The Edo State Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa Esq., has said ongoing reforms in the state’s civil and public service by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration are aimed at equipping the workers with the right skills, knowledge, and technology to deliver quality and efficient services to Edo people.
The Head of Service said the government is pursuing a holistic reform of the bureaucratic system, upgrading infrastructure and training staff to be able to perform optimally and contribute to the development of the state.
Okungbowa stated these when he received an Award of Integrity and Stewardship from the Advocacy for Peace and Values Reorientation, a Non-Governmental Organisation focused on advocating for good governance and peace in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria.
According to him, the demand of the 21st century requires that every civil/public servant be equipped with the right skills to meet the technologically driven changing work ethics, adding that the government is taking critical steps to ensure that workers in the state are able to compete with their peers from across the globe.
The Head of Service noted that government remains committed to the welfare of workers in the State and has not relented in its efforts at sustaining the ongoing reforms designed to make the service the best for improved livelihood for the workers and optimal service delivery to Edo people.
He listed some of the policies and programs put in place by Government to sustain the ongoing transformation in the public service, including the enhanced salary structure which has placed Edo workers in the enviable position of being the highest remunerated across the country; the recruitment of competent hands into the workforce, and the institutionalization of e-governance platform, an electronic system that aims to eliminate the use of paper in the administrative processes of government.
Noting that the government adopted the e-governance system to promote openness, transparency, and accountability, the HOS said the system is now 100 percent operational in all 72 Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) in the State.
He further stated that the state government is interested in developing the intellectual property resources of every civil/public servant in the state and has established the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy to ensure that every Edo worker is trained and retrained to build their capacity to deliver on assigned duties.
