The Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) on Monday urged participating states to embrace reforms that would promote effectiveness, integrity and credibility in the civil service.
Mr Dahiru Lawal, Director, Office of the Permanent Secretary of the Commission, gave the charge at the 45th Annual Conference of Civil Service Commissions of the Federation in Asaba, Delta.
The conference had the theme: “Towards a Future-Ready Civil Service: The Role of Institutional Re-engineering, Reputation Management and Culture Change at the Civil Service Commission in Nigeria”.
According to him, citizens increasingly expect public institutions to be responsive, accessible, efficient, fair and accountable.
He said citizens expected government processes to be less cumbersome, decisions to be timely, recruitment and promotion to be credible, and public resources to be managed responsibly.
“These expectations require a civil service that is not only capable of responding to present challenges but is also prepared to anticipate and manage the demands of the future.
“A future-ready civil service must be professional, competent, ethical, adaptable and results-oriented.
“It must possess the capacity to embrace innovation while preserving the core values of impartiality, continuity, discipline, integrity and service to the public,” he said.
Lawal said civil service commissions, through their constitutional and statutory responsibilities, influence the quality, composition, professionalism and performance of the workforce implementing government policies and programmes.
“Our task, therefore, extends beyond routine personnel administration. We have a responsibility to help shape a public service that can meet the aspirations of Nigerians and support sustainable national development,” he said.
He said the commissions must continually review recruitment, appointment, confirmation, promotion, discipline, record-keeping and other personnel management processes.
He added that the review would help identify unnecessary delays, inconsistencies and opportunities for improvement.
Lawal called for the deployment of digital platforms to support secure personnel databases, electronic document management, timely processing of applications and decisions, and effective monitoring of personnel actions.
He said such reforms must be supported by safeguards for data protection, cybersecurity, record integrity and accountability.
He added that new technologies and revised procedures would yield limited results without equipping officers with the skills, motivation and institutional support needed to use them effectively.
Lawal stressed the need to invest in capacity development, leadership, change management and continuous improvement of work processes.
Also speaking, Mr Frederick Yoro, Permanent Secretary, Delta Civil Service Commission, said the Nigerian public service faced criticism over inefficiency, weak accountability, poor service delivery and declining performance.
Yoro said this had raised concerns in public administration discourse about transforming the public service into a merit-based, efficient and professional institution.
He said institutional re-engineering, reputation management and culture change were key to modernising Nigeria’s civil service, requiring the restructuring of outdated frameworks, systems and technologies to align with new public management practices.
He also stressed the need for reputation management to rebuild institutional trust and improve public perception of the civil service, which had been affected by allegations of corruption, low capacity and poor responsiveness.
Yoro said the focus should also be on cultural change by transforming individual mindsets and institutional norms to promote a value-based work environment.
“Building a future-ready civil service will not happen through isolated reforms. It requires our collective leadership, institutional commitment, political will, professional competence and sustained investment in people and systems,” he said.
The delegates at the conference included the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof. Tunji Olaopa, and the Chairman of the Delta State Civil Service Commission, Mrs Roseline Amioku.
The conference brought together federal and state civil service commissioners, as well as chairmen of civil service commissions from the 36 states and the FCT
Discussion0