The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi- Esan has called on Civil Servants to make the best of the lockdown and stay-at-home directive of the Federal Government which was issued as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic to reflect on the services they provide and “come up with innovative ideas that would help advance the Service, while also engaging in self-development”.
Dr. Yemi-Esan made this call in her opening remarks during the Webinar/Interactive Session with Civil Servants held on Friday, 17th April, 2020.
The Head of Service affirmed that “our ability to transcend our limits, are part of what define our resilience and existence as a human race, being able to evolve as a greater and stronger people”. According to her, the internet is flooded with vast resources which could be utilized to acquire useful knowledge which civil servants can apply in the discharge of their duties particularly post-pandemic.
Dr. Yemi-Esan advised civil servants to enroll for free online courses including the over 2,500 short courses offered by the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN) on its e-learning platform in addition to sharpening their ICT Skills. She therefore challenged them to look ahead and be creative by exploring and exploiting every workable means to carry out their mandate even at times like this.
She assured that the Service will adopt and implement globally recognized systems and solutions for seamless conduct of government business; which she said, is one of the key objectives of the Administration’s Agenda. “For instance, we have been having regular Virtual Top Management Meetings with the Permanent Secretaries in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and it is expected that this will be replicated across the service”, the HOS informed.
Dr. Yemi-Esan said the online interactive session is one of a number of mechanisms being put in place to closely interact with Civil Servants so as to ensure their maximum participation in the programmes and activities of government.
During the Webinar, the HOS answered questions from Civil Servants which bordered on capacity building/training, welfare, office equipment and allowances. Participants thanked and commended the Head of Service for the initiative which they said had afforded them another avenue to contribute to governance.
The Online interactive session which lasted for about two (2) hours had in attendance the Permanent Secretaries in the Office of Head of Civil Service of the Federation and about Five Hundred (500) Civil Servants.
Olawunmi Ogunmosunle
Director, Information
