Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack, has charged civil servants to rejuvenate and be innovative to be able to address the challenges of the 21st century.
Speaking at the inaugural International Civil Service Conference yesterday in Abuja, she said that the conference, hosted by the Federal Government in partnership with the Global Government Forum, UK, was born out of the recognition that civil service in Africa is at a crossroads.
According to her, although the service inherited a forged system in a different era, it was nevertheless expected to address the challenges of the current era.
“The systems we inherited were forged in a different era. Yet, we are compelled to respond to 21st-century challenges — rapid urbanisation, digital disruption, climate shocks, global pandemics, complex citizen demands and now, the generational call for equity, inclusion, and climate justice.”
With the theme, ‘Rejuvenate, Innovate and Accelerate’, the HoS tasked civil servants to rejuvenate to renew the spirit, skills, and structure of the civil service in order to attract young talents, build leadership pipelines, empower women and marginalized groups, as well as rekindle public trust through values-based service.
On innovation, she stated that ‘bureaucracy’ must not mean stagnation, stressing the need to rethink how policies are made, how services are delivered, and how data and technology are harnessed to serve the people better.
Noting that time is no longer a luxury, she called for a shift from planning to implementation and ideas to measurable changes.
“This conference brought together civil service leaders, reform champions, policymakers, and development partners from Africa, Europe, Asia, and other parts of the globe to exchange ideas, build bridges across borders, and explore shared challenges with a unified commitment to public sector excellence.
“We are launching a movement of renewal, creativity, and bold progress in public service. We are gathered as reformers, thinkers, practitioners, and doers bound by a common belief that the civil service remains one of the greatest instruments of national development and global stability,” she said.
The keynote speaker and former Director-General of the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE), Dr. Joe Abah, believed that Nigerian civil servants are gifted with the capacity to deliver if given the free hand to do so by politicians.
Abah, who is also the Nigeria Country Director of DAI, frowned that most times, politicians treat civil servants as nuisances rather than drivers of growth.
In developed countries, transformation has usually been hinged on a capable, merit-based civil service because civil servants are there to ensure that ministers develop policies that are in the interest of the people.
“But if ministers flood the place with aides who are not as knowledgeable as the civil servants, everything goes back when they leave after two years. Nothing really changes. So, when people say that civil servants lack capacity, anybody can lack capacity if they are not asked to do anything for 10 years.
“If we challenge our civil servants, trust them to deliver, I am sure they will rise to the challenge,” Abah said.
