By Stella Odueme
The Head of Service of the Federation, Dr Yemi-Esan has said the Service is currently grooming a new crop of leaders and highly skilled officers through the Leadership Enhancement and
Development Programme (LEAD-P) to transform the nation’s civil service to international standard.
She said the service has also been at the forefront of training through the Structured Mandatory
Assessment-Based Training Programme (SMAT-P) to attain more efficiency at the work place.
Yemi-Esan stated this in Abuja at the 2024 Public Lecture with the theme; “Education Fit For the 21st Century: Preparing Nigerian Public Servants to Address Global Challenges While Fostering Employee Engagement, Retention, and Job Satisfaction”, as parts of activities to mark the Annual Civil Service Week on Thursday.
For instance, she explained that one of the goals of LEAD-P is to identify, mentor, and strategically deploy 500 future civil service leaders service-wide by 2025.
“So far, 224 LEAD-P officers have been trained.
It is envisioned that the skilled officers will be able to effectively drive the delivery of government activities, programmes and projects.
” It is hoped that in no distant time, this class of officers will be most
sought after in the service to drive the smooth delivery of critical
projects and programmes in Nigeria,” she stated.
She explained that under the programme, participating civil servants are required to undergo an 8-week internship in a private sector organisation to gain experience in efficient work processes, organisational values, ethics, innovation, and effective management styles.
Yemi-Esan disclosed that her office in partnership with the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation have already invested in the training and re-training of civil servants for more effective and efficiency in service delivery.
While noting that lack of structures and targeted programmes had remained posed a challenge in the past, she called on civil servants to re- dedicate themselves and take advantage of the now evolving trainings programmes advance the service and the nation as a whole.
The Guest Lecturer at the Public Lecture, Prof. Peter Okebukola, stressed the importance of education in the 21st Century workplace.
He highlighted critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, innovation, collaboration and team work, digital literacy, flexibility and adaptability, social and cross-cultural skills as vital in the civil service.
Others requisite qualities to Okebukola, include leadership and accountability, entrepreneurship, use of technology, environmental literacy, resilience and stress management, among others.
In his goodwill message, former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Yayale Ahmed noted that the Civil Service Week, with its usually apt and well-crafted themes, has been a true reminder and calibration of the essence and place of the civil service as the engine room of policy, articulation and implementation for the country.
Ahmed who spoke through Mr. Akin Arikawe, said, “Education Fit for the 21st Century must address a shift from the conventional competencies and approach to both techniques and delivery so as to catch up with global best practices.
“This is simply a wakeup call to catch up with modern trends and ways of doing things in the Civil Service.
“To sustain and consolidate the core values of accountability, meritocracy, professionalism, loyalty and efficiency in the Civil Service, our education must be tailored towards catching up on level playing grounds with modern trends.”
