The real problem with service in Nigeria

By BOSEDE OLUSOLA-OBASA

Have you ever walked away from a service interaction in Nigeria wondering, “Why did I have to beg to be treated like a human being?”

You ask some business people a simple question, and you are treated like nuisance. You seek a service you have paid for, and someone behaves as though they are doing you a personal favour. You go to a government office to exercise a legitimate right, yet leave feeling humiliated and deprived.

And sometimes, we are not even surprised at the turn of things anymore. That is the real danger. We are beginning to normalise poor service attitude.

Apart from simply marking Customer Service Week with fanfare, we must look beyond call centres, complaint desks and customer-facing employees. The problem is much deeper.

The real problem with service in Nigeria is a mindset problem. And, mindsets, define attitudes.

Look around you, see why:

We confuse rights with privileges. Having a right to a service does not give us the right to abuse the person providing it. And enjoying a privilege does not make us superior to others!
We sometimes demand our rights but neglect our obligations. We expect government, businesses and institutions to serve us well, but often forget that citizenship, employment and participation come with responsibilities.
The civil service is not the only place where a service problem now exist. Just look around you. The same attitude exists in businesses, schools, hospitals, religious organisations, homes and communities!
Entitlement has replaced responsibility. You hear words like: “It is not my job.” “They should be grateful.” “Nobody will reward me anyway.” These may seem harmless, but attitudes quietly destroy service culture.
What about the fact that we sometimes use power to frustrate rather than serve. A position, connection, uniform, title or access becomes an excuse to make others suffer unnecessarily.

Celebrating the Customer Service Week every October should therefore challenge all of us to serve well; not just customer service officers. Understand that: every right comes with responsibilities. Every role carries obligations. And every human interaction is an opportunity to demonstrate character.

Nigeria does not merely need better customer service training. We need a better service (mindset) orientation!

Serve Well! Mind Your Character!

I’m Bosede Olusola-Obasa, Character Development Trainer, Corporate Culture Strategist and Best Service Attitude Advisor.

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