AbstractThe paper examines Civil Service and Problem of Civil Service Delivery in Nigeria: A Case Study of Rivers State Ministry of Health (2007-2013). The population of study consists of the entire 810 civil servants in the ministry of health out of the 23 ministries and parastatals in Rivers State. A sample size of 81 was judgmentally determined from10% of the population. A descriptive research design was used in executing the study using 200 randomly selected respondents from the population of study for questionnaire administration. A research instrument tagged `Service Delivery Culture and Civil Servants Commitment Questionnaire' was used for the generation of primary data. A pilot test-re-test study was conducted on 30 randomly selected respondents who are not involved in the study, to ensure the validity of the questionnaire, using the data obtained; a reliability coefficient of 0.83was calculated using Pearson product moment correlation analysis indicating a high degree of reliability of the research instrument. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive statistics used in the study include frequency counts and percentages. Hypothesis was tested using the Students' t-test. The results findings of study reveal that the civil service has a penchant for recruiting untrained and unqualified staff and does little or nothing about training or improving their productive capacities even after recruiting them. The study further revealed that bottlenecks, indolence, nepotism, inefficiency, lack of accountability/transparency, low productivity, misappropriation and waste of public funds are very conspicuous in the civil service. Conclusively it evident from the study that service delivery effectiveness provides the requisite skills, ideas, attitudes and knowledge to perform current job assignments and tasks effectively. This has an immediate impact on civil service productivity. The study therefore recommends among others: that Rivers state government should: improve on the current reward system in its civil service to improve civil servants' level of commitment to their jobs in order to improve output. Sustain and improve on the current ways of recognizing civil servants who perform well in their duties to enable them to be more committed to the civil service.

Keywords: Commitment, Civil Service, Service delivery, Rivers State, Performance

INTRODUCTIONThe Rivers State civil service consists of the individuals (civil servants) employed by the state to run its public service apart from political office holders. It is organized around the twenty-three ministries and parastatals in the state. The civil service in Nigeria is a bureaucratic structure, originally created by the colonial administrators to facilitate their exploitation of mineral resources and creation of market for finished industrial products. The new Encyclopedia Britannica (2013) defines civil service as a body of government officials who are employed in civil occupations that are neither political nor judicial.It may also be defined as a group of employees selected and promoted on the basis of a merit and seniority system, which may include examination. Anazodo (2009) defines civil service in Nigeria as comprising of workers in various ministries or departments apart from those who hold political appointments. The Rivers State civil service was established from the old Rivers state civil service on 1st October, 1967 when the state was created by the then General Yakubu Gowon military administration, (Sorkaa, 2003). The civil service is the main instrument and institution of public service delivery in Rivers State. Traditionally, the civil service performs three functions: supporting the policy making function of the government, facilitating or regulating the private sector and providing managerial leadership for operating public sector enterprises, (Herscovitch and Meyer, 2002). The capacity of the Rivers state civil service to perform its statutory functions creditably is to a large extent dependent on its organizational culture and employees commitment to its goals and aspirations. The level of employees' commitment to the organization is therefore an important factor in determining their overall job performance. It may also be influenced either positively or negatively by the organizational culture. Thus, Rivers state civil service is expected to nurture and sustains its culture for the overall achievement of its goals and aspirations. Hence, leaders in different arms of the state civil service are expected to have an in-depth knowledge of its culture and harness it to bring about high level of employees commitment. It is against this background that it becomes pertinent to examine civil service and problem of civil service delivery in Nigeria: A case study of Rivers State Ministry of Health (2007-2013).

Statement of the ProblemA civil service with ill-defined or negative culture is usually a breeding ground for corruption, indolence, nepotism, inefficiency, lack of accountability/transparency, low productivity, misappropriation and waste of public funds. The absence of a strong civil service effective service delivery culture in Rivers state, due to poor manpower development, exposes the state to the aforementioned social vices that may affect civil servants level of commitment negatively. Apart from organizational service delivery culture, employees commitment may also be influenced by the extent of their involvement in decision making and the existence of personnel development programmes.The continued complaints of low productivity and the demonstrated lack of commitment and efficiency of the civil service has been an issue of great concern. Various efforts have been expended by researcher, in an attempt to find a solution to the problems of the civil service and also successive government administrations have consistently increased the remuneration and allowances paid civil employees, still in an attempt to boost the effectiveness and productivity of it workers, (Anazodo, 2009). However their productivity levels are unarguably not commensurate with the increment. The question that may naturally emanate from these is, what are the problems hampering the effective and efficient service delivery in Nigeria civil service with reference to Rivers state? And of course one of such key factors apart from pay that determines employees productivity is the civil servants' skills and knowledge of the job and again what ultimately determines the amount of skills and specific knowledge an employee possess, is the level of training on service delivery received by the employee. As strongly note by Inyang (2001), the civil service has a penchant recruiting untrained and unqualified personnel and does little or in most cases makes no attempt to train personnel even after recruiting them.

