Write On, Civil Servant: An Insider’s Secret Key To Great Bureaucratic Careers
By Emmanuel Obe
Karibi T. Georges, in his latest book, challenges civil servants and workers in bureaucratic settings to advance their careers and organizations through a mastery of the basic forms of writing
Anonymity is probably the most enduring character of the civil servant. With anonymity, the civil servant can easily evade the consequences of policies or decisions of government and institutions, even when they might have been the brain behind such policies or decisions. However anonymity creates the needed atmosphere for civil servants to freely and boldly contribute to policy and decision making, knowing that their persons are protected from their roles. In other words, anonymity gives the civil servant security and strength.
But like it is often said, every strength embeds its own weakness. Anonymity has activated a weakness for the civil servant in such a way that it has tampered with the modern civil servant’s creative powers. Since they are not likely to take credit or blame for their actions, a lot of civil servants choose to hide, or better still, bury, their creative talents and skills by staying anonymous thus killing their creative talents and leaving their skills fallow.
Ironically, among civil servants are to be found the most qualified crop of professionals, technocrats and technicians globally. This is because the recruitment procedure for civil servants is very meticulous and sensitive. No civil servant is recruited without the requisite educational qualifications and attestation from reputable members of the society. Legislators, political officers and even judges do not go through the kind of scrutiny civil servants endure before they are engaged. Yet it is the political appointees that take credit for the fine and hard work put together by civil servants. Even after recruitment, the civil servant undergoes regular inductions, training, assignments and that keep him current and in tune with his duties and general service to the society.
Of all the institutions established by the colonial authorities, the civil service is the most enduring and stable. It is the engine room of government. It is always there in good and in bad times. It is like the barracks. ‘Soldier Go, Soldier Come; Barracks Remains’ according to Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the Afro-beat King. Military governments, democratic governments, politicians of hues and political parties may come and go but the civil service remains. Records kept by civil servants are usually treated with sanctity and almost accorded the same value as a statute. And no matter how much the politicians loathe the civil service, they cannot do without it. The sanctity of the civil service has also rubbed off on civil servants. They are reputed for their taut, unembellished and Spartan lifestyles.
In Write On, Civil Servant, Karibi T. George is challenging the civil servant to wake up and creatively utilise his talents, skills, exposure and experience to make his job better and better himself. Being a civil servant should not be an excuse to be flat and bland. Like the biblical parable of the talents, talents not used get lost to people that use theirs.
Write On, Civil Servant is what one might call the professional handbook for civil servants of the executive cadre. It is divided into three parts. The first part deals with an overview of the civil service, its nature and methods of communication and the general orientation of the civil service. Part Two delves into the art of writing (which the author refers to as Expository Writing) in the civil service and the forms that writing in the civil service takes. Part Three steps into the general arena and discusses the art of creative writing; writing styles; general English grammar; common mistakes in English; elements of writing; and the psycho-social challenges in writing in the civil service. It is here that those that ‘missed’ their English in school can recover it, grasp the rules of grammar, and rediscover their writing skills.
Write On, Civil Servant is presented in simple free flowing English. The reader does not need to have a dictionary by his side to get along with the author. Special words or expressions known mainly to civil servants are carefully explained, and where necessary, with examples.
The book is at once a civil servant’s handbook, guide, compendium, book of statutes, textbook on grammar, public communication, styles and motivation. It could not have been better authored by any other person than Karibi T. George, whose training, experience, pedigree and motivation aligns with public communication. He’s a grammarian, having done his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in English; a lawyer, journalist, book editor, politician, teacher, public affairs commentator; a competitive sportsman, a church elder; the child of a teacher/priest/ civil servant; a civil society activist and a civil servant. He has spent virtually all his active years writing, speaking, holding meetings and motivating younger people.
