MOTIVATION AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN NIGERIA POLICE

Abstract

The idea of motivation is concerned with factors that influence the behavior of people in certain
ways. An individual is motivated if he moved in the direction expected from him in order to achieve
a set goal. Motivation is a powerful tool that reinforces behavior and triggers the tendency to
sustain it. The effective delivery of public service is a function of the distribution of duties and
responsibilities and the quality of motivation on ground, (extrinsic and intrinsic motivation). The
main objective of this paper is to examine the effect of motivation on service delivery
(performance) of the police in Nigeria. Various methods of motivation and their strengths were
reviewed. The paper relied mostly on secondary data through which valid submission made on the
subject matter. One of the findings of the paper is that police in Nigeria require improvement in
mostly intrinsic motivation in which the pride of being a police officer becomes major factor to
perform as well as around the extrinsic motivation in which the officer enjoy better and improved
reward, salary increase, promotion etc. The paper therefore recommends among others that
service delivery in Nigeria should be enhanced and public impression about the Nigeria Police
improved through strategic eradication of corruption within the rank and file of the Nigeria Police.