Objectives of the StudyThe purpose of this study is to examine the Civil Service and Problem of Civil Service Delivery in Nigeria: A Case Study of Rivers State Ministry of Health (2007-2013). . Specifically, the study attempts to achieve the following: i. Identify / examine the service delivery effectiveness of the Rivers State Civil Service. ii. Identify the major problems or challenges to effective service delivery in civil service.

Research QuestionsThe following research questions shall guide the study:i. To what extent is the service delivery of the Rivers State Civil Service effective?ii. What are the major problems or challenges to effective service delivery of civil service in Nigeria?Research HypothesisThe null hypothesis formulated and tested in this study is as follows:

HO- There is no significant relationship between employees service delivery effectiveness and productivity in Rivers state civil service.

Background and Setting of the Study (Rivers State)Rivers State is one of the 36 states of Nigeria. The state was created in 1967 with the split of the Eastern Region of Nigeria. It has a population of about 5, 185,400 (Five Million, One Hundred and Eighty five Thousand, Four Hundred) people and occupies an area of 21,850 sq. km. Its capital is Port Harcourt and it is bounded on the South by the Atlantic Ocean, to the North by Imo and Abia States, to the East by Akwa Ibom State and to the West by the Bayelsa and Delta States. The inland part of Rivers state consists of tropical rainforest; towards the coast the typical Niger Delta environment features many mangrove swamps. Prior to 1967, Nigeria had four Regional Governments: Northern, Western, Eastern and Mid-West. The official 2006 population figure of Rivers State conducted by the National Population Commission of Nigeria. Rivers state was part of the Oil Rivers Protectorate from 1885 till 1893, when it became part of the Niger Coast Protectorate . In 1900 the region was merged with the chartered territories of the Royal Niger Company (RNC) to form the colony of Southern Nigeria. It currently has 23 local government areas. Rivers State government consists of elected representatives and appointed officials responsible or the government of Rivers State, Nigeria. The Civil Service is headed by the Head of Service, a career civil servant, with each ministry headed by a Permanent Secretary. The Minister is responsible for policy, while the Permanent Secretary provides continuity and is responsible for operations.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Conceptual FrameworkWhile organizational service delivery culture refers to the set of values, beliefs and behaviour patterns that shapes employees behaviour and forms the core identity of the organization(Lund, 2003), civil servants commitment refers to the willingness of employees to accept the goals and values of the organization and work towards achieving them, (Muthuveloo and Rose, 2005). According to Mullins (2007), the culture of an organization is one of the factors that strategically come together to develop an organization. He stressed that the culture of an organization, like, the culture of the people can be a motivating factor in maximizing the value of human capital for organizational success.Deal and Kennedy (1982) defines service delivery culture as a set of values that underline how we do our duties around here. Harrison et al (1992) states that organizational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguish one organization from others. They stressed that these shared meaning are a set of characteristics the organization values and the essence can be captured in seven primary characteristics that exists on a continuum from low to high: innovation and risk taking, attention to detail, outcome orientation, people orientation, team orientation, aggressiveness and stability. They concluded that the appraisal of an organization on these seven characteristics, gives a composite picture of the organization's culture.The four dimensions of service delivery culture as identified by Harrison et al., (1992) include power dimension, role dimension, achievement dimension and support dimension. The power dimension describes the organization culture based on inequality of access to redemption. Role dimension focuses mainly on job description and specialization. Achievement dimension refers to task culture which involves focusing on realizing organizational goals. The support dimension describes an organizational climate that is based on neutral trust between the individual and the organization. Some other literatures such as Meyer and Allen (1991) identified communication, training/development, rewards/recognition, effective decision making, risk taking for creativity and innovation, proactive learning, team work, and fairness and consistency in most practice as dimensions of organizational culture. However, teamwork, communication, training/development and reward/recognition are the four dimensions that have greatest effect on employees' behaviour/commitment (Lau and Idris, 2001).This is the view adopted by this research.Meyer et al., (1991) identified three types of commitment, namely affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment. The affective commitment involves the employees' emotional attachment to identify with and involve in the organization. The continuance commitment involves commitment based on the cost that the employee associates with leaving the organization. The normative commitment on its part involves the employees' feelings of obligation to stay within the organization. Meyer et al., (1991) stressed