By Joy Ibe
The Head of Service, Imo State, Dr. Chibuzo Iwuagwu has encouraged workers in the State to explore opportunities provided in the Service to upgrade themselves for greater efficiency.
Dr. Iwuagwu brought this to bear when the Management Board of Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards (CE-sPESS), Federal University of Technology Owerri, paid him a courtesy visit in his office.
The Head of Service who assured government’s readiness to leverage on the new and innovative training programmes especially in Sustainable Procurement provided by the institution, stressed that capacity building was key to achieving an effective and enduring Civil and Public Service system of the State. He pointed out that the Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, at the inception of his administration approved a world-class capacity building workshop for Public Servants and all Senior Civil Servants to optimize service delivery in the State.
He however noted with concern the seeming lack of interest in some workers to develop themselves by acquiring further skills and trainings while in Service, and encouraged all to invest their free time to acquiring knowledge.
Dr. Iwuagwu expressed optimism that the courses provided by the Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards will help the State Government meet it’s need for qualified and better equipped Procurement Officers. He further promised that the training programme will be included in the 2022 Work Plan of his office to provide Civil Servants the opportunity of benefitng from the scheme.
Earlier, the Liaison Director, Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards (CE-sPESS), Prof. Christopher Eze said their visit was to familiarize withe the Office of the Head of Service and to discuss on how best the State Government would benefit from the project.
He explained that the project was established in 2019 by the National University Commission (NUC) in partnership with the World Bank to provide new and innovative training programmes currently not available in higher institutions in Nigeria. He further stated that the programme was part of World Bank’s effort to bridge the challenges associated with Procurement of goods, works and services at both Federal and State levels, which had remained the bane of Nigeria’s economic growth.
Prof. Eze disclosed that the programme has a package that could train Public Servants in Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards at little or no cost, and appealed to the Government to nominate relevant staff to attend the short-course programmes to improve governance as well as efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery.
