The Civil Service is the administrative machinery of Government especially one in which appointment are determined by competitive examinations. (Mariam Webster Dictionary)
Through the Civil Service, Government is able to render essential services and manage the affairs of the State.
The Public Service consists of Political appointees and personnel of extra ministerial Agencies which have been established for the purpose of rendering specific services to the Public.
The Civil Service is core and as such civil servants are directly appointed by the Civil Service Commission. They are appointed into the Ministries and The Commission also exist to serve the interest of the Public.
According to the Head of Service of Edo State, Anthony Okungbowa Esq., all Civil Servants are Public Servants but not all Public Servants are Civil Servants.
A collective term often used to describe this sector is the Bureaucracy.
The importance of the Bureaucracy to the success of any administration cannot be over emphasized .This is why Edo State Government has prioritized the reform of the Institution of the Public Service.
When His Excellency, Mr. Godwin Obaseki assumed Office in 2016, one of the issues he sought to address was the Institutional decay in the Service .This efforts became encapsulated in one of the Six Thematic Pillars which form the Fulcrum or Philosophy of his governance (“Institutional Reforms”)
The INSTITUTIONAL REFORM by the Edo State Government gave birth to the Edo State Public Service Transformational and Enhancement Project (EDO STEP)n 2019 which is a Government Initiative to drive transformation Projects in the Civil and Public Service into a model worthy of emulation in the Country and Africa at large.
Its MANTRA is to build a Public Service where efficiency, Productivity and effective Service delivery are the Hallmarks”.
This reform would enable civil servants serve as change agents in the Policies of Government to promote the Making Edo Great Again (MEGA) Agenda.
Through this agenda, the Government of Governor Godwin Obaseki has transformed the Service by developing the capacity of the average Civil Servant to gain efficiency and retooled the Civil/Public Servants by adopting accelerated capacity building strategies that will produce highly knowledgeable, skilled and talented workers in various disciplines and areas of the service: This include improved Organizational Structure through the process that target to produce Civil Servants that are dynamic, agile, flexible and can adapt to changing work ethics.
Infrastructural Development of Government Offices is also part of the Civil Service Reforms. Block B of the secretariat complex is being remodeled up to standard for the comfort of workers up to the standard already achieved with Blocks C and D. Also the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy which is a World Class training Institute has been built for Edo workers
The E-Governance system has also created a responsive and technology –driven service delivery, leveraging the immense potential of technology to increase the productivity of the States workforce with its modern work ethics which has helped the Government to deliver quality service to the people through the adaptation of modern work ethics
The Civil service has been transformed in so many other ways like the Establishment of the Edo State Health Insurance Scheme, the Increase of the State’s Government workers minimum wage from 30,000 to 40,000 above the Statutory approved workers National minimum wage
The Government has continued to sustain on-going reforms in the Civil and Public Service, enhancing the Work environment and boosting capacity for the workers for optimal service delivery.
It should be of note that the transformation exercise focuses on inclusiveness and encourages civil and Public servants to take more pride and ownership of the reforms by staying committed to the cause, embrace it and work effervescently and assiduously with Mr. Governor with a view to achieving set goals.