21st century civil service needs critical thinking

A former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Peter Okebukola, has provided a recipe for repositioning the Nigerian civil service for effective performance in service delivery in the 21st century.

Okebulola who was the guest lecturer at a public lecture as part of programmes lined up to mark the 2024 Civil Service Week, said, “Education is key and the kind of education needed in the workplace in the 21st Century involves critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, innovation, collaboration and teamwork, digital literacy, flexibility and adaptability, social and cross-cultural skills.”

According to a statement by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, on Friday, Okebukola also emphasised the need for strong leadership and accountability, entrepreneurship, use of technology, environmental literacy, resilience and stress management, among others.

Okebulola noted that “The managers of the public service in the country must be forward-looking, with projections like how the civil would be in next 50 years in terms provision of various services to the nation.”

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, in her address, said the Service was already making efforts to groom the best brains and the brightest in the Federal Civil Service to bridge the skills gap and requisite knowledge needed to transform the Service.

She added that the service is grooming a new crop of leaders of high skills through the Leadership Enhancement and Development Programme(LEAD-P), as encapsulated in the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021-2025(FCSSIP 2021–2025).

“Under the LEAD-P, the Service has the goal to identify, mentor and train 500 future civil service leaders by the end of 2025, adding that already over 200 officers have been trained and deployed to various Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government,” she said.

Recall that last week Friday, Yemi-Esan said the civil service was currently undergoing significant reforms aimed at enhancing efficiency and effectiveness.

According to her, the reforms which included the adoption of new technologies had reached a critical stage.

Yemi-Esan spoke at the Jumat service held as part of activities to commemorate the civil service week in Abuja.

Represented by the Ministry of Police Affairs Permanent Secretary, Dr Sanni Gwarzo, she stated that Nigerians would see a digital civil service very soon.