Part One is subdivided into three chapters. The first chapter is the introduction where the author explains his motivation for writing the book. He romanticizes writing in the civil services in the colonial days when civil servants were the “eyes and ears” of government. “They deployed elevated language to present facts and opinions. Their prose was poetic: their letters and official memoranda were filled with descriptive imagery, allusions and metaphors. Their superiors and policymakers enjoyed reading persuasive documents from them as their opinions were reasoned and recommendations accepted for speedy implementation. They wrote in a style that combined beauty and functionality.” The author therefore says Write On, Civil Servant is intended to motivate the civil servant to return to his place as a source of “occupational writing”.
The second chapter, explores the nature of communication, its processes and its functionality.
Chapter Three looks at the various types of written communication in the civil service such as Letters; Records; Notices; Resolutions; Circulars; Memoranda; and Minutes. Each of these methods of written communications has its own format, which the author takes time to explain.
Chapter Four is general commentary on the state of the civil service today and discusses issues that have contributed to the general decline in the quality of written communication in the civil service.
Part 2 takes up the types of written communication individually. The author identifies two forms of Civil Service Writing: Minuting and Expository Writing.
He takes time to explain how minutes should be written and how best it can be written. “Minuting should be made to close out actions,” he says. The chapter on minuting X-rays the language of minuting, which outsiders consider the jargons of the civil service. Such language and when to use them include KIV (keep in view), FYI (for your information), TNA (take necessary action), FFA (for further action), WEF (with effect from), Advise, Process and many others.
The author identifies types of expository writing and explains when to use them and backs them up with generous examples such that the reader can easily identify them from the given examples and how to structure them. He lists 16 types of expository writing to include letter, memorandum, circular, notice, minutes, report and executive summary. Others are speech, press release and statement, media articles, communiqué, citation, tribute, corporate profile and e-mail. This part provides the templates which civil servants and administrative staff or other organizations, whose ordinary duty is to draft and write official communication can adopt to make their jobs easier and more effective.
Exploring Expository Writing, Write On, Civil Servant says the civil servant does not have to remain aloof and anonymous when they can enhance their career, contribute to knowledge and generally improve the work environment by writing and publishing. It says the civil servant might not make comments on official policies when they are not authorized to do so, but they can write opinion and feature articles that can elaborate on such policies either using their names or pseudonyms.
It is the opinion of the author that a good understanding of how to present written communication can aid growth in service as he says, “advancement on the corporate ladder may be dependent on the worker’s ability to communicate in writing.” He advocates that civil servants should practice writing and write regularly.
In the Third and final Part, the author examines the issues in writing and how to overcome them. This part addresses both civil servants and non-civil servants alike. It is where those who intend to jack up their writing, and even make writing a preoccupation need to focus on.
He starts Issues in Writing with styles and form, which he says should be simple, informative and obedient to the rules of grammar. Part 3 takes times to identify some basics in English grammar. The author names, explains and provides instances when and those basics can be can be used to good effect in writing. These basic includes Parts of Speech; Phrases, Clauses and Sentences; Uses and Abuses of Prepositional Phrases; Idioms, Cliches and Nigerian English; and Some Common Mistakes in English.
The author does not leave the reader hanging as to where to find writing resources. He first advises every writer to keep whatever they have to write simple and short; prefer the active voice to the passive voice, keep handy a dictionary and a thesaurus, and ‘not forget to keep reading other writers’. He also advises the writer to have the ability to think, for that’s the key to creative writing; then they should develop a problem solving seeking mind because writing becomes relevant when it unravels mysteries.
In the final chapter, the author admonishes civil servants and to get digital because the world now communicates digitally and is leaving analogue writers behind.
In summary, Write On, Civil Servant is a clarion call on civil servants to wake up their creative spirits, write and reclaim their special place in society. After all, some of Nigeria’s greatest writers penned their way to fame while working for government. Chinua Achebe was working for the Nigeria Broadcasting Service when he wrote Things Fall Apart, Wole Soyinka was with the University of Ibadan when he started writing, Elechi Amadi was in the army and later on with the Ministry of Education, when he wrote his classic novels, and Chukwuemeka Ike even wrote the top seller, Expo ’77, when he was the Registrar of WAEC. Teachers and lecturers in government schools have been for long time authors of books and opinion writers; why not the modern civil servant?
K.T. George, a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, is a lawyer and civil servant
