In recent times, the performance record of the employees of Nigerian public
social welfare agencies has been a catalogue of disappointment and failure.
This situation has, therefore, called for a drastic intervention through public
perception to draw the attention of the employees to their responsibilities of
providing services to the people in the most satisfactory manner and move
the country forward in the attainment of the millennium development goals.
This is the major premise of this study. In other words, the study sought to
ascertain the dominant public perception or view of employees’ performance
in social welfare agencies in Enugu State; South Eastern Nigeria.
Questionnaire and in-depth interview were used to collect information from
respondents. The data so collected were analysed using percentages and chisquare
(x2
) statistical analysis to explain variables and test the hypotheses
raised in the study. The study findings showed that employees performance
in public social welfare agencies in Enugu State is far from meeting their
traditional roles and lofty expectations demanded by the general public. To
this end, members of the public see the employees attached to our social
agencies as epitome of corruption, laziness and inexperience. This situation
they attribute to poor remuneration and other incentives of work, lack of
proper education and training, improper or lack of adequate monitoring and
supervision, amongst others. The cumulative effect resulted to some social
upheavals such as poor quality counseling, lack of appropriate care for the
aged and orphans, poor services for the handicapped and the sick, armed
robbery, drug addiction, broken homes amongst others. However,
considering the findings of the study and its implications to the Nigeria
social policy, the search for a far reaching solutions should span the realm
of giving attractive and competitive remunerations, introducing employees
to development and training programme, adequate monitoring or supervision
and strict adherence to merit during recruitment exercise. All these will
enable the public social welfare agencies in the state to play their leading
role in socio-economic transformation and human development.