Abuja- The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF) Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim, has reiterated the need to document various reforms by government, for posterity.
Anyim, who is also the Chairman, Steering Committee on Public Service Reforms, said this on Thursday in Abuja, at a one day retreat organised to develop a National Strategy for Public Service Reforms.
He said that the committee had prioritised three main reforms issues, which include the development of a national strategy for public service reform, to chart the way forward to 2025.
He said that the committee also took stock of all major reforms since the return to a democratic rule in 1999 and assessed their performance.
Anyim said that the compendium on reforms and the public perception survey represented a robust baseline on which to launch future public service reform efforts.
“Given the rigorous approach taken, through documentation, assessment, public perception survey, and strategy for the future, I am confident that the outcome of this retreat will be understood, validated, owned and supported by key stakeholders.
“We can at least identify and agree on the key reforms that we need to undertake in the public service in the coming year, based on the robust needs and gap analyses that have already been undertaken.
“If we can successfully complete this work and have it endorsed by the Federal Executive Council, we would have bequeathed a very important legacy to the nation; a clear roadmap for action based on rigorous analysis.’’
Also speaking, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr Danladi Kifasi, said that the retreat would fashion out a strategy for moving public service to greater heights.
He highlighted a number of strategic priorities to include the elimination of corruption through increased transparency in the conduct of government business and improvement in human resources management.
Others he identified were deepening the benefits of IPPIS, institutionalising a performance management system in the public service, and succession planning programme for the Federal Civil Service.
Kifasi urged Permanent Secretaries to make detailed inputs into the revised national strategy for public service reforms and the compendium of reforms from 1999 to 2014, to ensure the validity and robustness of the initiatives.
“However, upon my personal review of the draft national strategy for public service reforms, I came to the view that there was a need to debate a number of topical issues.
“If we can map out a roadmap for reforming our budgeting system, making our compensation scheme clearer and fairer, and improving the services that we deliver to Nigerians, we would have developed a national strategy for public service reforms that can indeed move us towards world class status by 2025,” Kifasi said.
In her remark, the Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, (FCSC), Mrs Joan Ayo, said that the core values of the civil service were meritocracy, political neutrality, integrity, discipline, professionalism, anonymity and patriotism.
He said the core values also included continuity in governance regardless of change of government, accountability and transparency.
Ayo said that all civil servants should be politically neutral in the forthcoming elections, adding that doing contrary would result in automatic dismissal from the service.
“Any civil servant found to be involved in partisan politics will be dismissed; if you want to participate in politics as a civil servant, you must resign your appointment”.
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She said that the commission was committed to strict adherence to rules and regulations and the enthronement of the traditional core values of the civil service.
Ayo said selection processes into various positions in the civil service had been strictly on merit, in line with the rules and regulation of the service and without prejudice to the principles of federal character.
She said the commission, in line with global best practices, proposed that all new recruits would be equipped with a laptop.
According to her, the laptop must contain the basic information on the history of the public service, its core values and functions of the various MDAs.
“The objective is that within the next few years, Nigerian public servants will, like their counterparts all over the world, communicate on laptops while the old file system will be a thing of the past.’’
The Director-General Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Mr Joe Abah, said that for better functioning of the public service, a coordination mechanism was needed to ensure that civil servants worked in the same direction.
He said that the aim of the retreat was to tackle issues that had affected the service such as budgeting, public procurement, service delivery and disparity in wages.
Abah said that these issues would be tackled and a way forward would be mapped out for a better civil service in Nigeria.
The Eureopean Union representative, Mr Omotunde Oni, said that effective and successful public service reforms in Nigeria like in other countries with similar situation, required high level of commitment and discipline.
He said the objective of this project was to support Nigeria in its effort to strengthen the system in order to achieve service delivery in various areas of government.
Oni said that with support from the EU and other development partners, Nigeria could achieve the desired results in its public service.(NAN)
