Obaseki: Nigeria will be in deeper trouble, if we don’t reduce waste

Godwin Obaseki, the governor of Edo State, has expressed concern about the high rate of waste in government, particularly at the federal level, and he has threatened to bring the nation closer to further difficulties if it does not take intentional action to reduce waste.
In addition, he listed the benefits of the e-governance system implemented by his administration and advocated for the digitalization of all government operations nationwide to guarantee cost-effectiveness and transparency.

According to his Special Advisor on Media Projects, Crusoe Osagie, Obaseki participated in a panel discussion yesterday at the 29th Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, at a plenary session titled “Reinventing Government: Digitalization of Public Institutions.”
“We need to reinvent governance,” declared the governor of Edo. Government cannot be reinvented until its processes are digitalized and made accessible. It is our only choice. We must operate effectively.

“In order to support production, we must be efficient. particularly in the federal government. We will run into problems if we don’t make changes because the waste is excessive. Actually, we are already in trouble, and things will get worse if we don’t change.

Speaking at the occasion about his experience with Edo e-governance, Obaseki stated that political leaders’ political will and commitment were necessary for the digitalization of government due to civil workers’ reluctance.

He observed that, occasionally, even when a political leader had a well-thought-out and admirable program, it was difficult to convince civil personnel to carry it out; in his case, he had to be persistent.
The governor claimed that prior to Edo State’s digitalization initiative, public officials, civil workers, and the executive branch functioned independently, but that things have since changed.