FG moves to activate some reform policies

The Federal Government on Tuesday expressed determination to activate some of its reform policies in order to fast track socio-economic development.

Mr Olusegun Adekunle, the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), made this known at a stakeholders meeting in Abuja.

The meeting with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) was organised under the Pillar One National Strategy for Public Service Reform (NSPSR), to promote the policy for easy understanding and implementation by MDAs.

The theme for the engagement was “Enabling Governance and Institutional Environment”.

Adekunle said:“Effective implementation of key reforms in various critical sectors in public service is the only way our persistent very low ranking on various international development indices can be reversed.”

He identified some of the indices as the World Bank Ease of Doing Business report, UNDP World Human Development Index and UN World Happiness report among others can be reversed.

“Reversing this would require enormous technical and financial investment.

“And for this purpose, the OSGF is partnering with the African Global Partnership Support Framework to organise international resources for the implementation of Nigeria’s key reform initiatives.’’

He enjoined participants to deliver public goods and services in accordance with their specific mandates and integrity.

Also speaking, Mr Dasuki Arabi, the Acting Director-General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms, said that the aim of the meeting was to build the capacity of stakeholders on the implementation of the National Strategy for Public Service Reform (NSPSR).

He said that the meeting was also organised to promote basic understanding of the provisions of the Pillar one (1) for overall ownership and implementation.

“Over the years, the Federal Public Service has relentlessly and diligently served the government of the day and has been instrumental to nation building.

“The profound changes which are presently under way should further inspire us to look to the future with more assurances and optimism.

“We need to contribute to this path to reinforce the Federal Public Service to continue to be an indispensable instrument for the implementation of government policies,’’ Arabi said.

Our correspondent reports that the NSPSR was developed in 2008 by the Federal Government as a coordinating strategic framework for public service reforms.