In a bid to redefine the image of the Nigerian civil service, Vice-President Kashim Shettima has called for a departure from its historical associations with redundancy and inefficiency.
Shettima emphasized the urgency to revamp the civil service and addressed changes in leadership dynamics during the second graduation and award presentation ceremony for civil servants who completed a training program organized by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.
The Leadership Enhancement and Development Program initiative, according to a statement from the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, is aimed at tackling longstanding challenges faced by the Nigerian civil service.
During his address, Shettima commended the graduates for their commitment to rigorous leadership training, envisioning them as catalysts for change within the public service.
He said, “This marks a further turning point in the fortunes of the public service and the civil service in Nigeria and the astute work that has been done that continues to be done in requisitioning the service. I assure you that it’s a new dawn.
“A leader is that visionary and calculated risk taker who takes his people to where they need to be, even if they don’t know that they need to be there.
“So, the challenges of leadership are changing, becoming more complex and systems of complexity. So, with the rigorous training on leadership that our graduates have gone through over months or perhaps years of preparation, it is my belief that we are unleashing on our public service and our civil service a ready cohort of game changers and change ambassadors.
“The idea behind training a select few is for them to infect the vast majority in a good way with what they have learned and to replicate themselves everywhere. The task will not be easy. The world is watching, and your job is cut out for you.
“There is a critical need to reposition public service or civil service and to get us to begin to attain the levels which we have seen in many countries around the world. We have to walk away from a reputation of redundancy and inefficiency.”
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, represented by the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Dr. Nnamdi Mbaeri, underscored the indispensable role of civil servants in nation-building.
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