further that the three components of organizational commitment are not mutually exclusive. This means that employees could be simultaneously committed in an affective, continuance and normative commitments at different levels of intensity. The employee may have commitment profiles that may reflect high or low levels of all components. These different profiles would eventually lead to different effects on work place behaviour and could be influenced by many factors, one of it being organizational culture (Herseovitch et al, 2002).Civil Service: Those branches of public service concerned with all governmental administrative functions outside the armed services. The body of persons employed in these branches. A system or method of appointing government employees on the basis of competitive examinations, rather than by political patronage.Commitment:Tendency of an employee giving total loyalty to his work with zeal and desire required in performing such work in order to achieve a given target. Performance: This is a process of achieving a given standard at a given period of time. It is also an ability to carry out a given activity effectively and efficiently. Service delivery: Is a clearly defined customer-based business model that offers a reliable and readily accessible system. It defines the quality and availability of its product or service and describes how and when it is delivered. Service delivery lets the customer or client know what to expect from a service, and it helps them understand a service's scope and how it operates. It details eligibility, limits to the service, the cost and how to obtain help. Service delivery is used in virtually all disciplines of business from information technology and medicine to family services. Companies use service delivery statistics to create innovations based on customer needs or expectations.The Evolution of Nigerian Civil ServiceAlthough the pre-colonial institutions existing in Nigeria might have had some form of service to be equated with civil service, the present Nigerian civil service can be said to have evolved from the onset of colonial rule (Tagowa, 1999; Balewa 1994). It is a deja vu that colonial rule was the product of the insatiable appetite of the European economies for raw materials and markets for the processed industrial goods of Europe. Ekeh (1978) says greed and lucre were the motive of colonizers. Thus, the motive of colonial rule was essentially to maintain law and order and to create a conductive environment for exploitation. The colonial government established a civil service with a limited objective of ensuring peaceful administration of the colonized people. At that time the service was principally dominated by colonial officials as Nigerians were deliberately excluded in the service, especially the senior cadre. For example, by 1948 only 172 (representing 7%) of the 2,297 senior civil servants were Nigerians; the proportion hiked to only 19% at independence (Nicolson 1966).From that time the civil service witnessed phenomenal growth in number and service institutions, training and competence levels. There was also a shift in the role of the service from the control of decision making process to advising on policy matters and implementation of policy decisions until independence was achieved in 1960. In a similar vein, the period coincided with the time the unity of the service as a colonial institution was broken into Federal and Regional Civil services in the wake of the adoption of the Macpherson Constitution and the quest for the adoption of a "true Federation" in 1954. The federal and regional (and later the state) governments were to maintain sovereign civil services loyal and answerable to no other authority than the regional or state authorities. In this respect the regional/state civil servants considered themselves equal in role notwithstanding the needs for national integration.In spite of the brake-up, the civil service of that period continued to remain the primary source of advice and policy ' implementation. And in terms of structure and role the service remained the same under the civilian administration of the First Republic. However, the specter of corruption among the politicians which accelerated from 1962 also found its way into the civil service and became a matter of concern when the military took over political leadership in 1966.With the coming of the military there was the suspension of all democratic institutions, ban on political party activities and party bureaucracies. Secondly, during the early period of military rule, politicians were kept away from government with permanent secretaries taking over the mandate of decision-making in addition to their primary role of advice and implementation. The period also witnessed the dilemma of the civil war-whether Nigeria was to remain united or not. With the east poised for secession, the military and the civil service had cause to defend the unity of the country throughout the period of the war. Although civilian commissioners were appointed in June,' 1967, some of them' felt their position anomalous; they looked forward to the earliest end of the civil war and an end to military rule. Since the role of the civil servants was to "patriotically serve the government-of-day to the best of their abilities, the situation led to mutual distrust between the military and the politicians in government. As a result the military rulers found convenient ally in the civil service. The top civil servants continued to maintain highly political positions which turned them political masters rather than civil servants (Tagowa, 1999; Balewa, 1999).

