Current state of the economy and Obafemi Awolowo University students’ assessment of the image of the Nigerian civil service

Abstract

The objectives of this paper were three-fold. One, to examine the students’ perceptions of civil service employment in Nigeria; two, to assess influence of their perception on attitudes toward the civil Service; and three, to examine implications of emerging attitude for civil service jobs on economic development. The study adopted qualitative research technique of focus group discussion. The study revealed variations in the work plans of the students, and notably, aversion towards civil service jobs. It also examined the sustainability of the students’ negative attitude towards civil service employment. The paper concluded that the students had negative perception and image of the civil service and the emerging negative attitude could be sustained by the availability of job opportunities made possible by improvement in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).