Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Socio-Demographic Constraints of Employment Distribution in the Federal Civil Service, Nigeria

Abstract

In spite of the introduction of the quota system to solve the problems of inequality and marginalization in employment and appointments in Nigeria, disparity in regional employment distribution has become a pressing national issue. This study therefore seeks to investigate the spatio-temporal constraints of employment distribution in the Federal Civil Service, Nigeria. Secondary data on the number of persons employed in the Federal Civil Service from 2008-2012 were collected from the Federal Character Commission. Rank order technique, standard scores, frequency distribution and simple percentages were used for analyses. The Rank order technique was used to derive the standard deviates and the standard scores (Z) aggregate for each state and year as well as a composite score for indexing the position of that state and region in the employment distribution. The results obtained showed the dominance of males in the Federal Civil Service mostly among the northern states and geopolitical zones which could be blamed on cultural and religious differences. States like Katsina, Zamfara, Yobe, Sokoto and Kano amongst others had more of males than females in the Federal Civil Service. The findings indicated that majority of the employees in the Federal Civil Service for the periods under review were adults between the ages of 31 – 50yrs. The distribution of grade levels showed high variation among states. The present pattern of employees’ grade level or placement is negatively skewed towards the south-southern, north eastern and northwestern geopolitical zones. This skewed pattern showed that employment distribution is lopsided and disproportionate. Therefore, the study recommended that female/girl child education should be pursued vigorously especially in the Northern part of the country and placement of employees in the Federal Civil Service should be in accordance with educational attainment for all sections of people in the country.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n1s1p293