The Civil Service Reform During the First Republic and National DevelopmentGenerally, the political and administrative climate of Nigeria since independence was characterized by a variety of power coalitions between the civil service and the political leadership (civilian or military). In assessing the role of the civil service in the post- independence period and its contribution to national development, Olugbemi (1979) and Omoruyi (1991) conceived of the service as part of a National Dominant Coalition (NDC). This is a conception which denotes a configuration of whose interest is in hegemonic rule at a particular point in time. The civilian and military politicians are viewed in the NDC as other partners in the coalition: a coalition of equal partners with a dominant and dominated partners at a given historical period. The position which a partner occupies in the coalition is determined essentially by the balance of power struggle within the coalition (Omoruyi; 1991:10).Between 1990 and 1965 the civilian politicians as the inheritors of political power from the colonialists were the centre power. The other partners in the coalitions (the military and civil services) were merely used to fulfill the specific interest of the civilian politicians. For example, while the civil service was used for implementation of policies of the politicians, the military was to stabilize their rule and to curb opposition.In principle, the goal of this coalition was the same with the objective of independence, that is, the pursuit of unity and national development. But in reality the objective of independence was to some extent opposed to the dominant interest of the politicians themselves. They were more concerned with complimenting the political power they inherited with economic power. This led to the creation of various institutions and agencies through which primordial accumulation was ensured, the civil service became the "conduit pipe through which public funds were diverted to private hands (Omoruyi, 1991:11). This clearly arrested national development.Within the trio coalition the civil service was the most junior partner between 1960 and 1965. It was junior to the military even though the military as a political institution was yet to appear on the political scene. Due to the way the military was used by the civilian politicians to quell civil riots or displace rival political factions (for examples, in the western regional crisis of 1962 and the Tiv riots of (1964), the military soon became politically relevant not only in the power coalition, but also by commitment on the political plane. This situation it was argued significantly altered the position of the military in the NDC. (Omoruyi, 1991:130). Consequently, the power of the civilian politicians was depleted in favour of the military and by extension increased the power of the civil services.

