Mr. Clement Agba, Minister of State for Finance, Budget and National Planning, has advised permanent secretaries to inculcate a positive mindset that accelerates growth and development.
“ Mindset is everything. Your mindset without doubt is your greatest asset. It is worth more than any financial or business training. It is more valuable than any degree or any education.
“ The mindset change that I advocate is how to think outside the box through a paradigm shift as we all have a choice to watch change passively happening around us, or to participate and lead it,” he said.
Agba gave the advice on Friday in Abuja at the opening of a retreat for Permanent Secretaries in federal ministries.
“ I am convinced that this retreat will provide everyone with a platform to learn, update and further entrench requisite skills, knowledge and attitude for improved performances which will translate into good governance, peace and development of our country,” he said.
Governance in any nation, Agba stressed was about the development of both the political and administrative structures, responsible for the achievement of national development in terms of infrastructure, attainment of peace and political stability.
According to him, good governance was achievable through public service and permanent secretaries, whose responsibilities were to support the general policies and priorities of government.
The minister said that top officials also operated within the context of the management practices and procedures established for the government.
Agba said that his ministry had successfully implemented some trainings for ministerial aides and directors, which focused extensively on change management.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, said that the retreat was put together to discuss matters that pertained to developmental planning, and reform management, including the promotion of good governance, accountability and transparency, among others.
She said that it was also to Yemi-Esan expressed optimism that the retreat would help deepen the understanding of best practices in conducting government business and foster stronger synergy, unity of purpose and teamwork, as well as boosting the capacity of government officials to ensure excellent performance in the implementation of national goals.
The retreat was organised by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning in collaboration with The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS).
The Resident Representative of KAS, Dr. Vladimir Kreck, said that it was the mandate of the permanent secretaries to promote democratic and good governance to foster relations between host country and Germany.
He listed the preconditions for good governance to include, process of strategic long term planning, introduction of control mechanisms, assessment of development and reassessment of achieved results.
Kreck said good governance would lead to design of development plans and their effective implementation to induce sustainable development that would benefit the country. (NAN)
