The Economic Reform and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the Federal Government has placed a huge demand on every sector to put in place action plans towards achieving rapid economic recovery of Nigeria.
The Public Service with its huge manpower, saddled with responsibility to interpret and implement government policies must therefore be positioned and equipped with the tools to drive the processes that will lead to the achievement of the EGRP of the Federal Government.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, in line with the new economic policies and change mantra of the Federal Government, has developed the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP) to drive the reform process as well as launch the EPIC Culture to transform the Civil Service into an Efficient, Productive, Incorruptible and Citizen-Centred to enable it deliver the programmes and policies of government.
The Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN) under the supervision of the Head of Service of the Federation has evolved since it was first established as a Civil Service College before it was renamed Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN) in 2009 making it the foremost Public Service Training Institute in Nigeria. With this rebirth came added and expanded responsibilities to train senior and middle level manpower and to serve as a “Think Tank” support to public sector management, reform and sustainable development.
The PSIN, under the leadership of Dr. Abdul-Ganiyu Obatoyinbo has engaged stakeholders in various areas to build a structure that will see to the fulfilment of the mandate of the Institute in line with the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan. On February 21, 2018, with support from African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Institute for the first time commenced a process to put in place an approved document to give a sense of direction and guide in the day-to-day decisions in the administration of the Institute for the next five years. This brought together a team of intellectuals and critical stakeholders to contribute in the drafting of the Strategic Plan of the Institute.
The journey to develop the Strategic Plan for the Institute has passed through various stages with the just concluded 3-day retreat on the development of the Monitoring and Evaluation Tools for the implementation of the strategic plan. The strategic plan which is to serve as a roadmap for the operations, programmes and activities of the Institute is aligned to the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan as well as achieving the Institution’s mandate.
As an Institute established to build capacity of Public Servants, PSIN is strengthening its institutional structures as well as developing programmes and updating its brochure to provide the needed training for Public Servants to equip and prepare them for leadership responsibilities. The Institute has the responsibility to drive the EPIC culture transformation through a well designed training programme aimed at achieving culture change targeted at making the service Efficient, Productive, Incorruptible and Citizen-Centred.
Taking a lead role towards the successful implementation of the strategic Plan of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, the Institute organised a Bench-Marking Study tour to Singapore and Malaysia for key officials from the Federal and States led by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita to enable delegates learn from the experience and innovative steps taken by these two countries to reposition their public services for quality and improved service delivery.
Towards achieving the Entrepreneurship Culture and Commercial Orientation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation plan, PSIN has engaged public and private organisations, financial institutions, international organisations and donors agencies in collaborative partnerships to fully utilise its potentials and to convert its strengths and opportunities to economic advantage. This has culminated in the need to create the Entrepreneurship and Commercial Orientation Department as contained in the Strategic Plan Document.
To reposition the Institute to provide the required platform that will drive digitization in the public service, Obatoyinbo, through partnerships and donations has expanded the Institute’s digital facilities. While developing training programmes that are demand-driven and targeted at building talents, PSIN is able to create a data for tracking public servants trained in specific skills for deployment thereby closing skills gap in the service while enhancing effective and efficient manpower management.
Obatoyinbo in order to ensure that the public servants remain relevant and current, has embarked on massive improvement of facilities in the Institute in order to position it to provide specialised training to strengthen the human resource structure in the public service to key into the Economic and Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) of the Federal Government. The Public Service Institute of Nigeria is committed to the success of the transformation agenda of the Head of the Civil Service of the federation through the achievement of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan.
The PSIN in line with its mandate, will continuously take deliberate actions to achieve a culture change to deliver to the Nigerian people a very Efficient, highly Productive, Incorruptible and Citizen-Centred Public Service. The PSIN will continue to provide competency-based and demand driven training to public servants and also provide the needed support to the Federal Government especially with regard to public sector management, reform and sustainable development. The agency will continue to instil in Public Servants the Federal Civil Service’s core principles of Stewardship, Trust, Engagement and Professionalism (STEP).
***Ekaete Umo, Director of Press & Public Relations in PSIN, writes from Abuja