The Civil Service Reforms from the Second Republic to 1999The 1975 purge and the new deflation of power of the top civil servants was seen in some quarters to have reverted the civil service to its proper place and to its proper place and to its traditional role of offering policy advice and implementation of already agreed policies by the political office holders. This has prepared the way for the perception of the second republic politicians of what the proper role of the civil service should be. This was because the major actors in the second republic were the prominent politicians of the first republic and the same crop of leaders who the senior civil servants relegated to secondary positions during Gowon regime. The situation again reverted the civil servants to the most junior partner in the NDC "at a time when a vibrant and result - oriented civil service was needed to complement the presidential system of government newly introduced by the 1979 constitution. (Omoryi, 1991:20).The most unfortunate consequence of the 1979 purge which the second republic suffered was that the purge demoralized and killed the initiative of the civil service. Secondly, it also generated a feeling of insecurity in the entire service. Thirdly, the constitutional provision (section 159 (2) (d) of the 1979 constitution) empowered discretional appointment of anyone outside the service as Permanent Secretary of a ministry. Despite the re-expansion of the service, the exploitation of this executive prerogative was viewed by career civil servants as undeserving and unprecedented politicization of the civil service. This further exacerbated the feeling of insecurity introduced by the 1975 purge.In the wake of the Buhari coup in 1983, there was a renewed retrenchment. The new military government saw the retrenchment as a clearing process and a way of reducing government expenditure on overstaffed and inefficient civil service. This further aggravated the fears of insecurity in the service with the morale of civil servants sinking to its lowest ebb. This was a time emphasis was being shifted to the issue of revamping the ailing economy where the civil service ought to have been more useful.Perhaps that was why the Dotun Philips Study Team was set up to review the civil services. Although the central focus of the team was to "examine the adequacy of the Federal Civil Service its "structure, composition and methods of operation to cope with the demands of government in the 1980s and beyond, (Omoruyi, 1991).Attention was paid to how to enhance the moral of the service and make it efficient. The team submitted its report to the Babangida government in August, 1985. The main emphasis in the report was how to revamp the economy as a basis for a stable political order. Unfortunately the implementation of the recommendation of the Study Team started in 1988 when the Structural Adjustment Programme introduced as an alternative to the IMF loan was being implemented too. Secondly, the reforms were being implemented when the government had also introduced a political transition programme with various institutions in response to the political, cultural and economic needs of the country.Indeed, the new reforms provide an empirical validation of the nature of the NDC and the balance of power struggle within the coalition. The military as the dominant faction in the coalition was interested in pursuing policies and programmes which by their input promote its identifiable class interest. The pursuit of the Structural Adjustment Programme and the botched political transition programme as specific types of socio- economic-cum political structures formalized such class interest and underscores the logic of the various changes which the IBB administration imposed on the Nigerian class interest in the pursuit of governmental programme, the task of the civil service reforms was to redefine a civil service which is committed and subservient to political leadership (Omoruyi 1991). As put by Professor Omoruyi, the reforms demand an unequivocal commitment of the civil service: ... to government policies and programmes under conditions in which control over the service is both desirable and expedient. Commitment here would seem to imply a neutrality suggesting, in effect the abandoning of the time honoured but obviously pretensions tradition of a politically neutral civil service often used as a core by the civil servants in denying responsibility of the lapses of the administration of which they are part. (Omoruyi 1991:20)The imperative of the reforms which centre on accountability and responsibility of the political leadership and demanding the subservient commitment of the civil service, thus allows the ruling class to submit "itself to the temptation of dipping its hand directly into the coffers of government fund, This explains the open looting of government fund and property, and the acceleration and even' 'legalization' of corrupt practices following the implementation of the Structural Adjustment Programme and the pretentious political transition programme of the Babangida administration between 1985 and 1993.

The Civil Service Under the Current Democratic Order: Impediment to National DevelopmentNigeria returned to a democratic presidential system on May 29th, 1999 after a long period of military interregnum. In fact, the presidential system as it is seems to have been consciously deigned to prune down the powers of the top civil service. Sections 17 (1) and208 (1) of the 1999 Constitution gives the President and the Governors the power of appointment and removal over the following top civil servants; the Head of service Permanent secretaries or the chief executives in any ministry, department or agency of the government in Nigeria.This is a clear departure from the previous arrangement or system where such positions are usually filled by career officials. Moreover, with the present democratic presidentialism, it means that the President or the Governor has direct personal responsibilities for the activities of government. It means also that one of the key values of this system is that the chief executive should be in charge. Generally, there are certain definite changes in the Nigeria civil service deriving from the introduction of this presidential system of government. We have already stated that the presidential system of government gives the power of hire and fire over the top civil service.Another major element in the present system is the introduction of the concept of federal character. According to Sorkaa (2000), this simply a reference to quest for a representative civil service. He maintains that the whole essence is to consciously have the composition of the Nigerian civil service to reflect the different major groups and geo- political units that make Nigeria.The concept of federal character has been eloquently concretized in the 1999 constitution. For example, section 14 (3) says that: The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria. This is meant to promote national unity by ensuring that people from a few states or ethnic groups do not dominate governmental affairs. The states, local governments and their agencies are supposed to also adhere to the federal character principle. Over all, the rationale behind the introduction of the federal character concept is quite plausible. However, the main problem with it is the manner of its implementation. Many times, those appointed into the civil service positions are not even the best material from their areas, but are qualified due to their political affiliations. It shows that merit is sometimes neglected or relegated and nonentities found themselves saddled with responsibilities they could hardly perform. Clearly this undermines the development process.

