OHCSF, AIG Move to Reposition Nigeria’s Civil Service

The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) and the Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG) recently reiterated their joint commitment to reforming the Nigerian Civil Service in a private-public partnership.

The OHCSF, under the leadership of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, organised a two-day retreat for members of the recently constituted Project Management Teams (PMTs) for the Implementation of the 2017-2020 Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP) in Calabar, CrossRiver State.

The objective was to provide orientation for the PMT members in readiness for the implementation phase of the eight priority initiatives of the FCSSIP - which broadly cut across, capacity building, staff welfare, digitisation and innovation. “Following the launch of the Strategy in February 2017, the OHCSF received a Presidential intervention that culminated in OHCSF signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG) and shortly after, received approval from the Federal Executive Council in July 2017,” Oyo- Ita explained in a statement. She added: “On December 7, 2017, theeight PMTs were constituted and inaugurated, and together with the relevant private sector champions, are expected to facilitate and drive the day-to-day implementation of the eight priority areas of the 2017–2020 FCSSIP.” She further highlighted some of the benefits of the project, stating that “the implementation of the Strategy is expected to deliver N60-120bn savings from cleaning HR data, N2.5bn annual savings from digitising content, at least 25,000 civil servants trained through revamped core modules and at least three annual innovation challenges held to cultivate ideas, technologies, and ventures for enhanced service delivery, efficiency and productivity in the public service.”

In her remarks, on the support of AIG, “I want to use this opportunity to thank AIG for their support as our major implementation partner and channel for engaging private sector reforms champions.