OHCSF commences implementation of new 3-Office management structure.

[FMINigeria]

                         The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has commenced the implementation of the new 3-office management structure approved by President Goodluck Jonathan in January, 2013.

The former structure which had six Offices – Common Services, Manpower Development, Career Management, Management Services, Establishment and Records and the Bureau of Public Service Reforms have now been reduced to the following Offices: Common Services, Career Management and Service Polices and Strategies.   The Departments have also been reduced from twenty-four to twelve.

As part of the process of attaining smooth transition from the old to the new structure, cascading sessions with the senior management staff are being held on the new strategic plan for the Offices.  The process is being facilitated by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom through its Federal Public Administration Reform Programme in Nigeria (FEPAR).

At the first of the cascading sessions, Permanent Secretary, Career Management Office, Dr. Ezekiel Oyemomi presented a paper titled, "Desired Culture for Driving the new Structure."

In the paper, Dr. Oyemomi said that the new culture that must emerge in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation is one that resolves most of the prevailing challenges that have militated against effective and efficient service delivery.   He said further that this emerging culture should also be one that places significant value on quality and timely service delivery, embraces integrity and collaborative action.

The Permanent Secretary implored all officers to ensure that they internalize the new strategic plan and strive to build their competencies in line with the prevailing situation.  He emphasized the primacy of competence in ICT without which, he said; no officer would able to work effectively in the new dispensation.

VP Sambo attends summit of  Pan-African Agency for the Great Green Wall in Ndjamena, Republic of Tchad.

The Vice President, Mohammed Namadi Sambo is one of the African leaders who attended this year's triple summit of Pan-African Agency for the Great Green Wall (PAGGW), Permanent Inter-States' Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) and Niger Basin Authority (NBA), held in Ndjamena, the capital city of Tchad.

Vice President Sambo, who represented President Goodluck Jonathan at the Conference of Heads of States and Government for the triple summit of the PAGGW, CILSS and NBA, commended the deliberations at the summit, which aimed at addressing the issues of deforestation, drought and desertification of the Sahel region.

He said, "The people of Nigeria appreciate the government and President of Tchad, for good working relationship between both countries and the continuous effort made by the people of Tchad for sponsoring this meeting regarding the issue of forestation, the implementation of the great green wall project as well as the issue of the development of Lake Chad."

Sambo said, by addressing these issues, the socio-economic well-being of the communities of the region would be developed as well as enhance the social standards of the people of these countries.

Earlier, the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs Serah Ochekpe,  said Nigeria is a member of the Niger Basin Authority, made of up nine countries, to explore and develop the resources of Niger Basin as the River Niger belongs to Nigeria and these other countries.  She said River Niger means a lot for these countries in terms of fishery, agricultural development and irrigation hence the need to cooperate and manage the water of the river for the benefit of all without exploiting one another.

She also said, Nigeria in collaboration with other countries concerned, are making effort to address the effect of climate change, dredging some parts of the river to enhance free flow of water as well as building dams such as Kainji, Shiroro, Gurara and others, for hydro power projects, irrigation and other agricultural activities in the country.  She noted that Nigeria is a member of the Great Green Wall and Niger Basin Authority.

In this vein, the representative of the Minister of Environment, Bukar Hassan, said Nigeria, like other sub-Saharan African countries, has been battling with dessert encroachment and this informed the idea of the affected countries coming together to establish a green corridor through planting of trees, encouraging other agricultural and socio-economic activities to reclaim the drought-laden states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and others.

Vice President Sambo was received on arrival at the Hassan Djomous International Airport, Njamena, by the Prime Minister of Tchad, Dadnadji Djimnangar;  the Nigerian Ambassador to Tchad, Amb. Garba Abba Zakari; Minister of Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Ochekpe and other senior government officials.

Via: Federal Ministry of Information (FMI) Nigeria