Service Delivery REFORMS in Nigeria - The Establishment of Service Compact With All Nigerians (SERVICOM).

Problem: A 2004 report on service delivery in Nigeria found that services were not serving people and that they are inaccessible, poor in quality and indifferent to customer needs.

Reform Actions:
- The Establishment of Service Compact With All Nigerians (SERVICOM).
- The development of a three-phase SERVICOM Roadmap
- New SERVICOM mandate and strategic objectives.
- Presentation of a paper on ‘The Future of Service Delivery’ to the Federal Executive Council in 2012.

Main Achievements: SERVICOM has established ministerial SERVICOM units in 84 MDAs; development of service charters in 80% of MDAs with citizen-facing services; establishment of SERVICOM institute; establishment of complaints mechanisms in all MDAs; and Compliance evaluation in 202 service windows across 24 MDAs.

Key Challenges: 
(a) lack of guaranteed continuous funding; 
(b) insufficient capacity within SERVICOM as an organisation; 
(c) inability to secure the critical mass and sustained momentum needed for change; 
(d) reduced activity in the last seven years due to funding limitations; 
(e) lack of support in the ministries for the idea that nodal officers should report direct to Ministers; 
(f) poor public perception about the effectiveness of SERVICOM, and 
(g) how to make SERVICOM more effective, as well as make the MDAs more customer-focused and enhance public participation in monitoring and feedback, are still big challenges. 

Reference:  Public Service Reforms in Nigeria (1999-2014) - A Comprehensive Review

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