Nigeria’s Civil Service has been re-positioned to run more cost effectively and efficiently, with the approval of the 2017-2020 Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), July 12.
Borne of a partnership between the Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG), a not-for-profit organisation, founded to inspire the transformation of Africa’s public sector and OHCSF, the implementation of the reforms is expected to bring about significant change to the Nigerian Civil Service, such as savings of between N60bn – N120bn from auditing human resource data and improving overall transparency and administration of HR. Annual savings of N2.5bn from digitising content (memos) resulting in improved content sharing.
Other benefits flowing from this strategy include 25,000 civil servants trained through revamped core training modules, as against no civil servant trained in 2016. This has a corollary effect of improved skills and competencies and 200 future leaders cultivated through a top talent programme.
In addition, 25 ministries have had performance improved with management system tools, routines, and dialogues and three annual innovation challenges held to cultivate ideas, technologies, and ventures, to enhance the performance of the civil service.
At the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), between AIG and the OHCSF, April 03, Winifred Oyo-Ita, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, said “I am elated by this historic event that has happened here today, with the signing of an MOU between the OHCSF and Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG) pertaining to reforms in the Federal Civil Service of Nigeria.
“This is a momentous milestone in the decades of the existence of the Federal Civil Service of Nigeria. There has never been a partnership of this kind from within the shores of our great country, Nigeria, to render both technical and financial support of this quantum towards the implementation of the Strategy of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. It is indeed a new vista and change has begun in the Nigerian Federal Civil Service.”
Oyo-Ita added “The OHCSF 2017-2019 Strategic Plan aims to create an Efficient, Productive, Incorruptible and Citizen-Centred (EPIC) Civil Service, and, thereby, immensely improve the performance of the Service.”
Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, founder and chairman of the Africa Initiative for Governance said, “the vision of Africa Initiative for Governance is to be a catalyst for public sector transformation across Africa, connecting proven private sector innovation, leadership and funding to an amenable public sector, in partnerships that seek to attract, inspire and support future leaders of Africa’s public sector.
“We greatly commend the efforts of the Presidency and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation towards impactful public sector reforms and are enthused by our shared conviction that such reforms are vital to the sustained growth and development of any economy or nation. AIG is pleased to pioneer and harness private sector support to the government in this area.”
Some of the problems that have bedevilled the civil service have been low adoption rate of digitisation, due to poor infrastructure, widespread use of manual methods, inadequate digital channels and functional platforms to monitor service quality and public satisfaction.
Others are poor culture mind-sets (low accountability due to lack of role clarity) that drive unprofessional behaviours such as absenteeism, limited staff training with core training modules designed but suspended, low evidence that training content is targeted and effective and induction trainings for new recruits no longer being conducted since 2012 among others.
No formal performance evaluation system for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and the existing individual evaluation is based on self-assessment, tenure and generic competency exams (prerequisites for promotion) and lack of performance measures Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) linked to overall vision, such as the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) or Enabling Business Environment drive.
On September 7, 2015, in marking the kick-off of two capacity building programmes developed by OHCSF for public servants across Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, had remarked, “many mourn the decline of the Civil Service today, from its days as ‘primus inter pares’ in the Commonwealth to one which has earned a reputation for inefficiency, low productivity, corruption and insensitivity to the needs of the public fall.”
STEPHEN ONYEKWELU
