Organizational Culture and Change Readiness in the Nigerian Civil Service: An Assessment of the Federal Ministry of Education

This study assesses the influence of organizational culture on change readiness in the Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja, North Central Nigeria. Education sector reforms in Nigeria demand significant behavioural and procedural shifts from civil servants, yet institutional cultural rigidities often impede change adoption, limiting the effectiveness of reform programs. A professional practice research design was employed, and data were gathered from 85 ministry officials across curriculum, planning, and administration departments through validated questionnaires and observational interviews. The study draws on Quinn and Rohrbaugh's Competing Values Framework and Armenakis and Bedeian's Change Readiness Model, supplemented by recent literature on public sector organizational change. Findings reveal that ministry units with hierarchical and rule-bound cultures demonstrate the lowest change readiness scores, resisting procedural innovations even when evidence of benefit is available. Conversely, units that have benefited from previous successful change programs show residual cultural openness to further reform, suggesting a path dependency in change readiness. The study identifies weak transformational leadership at the directorate level as the primary cultural barrier to reform uptake, with directors defaulting to risk-averse compliance orientations. Recommendations include cultural diagnostic surveys prior to reform implementation, leadership development programs that cultivate transformation orientation, and change communication frameworks that connect reform narratives to ministry staff's personal professional values. This study is relevant to the Federal Ministry of Education, reform management consultants, and academic HR practitioners working in Nigeria's public sector. Keywords: organizational culture, change readiness, civil service, Federal Ministry of Education, public sector reform