By Stella Odueme
The Federal Government has given civil servants who emerged as winners of the Federal Civil Service Innovation Competition the sum of N7.8million.
At the Award Presentation Ceremony on Monday in Abuja, the Head of the Civil Srvice of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, announced that the star prize winner received N3million, while the first runner-up got N1.75million just as the second runner–up got N1million while 10 other innovators went home with N200,000 each as consolation prizes.
She recalled that the 2024 competition which is the 4th Edition since its inception in 2020, saw a total of 203 submissions received and collated, out of which 99 civil servants participated in the first round of pitching.
“From this number 28 qualified and participated in the second round. At the final round held on 22nd March, 2024, a total number of 14 contestants competed, from which three top winning ideas emerged, with ten other winners.”
She said participants were made to compete within the scope of Reward and Performance Management, Mentorship and Succession Planning, as well as Talent Management and Knowledge Transfer through E-Learning.
Yemi-Esan stressed the need for innovation in the public service, saying it is the only way to keep up with the pace of global change.
“Innovation is about identifying problems, stirring up creativity and engaging in divergent thinking to derive solutions to improve the quality of life.
“These among other allied objectives have informed the hosting of the Federal Civil Service Innovation Competition.
“As you are aware, the competition sets out to provide a platform for Civil Servants to identify problems in the Service and proffer innovative solutions.
“By investing and promoting a culture and ecosystem for innovation to thrive, the Public Service can retain and attract the best talents in a competitive labour market.
“In this light, it is pleasing to note that our resolve to sustain innovation in the Service and discourage the suppression of ideas is yielding tangible results.
“Since the first edition in 2020, the Civil Service has been able to effectively deploy several solutions that were developed in-house.”
Yemi-Esan assured of her office’s resolve to sustain and strengthen the structures established to drive innovation in the public service which are in line with the policy thrust of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021-2025 (FCSSIP25).
”This commitment is also in pursuit of the actualisation of Priority Area 7 of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu -led Administration which is to
“Accelerate Diversification through industrialisation, digitisation, creative arts, manufacturing and innovation.
“It is instructive to point out that achieving the aforementioned Priority area is key to unlocking Priority Area 8 – Improving governance for effective service delivery as well as other Priority areas in the agenda.
“However, the Nigeria Civil Service cannot do it alone. This is why we call for effective and sustainable collaboration with both public and private sector organisations including development partners.
“It is hoped that with the sustained support, the Nigeria Public Service will significantly contribute to improving Nigeria’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index which is 109th among the 132 economies featured in the 2023 rankings.”
In her welcome address, Permanent Secretary, Special Duties Office, Office of the Head of Service, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, said that the public service traditionally viewed as bureaucratic and slow to change, is now globally under pressure to adapt and innovate to meet the evolving needs of citizens, improve service delivery, and enhance societal outcomes.
“It has become increasingly important in addressing the complex challenges confronting Governments worldwide.
The competition provides a veritable platform to showcase and celebrate the ingenuity, creativity and problem-solving prowess of civil servants.
“One of the strategies deployed towards achieving this goal is implementation of Federal Civil Service Innovation Competition, with the maiden edition organised in 2020.
“It also encourages civil servants to identify problems in the Service, proffer solutions and propose suitable approaches to solving the problems,” Ajani stressed.
