The Edo State Government has completed a two-day capacity building workshop for senior civil and public servants in the state, in line with ongoing reforms by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration to upskill the workforce for increased efficiency and productivity.
The training was declared open by the Edo State Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa Esq., at the John Odigie-Oyegun Public Service Academy in Benin City.
Okungbowa said, “This particular course is to address the deficiencies and lapses in the critical thinking ability of civil and public servants in the state.
“We are building a new service that is moving away from the transactional way it has always operated to a strategic service and so there’s a lot of things that we are going to do. The first is that we have to build the intellectual capacity of our civil and public servants.
“Mr. Governor is very conscious of that because it is only those who are mentally alert that can do their job. If you’re not a critical thinker, you’re not going to be able to address the issues relating to the service and be able to solve the problems that arise in the course of your work.”
The Edo Head of Service said the training which is starting from top civil and public servants in the state will be cascaded to all levels of the state’s workforce.
He further noted, “It’s a series and a lot more will happen in the course of time. We’re taking things in phases. However, for critical thinking, we’re addressing management staff because those are the ones who deal with having to give directives. So, they must be aware, then be able to think critically about those assignments they are giving to people.
“We are addressing the echelon of directors and assistant directors for a start and will cascade down to ensure that everyone who has the responsibility of management in the service is able to think critically.”
Earlier, the Managing Director, John Odigie-Oyegun Public Service Academy, Precious Imuwahen Ajoonu, noted, “We want to raise in the management strata, people that can think critically and solve problems, provide out of the box innovative yet within the rules answers to problems faced in the service.”
