The Federal Government, on Tuesday pledged to equip civil servants with technical skills and capabilities to successfully support data-driven decision making.
Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, Acting Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF), disclosed this in Abuja at a workshop on Applicability of the International Civil Service Effectiveness (InCiSE).
“The role played by an effective civil service in determining a country’s progress and prosperity cannot be over-emphasised”, she said.
“An effective civil service guarantees socio-economic stability and prosperity, while an ineffective civil service results in countries drowning in the quagmire of instability and abject poverty,” she said.
According to Yemi-Esan, one key challenge to assessing the effectiveness of civil service in a given country is that the functions of the civil service are not always directly comparable to other organisations.
The Ag HOCSF emphasised on the need for global comparisons of government and civil service activity which provides standards that helped in determining the effectiveness of civil service in various countries.
“It is on this note that InCiSE Index was developed to define effectiveness more extensively, drawing on a wide range of existing international data sources to bring together a set of indicators”, Yemi-Esan added.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has advised public servants to see audit as a means of improving their performance and not as a threat.
Declaring open the second edition of the conference of Auditors-General in Nigeria, Buhari challenged auditors to adhere to the professional code of conduct guiding their operations, while ensuring timely and quality review of financial performance of public officers.