Summary of the Literature ReviewThis literature review has demonstrated that the civil service is a key machinery in the implementation of government policies towards accomplishing overall national development goals. Perhaps, this informs the government to embark on series of reforms of the service. However, as revealed by this paper, the intentions of the various reforms have failed to reposition the service for effective service delivery in the country. Today, the Nigerian state and people are still faced with the problem of development.There is therefore the need to embark on realistic, workable and practical reforms that have human face rather than the usual cosmetic approaches. First of all there is need for the government to create enabling conditions of service. This has to do with ensuring adequate pay package and other economic incentives. If this is duly and religiously implemented, civil servants will be discouraged from using unethical means in getting economic benefits from clients and the public in general. In fact, the current national minimum wage of N18,000.00, should be increased to N50,000 as a starting point.Finally, there is also the need to promote sound policies on recruitment, training and retraining of civil servants for effective service delivery. These polices will contribute immensely to enhancing and promoting professionalism, and ethical, values of honesty, integrity, confidentiality, political neutrality, accountability, discipline and transparency in the conduct of government business. Recruitment and promotion or advancement on the Job should be strictly based on meritocracy, performance and achievement.

Research MethodologyThis section deals with mechanisms for gathering of information for analysis of data. This involves the determination of the research approach, research population, sampling techniques and sample size, data sources and collection techniques, questionnaire construction and administration and data analysis technique. The population of study consists of the entire 810 civil servants in the ministry of health out of the 23 ministries and parastatals in Rivers State. The sample size was chosen to involve at least five (5) cadres of staff in the Rivers State Ministry, Port Harcourt. The sample selection of the respondents recognized by the population was done randomly through a probabilistic sampling technique involving deterministic deduction. The sample size was determined as follows:Medical staff20

Management staff 16

Para-medical staff 16

Middle management staff 17

General staff 12

Total81

Therefore, the sample size = 81 Staff The collection of data was based on two sources i) Primary Sources, and ii) Secondary Sources.Primary data were generated from samples of the study. The instruments used to source these data were structured and unstructured questionnaire as well as random interviews of the staff of the Rivers State Ministry, Port Harcourt. The secondary source of data consisted of desk research reviews of related literature which formed the foundation of this study; they were derived from standard texts, academic and professional journals. The tool of data analysis included: Simple averages, percentages and ranking which have been proved to be useful mathematical tools in data analysis as well as students' t-test..

RESULTS

A sample of 81 staff from the Rivers State Ministry of Health was drawn for the study, for which the sample elements consisted of 5 cadres of staff medical, (management, para-medical, middle management and general staff ). Accordingly, 81 copies of questionnaire were administered on the staff of the Rivers State Ministry of Health. Out of the 81 copies of questionnaire administered, 79 copies were retrieved and after going through them 77 (i.e. 95% response rate) copies were found useful for data analysis.

Table 1:Administration and Retrieval of Questionnaire from the RespondentsOptionsNumber of Questionnaire AdministeredNumber of Questionnaire Retrieved from RespondentsNumber of questionnaire found useful for the studyResponse Rate

Medical staff20191995 %

Management staff 161616100%

Para-medical staff 16151593%

Middle management staff 17171694%

General staff 12121192%

Total81797795%

Source: Survey Data, 2014 Table 1 reveals how the copies of questionnaire were distributed to the sampled elements in the Rivers State Ministry of Health, the number generated there from and the number found useful/relevant/valid for the data analysis. The data analysis indicated that 20 copies of questionnaire were administered on the respondents of medical staff segment and 19 copies of them were actually retrieved, and 19 copies of questionnaire were found relevant, this represents 95% response rate of this segment. Equally, 16 copies of questionnaire were administered on the management staff in the Rivers state Ministry of Health, 16 copies were collected from them, after going through them all the 16 copies (i.e. 100% response rate) were found useful for the study. From the Para-medical staff of the Ministry of Health; 16 copies of questionnaire were administered on them, and 15 copies retrieved, and 15 copies (representing 93% response rate) were found useful for the study. Also, 17 copies of questionnaire were administered on the middle management staff in the Rivers state Ministry of Health and after going through them 16 copies of questionnaire (i.e. 94% response rate) were found useful in this segment. For the respondents in General staff cadre ; 12 copies of questionnaire were administered on them, and 12 copies returned while only 11 copies of questionnaire (representing 95% response rate) were found useful for the study.In all, the study administered 81 copies of questionnaire were administered on the staff Rivers state Ministry of Health, while 79 copies of questionnaire were actually retrieved from the respondents. However, after editing the copies of questionnaire 77 copies (representing 95% response rate) were found useful for the data analysis in this study.

Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents

Table 2:Sex of the RespondentsOptionsNumber of RespondentsPercentage Response

Male4761%

Female3039%

Total77100%

Source: Survey Data, 2014.Table 2 shows that the respondents were made up of 61% male and 39% female.

Table 3: Respondents Years of Civil Service (Working Experience).OptionsNumbers of RespondentsPercentage Response

Under 5 Years6 8

6 10 Years15 19

11 15Years12 16

16 20 Years39 51

21 Years and above 5 6

Total 77 100

Source: Survey Data, 2014.

Table.3 Shows that 8% of the respondents have been in the civil service for less than 5 years while 19% of the respondents have been in the ministry for 6 to 10 years. Equally, table 3 reveals that 16% of the respondents have been in the civil service for 11 to 15 years and 51% of the respondents have stayed in the civil service for 16 to 20 years while 6% of the respondents have been in the civil service for 21 years and above.

Table 3.4: Level of Education/Qualifications of the Respondents OptionsNumbers of RespondentsPercentage Response

PGD1114

HND /B.A. / B.Sc. / B.Ed.3241

Masters1216

Ph.D57

O' Level / OND / Others1722

Total77100

Source: Survey Data, 2013.

Table 3.4 shows that 14% of the respondents have PGD; 41% of them have HND /B.A. / B.Sc. / B.Ed.; while 16% of the respondents have Masters. Table 3.4 equally shows that 7% of the respondents have Ph.D, while 22% of the respondents have O' Level / OND / Others.

Table 5: Frequency Distribution of Civil Servants Responses and Percentages on Service Delivery in Rivers State Civil Service QUESTIONNAIRE ITEMSYES%NO%

1Have you acquired any additional qualification after employment?1013.36586.77

2Wish to go for further studies?7093.356.7

3Have financial ability to go for further studies?15206080

4Currently on or previously received a scholarship for further studies?79.46890.6

5Already in school through personal effort?2026.75573.3

6Have you required qualification to pursue further education?15206080

7Anti bribery and corruption investigations?19.46890.8

8Haveyoueverattendedtrainingworkshop/refresher course?1013.36586.6

9Have you been encouraged by government to join a professional body?12166384

10Attend re-training exercises regularly 1013.36586.7

11Implementing new government policies is sometimes difficult especially when key changes in skills are involved?5066.72533.3

12Retraining exercise avails you the opportunity of acquiring new skills and knowledge to cope with new policies?54721628

13Would you wish to join a professional body and acquire its certificate?5573.32026.7

14Personal efforts made to develop self are geared toward gaining promotion than acquiring new skills and knowledge?5674.71925.3

15Usually receive periodic examination or study leave to allow you concentrate on your studies or exams?2533.35066.7

Source: Survey Data, 2014

As shown in the table 5 (above), 10 out of 15 items on the negative (no) category scored above 50% while on the positive (yes) category only five were above 50%. The method of data analysis described in the study stated that any questionnaire item that has the percentage of 50 and above is said to have a great impact on effective service delivery in the civil service and productivity in the civil service. Civil servants occupy centre stage in the implementation of government policies; there is therefore a need to regularly expose them to training and retraining workshops and to exercises to equip them with new and relevant skills, ideas and knowledge. Civil employees also need to be encouraged to take up academic and professional programme by awarding them scholarship. But however, as indicated on table 5 above, it is observe civil servants do not have such provisions or opportunity, hence the items scoring 50% and above is more on the negative.

Table 6:Problems/Challenges to Effective Service Delivery in Rivers State Civil Service represented by the Ministry of Health (2007-2013)OptionsNumber of respondentsN = 77Percentage outcomeRating

Administrative bottleneck6280%4th

Misappropriation and waste of public funds5572%5th

Lack of accountability/transparency6483%3rd

Bribery and corruption7293%1st

Interference of sentiments with judgment/ bias7293%1st

Low productivity6787%2nd

Bureaucracy6787%2nd

Multiple Responses

Source: Survey Data, 2014

Table 6 shows that the respondents selected Bribery and corruption and interference of sentiments with judgement as the first set of problems or challenges to the effective service delivery in Rivers State Civil Service, these have been indicated by 93% of the respondents. The next option selected by the respondents as a major problems or challenges to the effective service delivery in Rivers State Civil Service are low productivity' and 'Bureaucracy', 87% of the respondents indicated these options placing the options 2nd in the ranking. Other problems or challenges to the effective service delivery in Rivers State Civil Service identified by the respondents include: Lack of accountability/transparency selected by 83% of the respondents rated 3rd. Administrative bottleneck selected by 80% of the respondents placing the option 4th. and misappropriation and waste of public funds indicated by 72% placing the options 5th in the rating of the problems/challenges to effective service delivery in Rivers State Civil Service.

