By Felix Khanoba
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has marked this year’s customer service week with the Research and Development (R&D) Department clinching the award for service excellence.
Speaking on Tuesday in Abuja at the event organised by the SERVICOM Unit, Executive Secretary of TETFund, Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, pledged to always ensure a robust culture of effective service delivery in line with the Fund’s vision to be a world class education interventionist agency.
Represented by TETFund’s Director of Finance and Investment, Alh. Idris Saidu, Bogoro said the theme of the event: ‘Tertiary Education Trust Fund: Re-imaging Service Delivery in the Face of Covid-19 Pandemic Era’, was apt as 2020 has been an unusual year.
The TETFund boss harped on cutting-edge methods to overcome service delivery challenges occasioned by the pandemic, even as he commended the SERVICOM unit for organising the event.
“I applaud you for playing your role in providing pivotal leadership in Nigeria’s quest for Re-imaging Service Delivery in the Face of Covid-19 Pandemic. I therefore urge you to leverage on this opportunity to refresh yourselves on the service delivery strategies that will engender effectiveness,” he said.
While saying the Fund has institutionalised R&D models to address the nation’s developmental challenges , Bogoro said the move has rekindled partnership between academia, industries and researchers.
He said the Fund has leveraged on various innovations to deliver its mandate as well as ensuring a change in service style through the introduction of essential low contact services, virtual staff and online submission of proposals.
Earlier, the Nodal Officer of TETFund and Head of SERVICOM Unit, Mrs Ebere Nwobu, said the Customer Service Week is an annual event that celebrates service delivery.
Nwobu, who nicknamed Bogoro ‘The Service Provider in Chief and Senior Advocate of Research, credited the present enhanced service delivery in the agency to the TETFund boss.
While saying this year Customer Service Week is first of its kind celebrated in the Fund, Nwobu expressed hope that subsequent ones would showcase efforts towards the revitalization of the beneficiary institutions in terms of infrastructure and content based interventions.
On the award of service excellence to R&D/Centres of Excellence Department, Nwobu said the gesture was prompted by the department’s commendable performance in stimulating research programmes and challenged other departments on the need to win the service delivery’s award next year.
In a keynote address, the National Coordinator of SERVICOM, Mrs Nnena Akajemeli, said Covid-19 has made it necessary for organisations to adopt innovation to meet the needs of stakeholders.
“In the face of the pandemic, customers of TETFund have the right to be treated with respect, courtesy, honesty and professionalism whether virtual or not,” she said.
Akajemeli, who described Bogoro as the backbone of the reinvigorated TETFund’s SERVICOM, commended the Nodal Officer and her team for organising the event.
She said the renewed efforts of TETFund on research promotion and utilisation would address the economic and developmental needs of the country.
Akajemeli, however, called for regular upload of all relevant information, programmes, activities, among others, on the Fund’s website and social media handles to make its services more accessible to stakeholders as well save cost.
Highpoints of the weeklong event, which saw presentations by resource persons and service delivery sensitisation, was the presentation of award of service excellence to the R&D Department, received by its Director, Dr Salihu Girei.
