Head of Service laments nepotism, abuse, corruption in MDAs

Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, has lamented that quality service delivery has been relegated in the civil service, giving room for corruption, nepotism, abuse and lack of confidence in government.

She admitted this yesterday in Abuja in her address at a two-day Service Innovation roundtable discussion organised for Heads of departments and divisions in charge of innovation, service wide, by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation in conjunction with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS).

The HoS, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Special Duties Office (SDO), Mrs. Ibiene P. Roberts, urged Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to rebuild trust in governance through effective and efficient service delivery to the public.

“The world that we live in is now described as vuca-volatile -uncertain, complex and ambiguous. The world we were born into no longer exists and a shift is no longer a choice,” she said.

She recalled that one of the eight pillars of Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP) 2017-2020 was to improve service delivery through innovation with various activities, such as promotion of annual innovation challenge to cultivate ideas, development of entrepreneurship culture and commercial orientation, amongst staff.

She expressed delight at past innovation competitions, where women were among the top on the winners’ list, adding that such further portrayed the fact that inclusion of women in the public sector innovation led to better outcomes.

The HoS also highlighted some of the innovations in the Public Service to include the new Performance Management System (PMS) and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) developed in conjunction with the African Initiative for Governance (AIG).

This manual, according to her, would enable seamless transition to Enterprise Content Management Solutions (ECMS) for effective communication service wide.

In his opening remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Service Policies and Strategies Office, Dr. Emmanuel Meribole, said the Nigerian civil service was geared towards a world class service for accelerated national development.

(Courtesy THISDAY)