Cultivate culture of excellence for effective public service,  Water Resources minister  tells workers 

Ministries, departments, and agencies' civil servants have been urged to embrace an excellence-focused culture and improve their knowledge in order to achieve national development.

Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu, made the call at the special Town Hall Meeting to celebrate the 2022 Civil Service Week of the ministry, in Abuja which begins on Tuesday.

The theme for the civil service week is “Performance Management System (PMS): Impact on Productivity in the Nigeria Public Sector”.

According to Adamu, the public service remains the most potent and viable instrument available all over the world for the implementation of policies and programmes of government.

He said public servants must avail themselves of the opportunities that the service provided, saying this was crucial, to remain relevant in the fast changing highly technological modern work environment.

The minister said they must individually and collectively strive at continuous capacity building to meet all challenges, adding that the ministry would continue to play its part towards meeting the target.

He said the theme was timely as it was in alignment with President Buhari’s mandate to the civil service to institutionalise PMS.

“One of the key reforms instituted by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation is the Performance Management System (PMS) which has been institutionalised in my Ministry.

“The implementation of Performance Management System will sustain a performance and result-oriented culture, boosting performance and productivity levels of staff,” Adamu said.

Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, said the annual celebration, was in compliance with the 1999 Tangier Development by African Ministers for public service, to recognize the value and virtues of the service to the community.

She noted that following the 2021 Civil Service Week celebration, the ministry had implemented many programmes and activities to improve the welfare of staff.

“Some of these programmes, include the Completion of the Ministry’s Welfare Projects (Canteen, Clinic and Gym) and commencement of their operations, Welfare of Staff, implementation of the Ministry’s Rewards and Recognition Policy System, Various Capacity Building Programmes for Staff, Staff Promotion. 

“The ministry is actively involved in the on-going Public Service Reforms and Programmes, i.e. SOPs, PMS, IPPIS, HR Module, organization of a Retreat on Performance Management System, Support for Sporting Activities, and improved Labour and Management Relations.

“Today, we publicly acknowledge the contributions of every Staff, individually and as a team, to the successes recorded in the Ministry in this challenging time. We have progressively moved towards attaining our vision as a Ministry due to the commitment and dedication exhibited by the staff. ” Walson said.

Director-General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Mr Dasuki Arabi, said staff reward was a veritable instrument to drive the much-desired civil service transformation.

“Introduction of the Performance Management System tends to motivate excellence, result-oriented achievements, accountability, whether at individual or corporate levels,’’ Arabi said.

He reaffirmed the Bureau's dedication to providing the assistance required to see through the reform initiatives and suggestions required to restructure the ministry for effective service delivery.

Other activities including  road walk, novelty football match  to commemorate the week.