannot be over emphasized; infact, the ability of any organisation, the public service inclusive, in implementing its strategy and achieving its goals and objectives depend on whether it can organize, develop and manage its human resources effectively. It is in recognition of this fact that Carlson (1994) opined that any organisation that aspires to a positive change or improved quality in service delivery would as a matter of necessity, strive to acquire quality human resources.
Human capital development originated approximately half a century ago under the leadership of Jacob Mincer, Theodore Schultz, and Gary Becker. It is “human” because it is embodied in man, and it is “capital” because it is a source of future satisfaction, or of future earnings, or of both (Schultz, 1971 p.48). It takes into consideration investment activities and processes that produce vocational and technical education, knowledge, skills, health or values that are embodied in people. It implies building an appropriate balance and critical mass of human resource base and providing an enabling environment for all individuals to be fully engaged and contribute to goals of an organisation or a nation. Any effort to increase human knowledge, enhance skills, productivity and stimulate resourcefulness of individuals is an effort of human capital development (Enyekit, Amaehule&Teerah, 2011). Human capital has its origins in classical economics. The notion of human capital goes back to Adam Smith. He was of the view that human capital was part and parcel of economic wealth creation and development and held that human beings should be perceived as capital.

Economists have written extensively on the of role human capital in development:
By investing in themselves, people can enlarge the range of choices available to them. It is one way that free men can enhance their welfare. He concludes his analysis as follows: Truly, the most distinctive feature of our economic system is the growth in human capital. Without it there would be only hard, manual work and poverty except for those who have income from property. (Schultz, 1961 p.2)

Human capital is therefore a major catalyst for any meaningful development of an economy and economists regard expenditures on education, training, health care, and so on as investments in human capital. Over time in Nigeria, human capital development had continued to enjoy high premium in national development process, for instance, the Federal Government set up the Ashby Commission to investigate the needs of Nigeria in the field of post-primary and higher education between 1960 and 1980 (Alani& Isola, 2009).
Recent theories on economic growth regard human capital as a significant determinant of economic development and thus make human resource the ultimate root of wealth of nations, while capital and natural resources, though important, are passive factors of production. The success of any productive program depends on human innovative ideas; they are the active agencies who accumulate capital, exploit natural resources, build social, economic and political organisation and transmit national development (Adelakun, 2011). It has been empirically proven that those countries of the world that have realised sustainable development have invested heavily in human beings (Ibok & Ibanga, 2014).

A nation with abundant natural resources cannot achieve its full potentials without skilled human resources; technical innovations that have occurred in the developed countries and a few developing countries are a product of human capital development (Alani &Isola, 2009). Human capital development is regarded as the crux of the development efforts of developing countries, particularly in this “knowledge” society of the 21st century. This is because, comparative advantage is derived more from technical innovations and the competitive use of knowledge and less from natural resources and cheap labour endowment (World Bank, 2002).
As common with other developing countries with colonial heritage like Nigeria, the departure of the colonialists created a vacuum which required educated personnel to take over the functions of government. Education became crucial in the development of these countries. Those who had education at that time, no matter how minimal gained access to clerical, administrative and teaching jobs. They became the “creme de la creme” of the society (Omojimite, 2011). In spite of the acquisition of education it became apparent that performance on a job schedule is more than acquisition of certificates, rather training is of great importance in acquiring required skills in order to achieve expected result in terms of service delivery.