Test of HypothesisHO- There is no significant relationship between employees service delivery effectiveness and productivity in Rivers state civil service.Table 7: t-test comparison of the responses of civil servants who are involved in service delivery effectiveness and those who are not involvedt-test: paired two sample for means

Variable 1Variable2

Mean47.527.5

Variance441441

Observation4

Pearson correlation-1

Hypothesized mean difference0

Df3

T stat0.952380952

P(T < = t)one tail0.205582468

T critical one tail2.353363016

P(T < = t)two tail0.411164936

T critical two tail3.18244291

Analyzing the t-test at 95% confidence interval, the null hypothesis that there is no significant relationship between employees service delivery effectiveness and productivity in Rivers state civil service was accepted because t-(t critical one tail = 2.353) is greater than t- (t calculated = 09523).

Discussion of Findings The result of the analysis on table 5 revealed that the percentage of response score of the questionnaire that are above 50% are more on the negative side than those on the positive side. This finding is consistent with the findings of Lau and Idris (2001), Boon and Arumugam (2006) and Nystron (1993) where they all found that significant relationship exist between service delivery culture and employees organizational commitment. A plausible reason for the finding could be the present state of high unemployment rate in Rivers state may have elicited more commitment from civil servants as a way keeping their jobs. Another plausible reason could be that employees tend to be more committed to an organization where the service delivery culture such as values and beliefs are closely related to the employees personal values and beliefs or vice versa.The result of the data analysis also revealed that civil servants are not given the opportunity to attend training workshops and refresher courses which are necessary to provide them with new and relevant skills and knowledge to cope with new challenges and organizational or policy changes that may occur in the civil service. The results of the data analysis aptly agrees with the studies of Inyang (2002) who observed that the civil service has a penchant for recruiting untrained and unqualified staff and does little or nothing about training or improving their productive capacities even after recruiting them. The study further revealed that bottlenecks, indolence, nepotism, inefficiency, lack of accountability/transparency, low productivity, misappropriation and waste of public funds are very conspicuous in the civil service . These findings agree with what Al-Roweitei, (2004) calls ingredients of civil service inertia in Nigeria.Conclusion Service delivery effectiveness provides the requisite skills, ideas, attitudes and knowledge to perform current job assignments and tasks effectively. This has an immediate impact on productivity. Development activities also enhance future and continuing productivity and growth by equipping employees with skills and knowledge for future jobs challenges. In the nut shell, civil service delivery offers employees skills and knowledge required to effectively enhance their productive capacities to meet present and future organizational challenges and task. Based on the findings of this research, it can be concluded that organizational culture is related to employees' commitment in the Rivers state civil service. It can further be concluded that there are significant differences in the commitment of employees of different sex, ages and length of service in the Rivers state civil service. In summary, the findings of this study provide some understanding on the importance of service delivery culture on civil servants commitment in a formal work environment.

RecommendationsIn the light of the findings and conclusion of this study, it is recommended that Rivers state government should:1. Improve on the current reward system in its civil service to improve civil servants' level of commitment to their jobs as well as improve output.2. Sustain and improve on the current ways of recognizing civil servants who perform well in their duties to enable them to be more committed to the civil service.3. Sustain and improve on the level of teamwork or sprit among civil servants by organizing team building programs or exercises for them.4. Improve on the current training and development programmes for civil servants to enhance efficiency and effective in public service delivery.5. Improve on the current channels of communication existing within the state civil service by creating and building trust through open communication and dialogue. 6. Involve civil servants in decisions making on issues that concern them to ensure a sense of ownership on part of civil servants in the execution of government policies.7. The anti-graft war should be pursued with vigour and without selection. This has the potency of exposing corrupt public office holders, and ensuring that justice is not only done, but seen to be upheld, thus serving as deterrent to potential offenders. This can assist in redressing the prevalence of corruption in the public service as identified by some civil service reform panels.

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