The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has launched a SERVICOM Charter, which the organization believe will enhance services to her numerous target-audience nationwide. The launch took place in Abuja on Tuesday.
At the elaborate occasion held in the Council’s main auditorium in Abuja and attended by some key stakeholders in the export sector of the economy, NEPC unveiled its official charter aimed at raising “expectations and define the standard of service to be provided to customers and members of staff” of the prime government agency.
In his address at the occasion, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, the Executive Director/CEO of the council, he reiterated that the role of the council in the country’s economic diversification drive has never been in doubt and can therefore not be overemphasized, especially now that the present government of President Muhammadu Buhari has placed more emphasis on the need for the nation’s economy to be more sustainable and inclusive through the non-oil export sector.
Remarking that since its inception in March 2004, SERVICOM has remained one of the institutionalised organs of the Federal Government for effective public service to customers’ satisfaction by MDAs, the NEPC boss said the launch of the performance Charter is in line with the vision to provide prompt and effective service to the Council’s customers at all times. This, he explained, is in furtherance of the NEPC’s commitment to changing the narrative of contributions of non-oil export sectors to the country’s economic grid.
According to him, “The Charter is basically an operational tool to guide our business conduct with our core clients, the exporters, and other stakeholders whom we are responsible and obliged to provide efficient services –as Trade Promotion Organization, in line with expected international best practices”.
Awolowo further assured the public that “The charter would also guide the activities of service provision and delivery as well as enable the agency to process exporters’ certificate within 24 hours provided all the relevant documents and payments are submitted and confirmed.
“I can assure our clients and other stakeholders that both management and staff of the Council are highly committed to this charter because this is what we were employed to do. We would, therefore, ensure that no one is short-changed by the quality of our service. Similarly, members of staff must ensure that they provide services based on NEPC’s core values of professionalism, integrity, teamwork and customer care. To those end, I have directed the Servicom Unit to ensure that henceforth, no file should exceed a maximum of 48 hours without being treated.”
Mrs. Nnenna Akajemini, National Coordinator/CEO SERIVICOM, commended NEPC for the unveiling the Charter, especially as “this will provide the solid base for customers to demand to be served fairly, promptly, transparently and in time – in line with the goals for which SERVICOM was established”. She further said that “making this public means that NEPC has now properly documented a guide and standard for us to ensure that quality services are truly provided with measurable timelines, and when they fail we hold them accountable”.