The Edo State Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa Esq., has urged Civil and Public Servants in the state to be dedicated to their duties as the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led State Government has put all enabling measures in place for optimal service delivery.
The Head of Service made this known during a one-day stakeholders’ engagement organised for the review of mid-year performance for individuals, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) which took place at the John Odigie-Oyegun Public Service Academy in Benin City.
The Head of Service noted that every worker in the state has a solemn responsibility to ensure that the confidence reposed on them by the present administration is justified by committing themselves to delivering optimally on their assigned duties.
“The developmental strides of the present administration in the state are unprecedented in the history of this state,” Okungbowa noted.
“What the government has consciously and deliberately done is to develop the entire spectrum of the Civil and Public Service.
“Mr. Governor has developed the workplace environment of the civil and public servants like no other and also has developed the work processes. Now we have e-governance which has made work more effective, easier and a lot more effective,” he added.
Tasking participants on the need to commit themselves fully to the growth and development of the service, the HOS told them that to whom much is given, much is expected.
“Therefore, this is the other side of the coin. We are not just taking attendance. Like the Governor said when we had our engagements at one time, what are we going to give in justification of all these investments that we have made in the civil and public service to Edo State?
“When we say we are measuring performance in a special way, it means we are not going to allow anybody to lie low and unidentified and when it’s time for promotion, we become prominent. No, it won’t happen like that anymore.
“So, we expect that given what the Governor has been doing in the last six and a half years, we have a responsibility to justify that confidence by increased and improved performance so that as we are becoming the best workforce in terms of payment of salaries, providing conducive office environment and other things, we should also be the best civil and public service in terms of service delivery.
“I have no doubt in my mind that every effort that has been made here today including previous methods by the Strategy Policy Projects and Performance Office team and every one of you is not a waste. All these efforts are geared towards one thing – increasing our capacity to deliver.
“So, I enjoin you all to have a solemn responsibility to deliver as civil and public servants so that the Governor of Edo State can be happy,” he charged.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Strategy, Policy, Projects and Performance Management, Mrs Sarah Esangbedo Ajose-Adeogun, also gave relevant guidelines which different MDAs will be using to do their evaluations and presentations.
She noted that performance management has taken the centre stage for the public service of Edo State.
“As part of the transformation process, we really need to evaluate performance and reward performance in the civil service,” she said.
She noted that the essence of the mid-year performance review was to meet with various heads of MDAs, discover tools and strategies that will help MDAs succeed in carrying out their assigned duties.
The mid-year review was also to bring to the attention of everyone present that they were accountable for every action as it concerns service delivery.
“What we would expect is that performance of MDAs is broken down into individual performance and deliverables,” she said.
Ajose-Adeogun explained that the Edo STEP is a round process aimed at ensuring that civil and public servants in the state perform optimally with the various directorates working with the Office of the Head of Service to drive the process, like the Strategy, Policy, Projects and Performance Management Office, JOOPSA, and Civil Service Commission.
She further highlighted steps to be taken to include confidentiality and openness, digital-driven insight, among other things.
Different presentations regarding various ways the government has invested in digitalizing the State Civil and Public Service were done by Public Digital Associates, a firm helping the Federal Government to digitize the Civil and Public Service and partnering with ACIOE associates and the Bill and Milinda Gates Foundation on the digital transformation of Edo State.
Present at the workshop were commissioners, permanent secretaries, heads of various government parastatals among others. There was also a feedback session.
Speaking to journalists shortly after the workshop, the Head of Service said one of the things that has limited the Civil Service in terms of performance over time has been the haphazard way that performance was managed.
“You know, performance before now was that when it’s time for others to be promoted you are also promoted. However, we have run into a problem. That’s why the civil and public service has not been able to deliver on its assigned mandate,” Okungbowa said.
“The civil and public service is the instrument through which government is enabled to deliver to the people quality governance and Mr. Governor has said we can’t continue to do the same thing and expect a different result.
“There has become now a very deliberate effort to manage performance and that’s why at every point in time, meetings like this are organized to do a review,” he said.
