Head of Service charges public servants on technological innovations

Public Servants in Nigeria have been advised to cooperate in order to provide a more effective service that will ensure the socioeconomic development of the country over the long term.

The call was made by the Head of Civil Service, Folashade Yemi-Esan, made the call at the 2022 Public Service Innovation Competition Award Ceremony.

According to Yemi-Esan, the 2018 Future of Jobs Report of the World Economic Forum states that, the range of established roles in the Global Labour Market which are set to experience rising demand, include Data Analysts and Scientists.

She further stated that in the past decade, more than any period in recent times, there has been a significant proliferation in the acquisition of technologies and solutions to create better opportunities and render seamless services.

The Head of Service emphasised that innovation in the public sector has become increasingly popular around the world as a strategy for improving governance and scaling up the quality of service.

The Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada said the only way to encourage upcoming public officers to contribute to the changes needed in the Service is to give them the opportunity to think outside the box.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service, Ibrahim Shekarau, said reward and punishment are viable tools in enhancing service delivery noting that a good leader recognizes performance and reward same.

“Everywhere on earth, human beings, the best they appreciate is when you recognise their outstanding performance”.

Senator Shekarau, however, noted that rewards must not be exclusively for the staff of organisations, but must include even janitors.

The Winner of the competition, Mr. Oluromi Emmanuel constructed a GPRS enabled Speedometer, a tool that enables a car driver to receive a text message on the state of their cars.

The crux of the 2022 edition of the Federal Civil Service Innovation Competition is to bring innovative solutions to bear in addressing security challenges within the public space and develop new methods for advancing government business through Public Private Partnership as well as reducing the cost of governance.

The first place winner was awarded the prize of three million Naira (N3,000,000) while the first and second runner up winners will get one million, seven hundred and fifty Thousand Naira (N1,750,000) and one million Naira (N1,000,000) respectively.

The sum of two hundred thousand Naira (N200,000) will be presented to the ten other top performers as consolation prizes.