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Nigerian Government inaugurates inter-ministerial team to review Public Service Reform strategy
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha has inaugurated an Inter-Ministerial Task Team to review the 2017-2020 National Strategy on Public Service Reform.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that members of the team, inaugurated on Tuesday in Abuja, were drawn from Ministries, Departments and Agencies, as well as NGOs, media, private sector and civil society organisations.
The SGF, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Political and Economic Affairs, Mr Andrew Adejo said the team has eight weeks to submit its report.
He said that the aim of the review was to strengthen the public service to deliver services timely to citizens, with integrity, transparency and accountability;
Mustapha added that the focus was to create an appropriate environment to accelerate inclusive and sustained growth in all areas, including poverty reduction and inclusive participation of vulnerable groups in the governance process.
“To ensure strategic and efficient allocation and use of resources, fiscal discipline and value for money in a transparent and accountable manner through timely reporting.
“To re-invigorate and transform the civil service into an efficient, productive, incorruptible and citizen-centred institution with the capacity to deliver government policies and programmes.”
He, therefore, urged the team to interface with selected sectoral agencies for a detailed review of the strategy document and organize meetings and technical sessions with stakeholders, including development partners, NGOs, media, private sector and civil society organizations.
Mustapha said that the team would submit its report to the Steering Committee on Reforms, which he heads.
He commended the Bureau of Public Service Reforms for its commitment to repositioning the country’s public service.
The SGF noted that the public service remained the engine room of good governance and a veritable tool through which government policies and programmes are being implemented.
“It is in the light of this that Mr President mandated the reform of the public service for more effective and efficient service delivery,” he added.
In his remarks, Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Mr Nnamdi Mbaeri, urged the team to come up with a document that would transform the country’s public service into a world-class institution.
Earlier, the Director-General, Bureau of Public Service Reform, Mr Dasuki Arabi said that the review was part of government efforts to ensure improvement in services delivered to citizens.
According to Arabi, the members were selected based on their experience and urged them to come up with ways to strengthen accountability and transparency in public administration, as well as measures to tackle corruption at all levels of government.
He added that the team should suggest ways of improving planning, budgeting, monitoring, management and accounting systems in the public service.
This, he said, would ensure that resources “are more sharply focused on priorities, accountability is clear, spending is transparent and public expenditure is more efficiently and prudently controlled”.
The Director-General said the focus should also be on developing sustained economic growth, employment opportunities, social and human development to enhance the quality of life for all citizens.
“They are to ensure effective communication with all stakeholders and to promote participation by citizens in policy development, decision making and feedback on performance.
“Improve the recruitment, retention, development, performance management, motivation and work ethos of public servants through the restoration of the primacy of the merit principle, ensuring adequate pay, and building the capability of public servants at all levels,” Arabi said. (NAN)
The Kano State Government has inaugurated a 14-member committee tasked with reviewing existing education policies in the state.
Inaugurating the committee on Thursday in Kano, the Commissioner for Education, Dr Ali Makoda, said that the committee was constituted by the Kano State Executive Council to assess the state’s education policies.
“This committee was originally scheduled to be inaugurated by the governor, but due to prior engagements, he has delegated the responsibility to me so that we can begin our work immediately,” Makoda stated.
The Commissioner outlined the committee’s terms of reference, which include reviewing the four existing education policies in the state to assess whether they align with the cultural and religious beliefs of the people.
“Evaluating the feasibility of implementing the policies, and making recommendations to strengthen the state’s education system.”
He noted that the four policies to be reviewed include the Kano State Girls’ Education Policy, Kano State Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Policy, Kano State Non-State School Policy, and Kano State Teacher Development Policy.
Makoda announced that the committee has been given three weeks to submit its report, and urged the members to leverage their expertise to produce recommendations that would enhance the state’s education sector.
In his response, the committee chairman, Malam Abdullahi Dutse, assured the commissioner of the committee’s commitment to work collaboratively to meet the expectations placed on them.
“Considering the diverse expertise of the committee members, I believe the government has selected individuals with the right skills to address the challenges facing education in the state. We will work diligently to provide the necessary report,” he said.
The committee’s members include Malam Abdullahi Dutse (Chairman), Prof Abdallah Uba -Adamu, Habibu Dan Almajiri, Alhaji Danlami Garba, Kano State Commissioner for Women, Children, and Disabled Affairs Hajiya Amina Abdullahi, and Isa Ahmad.
Other members are Prof Tijjani Naniya, Malam Kabiru Hanga, Munzali Mustapha, Prof Auwal Halliru Arzai, and Dr Bashir Aliyu -Umar.
The remaining include the representatives of the Emirate Council and Civil Society Organizations, and Ibrahim Bawa, Director of Archives and Publications, who will serve as Secretary of the committee.
The U.S. Deputy-Secretary of State, Kurt Campbell, has extolled Nigeria’s partnership in the successful repatriation of funds linked to forfeited luxury real estate and Galactica Star Superyacht. (more…)
President Bola Tinubu has congratulated six Nigerians named by President Joe Biden among the 400 recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in the United States.
This recognition, established by former President Bill Clinton in 1996, is the highest honour bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their careers.
This year’s awardees, announced by Biden on Jan. 14, are employed or funded by 14 participating United States government agencies, Mr Bayo Onanuga, the President’s Spokesman, said in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
The Nigerian honourees include Azeez Butali, Gilbert Lilly Endowed Professor of Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa; and Ijeoma Opara, Associate Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences), Yale School of Public Health, Yale University.
Others are: Oluwatomi Akindele, Postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; and Eno Ebong, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Biology at Northeastern University;
The rest are: Oluwasanmi Koyejo, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University; and Abidemi Ajiboye, Executive vice Chair of the Case School of Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, and Case Western Reserve University.
Tinubu commended the awardees for their achievements in science, technology and engineering.
He noted that recognising the talents of the awardees underscored Nigerians’ vast potential to excel both at home and on the global stage.
Tinubu looked forward to the honourees sharing their multidisciplinary expertise to benefit Nigeria’s development efforts under the Renewed Hope Agenda. (more…)
Kano inaugurates 14-member committee to review education policies
U.S commends Nigeria over Galactica funds repatriation efforts
Tinubu congratulates Nigerian scientists, engineers on making Biden’s honour list
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