From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
The Head of Service of Delta State, Mr Reginald Bayoko, has tasked civil servants with providing excellent leadership to the public.
Bayoko gave the charge while delivering a lecture on Leadership Development and Teamwork for officers in the state public service organised by the Ministry of Economic Planning in collaboration with EKA Consults Limited.
The Head of Service charged them to combine skills and expertise to produce high-quality results.
Bayoko who noted that the programme was intended to involve all directors and senior civil servants in the state in the conception and implementation of government policies, programmes and provide a platform where ideas were shared by the management echelon of the service towards improving service delivery, pointed out that the overall thrust of the training was geared towards breaking the barrier of seclusion, self-centeredness and knowledge hoarding.
He said that training would pave the way for quality leadership development, openness, knowledge sharing, robust cross-fertilisation of ideas and functional synergy with the ultimate intention of repositioning the civil service to meet the dictates and realities of globalisation.
Mr. Bayoko while commending the organisers, described the training as apt and germane as government cannot function without the civil service.
“The service has a central relationship with the public, the political system, and the private sector operators. civil servants are, therefore, the backbone of governance and we are the ones delivering public service in the frontlines. Indeed, there has been the postulation that societies fail if their governments are ineffective and government are ineffective, if their civil servants are ineffective”.
“Consequently, the civil service cannot afford to and should not be second best in any respect. The role in the Civil Service in the realisation of the peace, progress and prosperity agenda of the government and the associated aspiration of the people of the State is therefore very crucial,” Bayoko said.
While acknowledging the Civil Service in Delta State as historically been widely recognised as a citadel of excellence which according to the HOS has produced many good brains and where strategies and equipment have been developed and engaged for public good, noted that the Service had commendable degree of professionalism, ethics and selfless service.
He, however, decried that over the years, there has been a gradual erosion of the capability and effectiveness of the Service, such that it was now under greater scrutiny than it has ever been, saying that such negative development should be a source of worry and concern to them.
”Indeed, there is high expectation and increasing pressure on the service in view of the growing public demands for Government services in both quantity and quality,” he reiterated.
Speaking on the way forward, the HoS challenged civil servants on value and mindsets re-orientation and advocated for the adoption of a shift in their paradigm of thinking.
Quoting a French psychologist and Pharmacist, Emile Coue, the HOS inspired civil servants to always think possibilities even in difficult situations just as he called on workers in the state to alter their mindset to do the right thing.
Highlighting on the cardinal objectives of leadership in the Service, the HOS disclosed that it was service to the citizens which he maintained must be safe guarded
“We should note that the Civil Service exists for the public. It acts on behalf of the community, exercises public authority and provides certain services to the general public, the business community and the rest of the private sector,” he added.
Continuing, he opined that the Civil Service was legitimately entitled to issue instructions to individuals, public bodies and private organisations and should safeguard members of the public and their fundamental rights, including the right of participation in democratic processes and the right to fair treatment.