The Nigerian government has tasked leaders in Africa to embrace new technologies for quality and effective delivery of Public Service as it serves as the engine that drives government businesses.
The Managing Director, of an ICT service provider in Nigeria, Galaxy Backbone Ltd (GBB), Prof. Muhammed Abubakar, stated this in a statement through the Head of Media, Mr. Tasiu Pantami while speaking at the Practice of Public Leadership and Decision-Making in Public, in Addis Ababa.
The event was organised by the African Centre for Resource Studies (ACRS).
The Managing Director, who was represented by the Chief of staff Mr. Owaicho Igoji, stressed the need for Africa to adopt technologies that can be used to improve operations within the public service space and by extension the lives of the common man on the street.
According to Prof. Abubakar, Digital Technologies are not only for professionals in the private sector but also those in the public sector. Therefore, making decisions that will see the public sector embrace modern technology is one that most times presents itself as a challenge to most leaders.
Narrating the Successes of Galaxy Backbone, under his leadership, he said riding on its mandate of providing information communications technology infrastructure, today plays a critical role in ensuring the nation’s digital transformation and improving economic prosperity.
Abubakar explained that being a major stakeholder in the attainment of Nigeria’s Digital Economy agenda, “Galaxy Backbone being a part of the ICT sector also contributed immensely to the development of the sector especially within the Federal Public Sector through the provision and deployment of ICT Infrastructure and Services to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of the Federal Government.”
“One major contribution since 2020 and up till now amongst others has been the deployment and provisioning of remote working and meeting infrastructure and services for the executive arm of government; this has enabled the Federal Executive Council, National Council of States, and key government functionaries to operate effectively amid the pandemic and thereby ensuring continuity of Government business.”
He identified core values of the public that every leader should process; Respect for Human Dignity, Voice and participation, Patriotism, Personal Responsibility, Integrity, National Unity, and Professionalism.
The Galaxy Backbone Boss commended the ACRS for the initiative, which seeks to focus on providing a guide to future generations through a series of lectures for the future generation of young leaders across Africa.
In a paper presentation titled, Public Leadership and Public Service in Africa, the case of Ethiopia” a Member of the House Of People Representative Civil Service Commission Office Head, Almaw Mengist explained that despite calls for privatisation of government services such as water supply, telecommunications, and power supply, these services are still state-owned in Ethiopia.
He said, “In this phase of civil service reform particularly, a retrenchment programme was implemented in 1993, duplicative positions were reduced in public administration to achieve efficiency.
“However, the public sector services were not improved much, the reason was that by then, Ethiopia had a small civil service apparatus as it was with approximately 1000 civil servants as compared to other African countries.
Mengist identified a lack of institutional capacity; institutional incompetency and poor structural setup of institutions that have limited the scope, speed, and quality of the reform implementation.
Dominica Nwabufo
