UN-ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR AND THE CHALLENGE OF THE TWENTY- FIRST CENTUARY PUBLIC SERVICE IN NIGERI

The issue of ethics and unethical behaviour in public administration is a major phenomenal problem to leaders especially in Latin America, Africa and the continent of Asia. This situation has posed serious concern to good governance and thus engaged attention of scholars, donor agencies and public servants. This, concern for ethics in the public service has become significant as the reputation and success of government depend upon the conduct of public functionaries and what the public believes about the conduct of officials. These experiences over the years have severely diluted, politicized and undermined the credibility and integrity of the public service thus making it weak. Using secondary data/ content analysis, the paper examine some of these unethical behaviours in the Nigerian public service, which has forced it to deviate from its tradition of excellence in performing its duties, why people behaved unethically, Public interest in the behaviour of public officials, ethical dilemmas facing public servants, reasons behind public interest in the behaviour of public officials and strategies adopted to promote ethical behaviour in the public service. Method for data presentation is purely content analysis and Materials drawn largely from secondary data. It is recommended that for Nigeria and other developing to get it right, there is the need for true Leadership hinged on action and to ensure continuity of Government Policies and Programs under succeeding administration.