In line with the ongoing digitalization in the Federal Civil Service, the department of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, has conducted a hybrid training program on the use and management of the newly created official email accounts for staff of the Ministry, for the purpose of official correspondences.
In his address at the training program, the Permanent Secretary Dr. Marcus Ogunbiyi noted that the use of official email address in all official correspondence was a directive of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation and has become an important gateway in the ongoing digitalization process in the civil service, pointing out that all communications with the Head of Service by directors and departments must be done using the official email address.
He expressed optimism that with the way the digitalization plans are going, the official emails may soon be required to log into the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System platform to make leave applications.
On Performance Management System (PMS), the Permanent Secretary informed that the Directors and Heads of Departments, HoDs, would sign their performance contract with him soon, and sanctions would be meted out to the HoD, that are not active on the official email address.
Dr. Ogunbiyi urged the staff to execute tasks within their schedule to the best of their abilities as the ratings from their performances when evaluated would contribute to their scores during promotions.
“we are commencing Performance Management System and any strikes gotten in the reporting year will affect your scores and ratings, and ultimately affect your promotion”, he notified.
He strongly advised about the importance of the use of the official email address as well as visits to the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) self portal, adding they would also form part of assessment for the PMS.
The Permanent Secretary further encouraged the staff to visit the recently launched virtual learning platform by the Office of the Head of Service, to learn and take courses that will improve their careers.
In his presentation, the Director in charge of the ICT department, Marcus Amiolemen, told the participants that the essence of the training was to ensure that everybody knows how to effectively use the staff official email account created for the staff using their username.
He explained that the creation of an official email address that is domain specific for government businesses was the directive of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, adding the official email address gives the staff the ministry’s identity.
He informed that the URL of the official Email for the Ministry is https://mail.fmud.gov.ng/owa. or alternatively, through the staff email option on the menu bar of the Ministry’s web portal https://mhud.gov.ng.
The Director educated the participants on the importance of the country’s identity which is .gov.ng, on the international gateway, adding that all official communications must use official emails that come with the domain name for identity purposes.
On the security of email accounts, Amiolemen gave assurance that the accounts are fully secured as it is being managed by Galaxy Backbone, a company with a proven track record in ICT in Nigeria, adding the site is also designed to identify and filter unsolicited emails.
Amiolemen, while informing the participants that a total of 520 official email addresses has been created for staff of the Ministry since the directive from the Head of Service sadly noted that more than 75% of the email addresses were not yet in use.
He warned that the email accounts were designed to be automatically deactivated and license retrieved by Galaxy Backbone, the managers of the exchange platform, if not used within a period of 90 days.
Amiolemen also demonstrated practical steps through slides, on how to navigate the platform, while also appealing to the staff to visit the Ministry’s web portal so as to be kept abreast of happenings in the Ministry.
Oluseyi Nwachuku
Assistant Director Information