Service delivery in the Nigerian public service has for decades been battered with myriads of criticism due to the display of indiscipline, insensitivity, incompetence, rudeness, corruption, laziness, absenteeism, lackadaisical approach to work and many other vices by public servants (Oyedele, 2015). It was the attempt to correct this anomaly that gave birth to the various public service/civil service reforms. Prior to independence and after, the Nigerian government carried out series of reforms of the public service aimed at improving the quality of service delivery. Specifically, 14 major attempts had been made to address the state of the service delivery through commissions, committees and teams, beginning with Hunt’s Commission of 1934 to Obasanjo service renewal programme of year 2000 (Adegoroye, 2006 ).
Despite these reforms it appears the development of human capital has not been sustainable; the media is regularly agog with the news of ineptitude in the delivery of public services either directly or indirectly. For instance, the Federal Government expenditure increased by about 500 percent between 2000 and 2012, but the aggregate public service quality increased by only 1.9 percent (Otivei, 2015). This is one major factor that instigated the interrogation of the role of human capital development in service delivery in the Nigerian public service today.
It must however be noted that until the last four decades in Nigeria, there has been a general resistance to investment in training in the public service because of the belief that:
Employees hired under a merit system must be presumed to be qualified, that they were already trained for their jobs, and that if at some point there is a shortfall in the expectations pertaining to job delivery, it is seen as an evidence that initial selection of personnel was at fault. (Okotoni &, Erero, 2005 p.1).

This conjecture is however not limited to Africa or Nigeria in particular, in England, for example, employee development was traditionally seen as a cost rather than investment (Constable and Mc Cormick 1987). This lack of investment in training and development was identified as a major factor in Britain’s economic performance in the past, and it has been argued that without the investments which was later undertaken, the United Kingdom will still be trapped in a low-usage, low skills economy. In recent decades, there has been government focus on measures to increase skill levels and reduce skills gaps in the United Kingdom contrary to what was hitherto the practice, other studies revealed that the United States’ economy is strong and will remain strong because of the high premium placed on training (Finegold, Levenson &Van Buren, 2005). The need for training institutions in Nigeria can be traced back to 1896 when some educated persons in Lagos proposed the establishment of a Training College and Industrial Institute. Though the idea was supported by the British government, it was not ready to make financial commitment. The lack of financial commitment on its part and the incapability of the initiators to raise the required funds led to the termination of the proposal (Okotoni & Erero, 2005).
It was the recommendations of the Public Service Review Commission (1972-1974) that emphasized on specific manpower policy objectives. The commission stated explicitly that: “Of all the aspects of personnel management, perhaps the most important for us here in Nigeria is training …Training will be the most urgent consideration in accepting and implementing our report” p 7.
The recommendations of the second national development plan (1970-1974) which gave considerable attention to the concerns for training of public servants and the report of the Public Service Review Commission (1974) culminated into the establishment of Training Institutes and manpower development agencies by the Government; such as the Centre for Management Development (CMD), the Industrial training Fund (ITF), National Centre for Economic Management and Administration (NCEMA), Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), and National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) and National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA). Subsequent Civil Service Reforms have continued to accentuate the importance and the need for training and retraining (Inyang & Akaegbu, 2014 p.93). The Ayida Panel (1994) stated thus: “Training ensures the acquisition and updating of the right skills needed for improved performances. It is therefore a right of every civil servant and an obligation on the government as the employer of these civil servants”.
Today, various universities, polytechnics and colleges of technology/education have been designated to serve as training and development centres for manpower development in the country. Most of these institutions have designed or modified their programmes to accommodate the training needs in the public services. Ever since the establishment of the aforementioned training institutes, over four decades ago, human capital development has been an ongoing concern in the Public service. The Public servants that are trained on a yearly basis run into tens of thousands (ASCON Brochure, 2014).

The Administrative Staff College of Nigeria, ASCON was established through Decree No. 39 of 1973 (now ASCON Act, Cap 6, Vol. 1 LFN 1990) to offer higher management training for senior executives of public and private segments of the Nigeria economy; offer and plan for a comprehensive study and exploration of the principles and techniques of management and administration, and for exchange of ideas and experience, as well as for promotion of better understanding among persons engaged with management and administration arising in diverse areas of national life; carry out research into the difficulties of management and administration connected with different aspects of national life; and commence and facilitate study courses, conferences, lectures, seminars and other activities to support the aforestated among other objectives (ASCON, 2014).
This research examined the relationship between Human capital development and service delivery in Nigeria. Specifically, to evaluate and assess the impact of the trainings/education being administered by the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria on public service delivery.

1.2 Statement of the Problem