The Nigeria Government has trained 118 Civil Servants on Leadership Enhancement and Development Programme (Lead-P).
The Head of the Service of the Federation, Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, disclosed that the Lead-P was aimed at “Cultivating hundred officers on salary grade levels 10 to 14 annually, meant as next generation of leaders in the Federal Civil Service.”
She stated this during the graduation ceremony of the participants in Abuja.
According to her, the programme is the key component of the first pillar of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP) 2021 to 2025, for capacity building and talent management of public servants to improve the nation’s civil service.
“The initiative is expected to strengthen and reinvigorate the civil service workforce through well structured and sustainable capacity building programmes.
“Therefore, it is quite elating to observe that today’s graduation ceremony is symbolic of the progress recorded towards the full implementation of that aspect of the plan… it is worth stating that the rigorous training programme which.”
Yemi-Esan also announced the provision of laptops and housing loans to 118 graduates
“I will like to use this opportunity to inform you that the office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has started arrangements to ensure that each one of the 118 of you gets laptops to enhance your work. Also, I will like to inform you that the Federal Government Staff Housing Loan Board has set aside resources to grant immediate housing loans to all of you.”
she urged Permanent Secretaries to take on the Lead-P graduates as mentees as they would subsequently be posted to work with them.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, who attended the graduation ceremony, said the “Epoch-making graduation demonstrates the successful achievement of one of the three core training programmes contained in the Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (2021-2025), as approved by the Federal Executive Council. The other two being the Service-wide Structured Mandatory Assessment-Based Training Programme (SMAT-P) and Induction Training Programme.”
According to him, the LEAD-P is a top talent programme designed to give middle-level officers on SGL 10-14, who show potential for leadership the opportunity to develop the skills needed to become future leaders.
“It has also provided participants with requisite sets of skills required to perform effectively in the 21st century public service where governance is measured by the quality of its service delivery.”
This, he explained underscores the need to equip the officers appropriately with such laudable programmes, in view of the fact the Public Service of any nation, in all its bureaucratic complexity, has aptly been described as the engine of government.
“This demonstrates the fact that public servants must have the capacity to support fast-moving political agendas, manage and transform vast public organisations, motivate and inspire their workforce and be trusted partners to citizens and an ever-growing list of development partners and stakeholders,” he said.
Mustapha noted that the reform in the nation’s civil service made a remarkable impact, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic period.
“Globally, we saw how effective public service leaders rose to the challenge of COVID-19, leveraging new technologies and managing their workforces in innovative ways to protect their well being while maintaining and boosting the delivery of essential services. Daunting though it may have been, there is no gainsaying the fact that the world including Nigeria has risen to the challenge.”
PIAK
