Lagos State Government says its public service witnessed an impressive increase in capacity development in 2020 despite the restrictions on physical gathering following the outbreak of COVID19 pandemic.

The State Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Mrs. Ajibola Ponnle, stated this at the ongoing Ministerial Press Briefing to commemorate the second year in office of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

According to her over 73,448 Public Servants were trained online in Y2020 as against the yearly average of 3,000 trained employees in previous years.

The Commissioner disclosed that the Ministry leveraged several online virtual platforms to embark on training programmes in a successive manner for the State’s employees.

Giving a breakdown on the various training programmes, Ponle said that the staff of all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the State government directly benefitted from the training initiatives which had over 30 generic and 17 job-specific courses.

“A total of 3,101 officers were trained in Y2020 across 98 Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as Parastatals under the virtual training initiative comprising of 52 GL 17, 272 GL 16, 1023 GL 15, 901 GL 14, and 851 GL 13 officers”.

The Commissioner also said that the Ministry has commenced the review of the Public Service Rules (PSR), to ensure that conditions of service are at par with global standards, saying that the State Government has already discovered some areas in the PSR in dire need of review and work is also ongoing on the creation of Lagos State Schemes of Service to attract and retain talents that suit the peculiarities of the State as well as accommodate the changing curriculum of Tertiary Institutions.

As a way of encouraging personal growth and development among government employees, Ponnle stated that 186 officers were granted admission for various courses at the Federal Training Centre within the period under review.

She also added that Key Performance Indicator, KPI, was introduced to the civil service by the present administration, informing that 215 Officers across 20 MDAs have so far been trained successfully on the use of the KPI Framework since the commencement of the first phase of the KPI framework workshop in February with six MDAs; the second phase began on the 12th of April with 14 MDAs.

As part of additional innovations introduced to improve capacity development of public servants in the State, Mrs. Ponle stated that the present administration introduced an “EXCO SHARES” initiative as a platform where Executive Council members share their knowledge and expertise with public servants on diverse issues and topics of interest.

According to her, the Exco members that had already engaged the State’s workforce on the Exco Shares’ platform on vital topics include Mr. Rabiu Olowu, Commissioner for Finance who handled the subject – IKIGAI-A reason for being; Mrs. Ajibola Ponle, Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions – Universal Cycles of Change; Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo, Commissioner for Education – Ladder of Inference; Mr. Tunbosun Alake, Special Adviser, Innovation spoke on Values & National Development and Mrs. Bolaji Dada Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, WAPA – Lessons from Ants.

“We have also introduced Executive training for Managing Directors, General Managers, Director-Generals and Executive Secretaries of the State Parastatals and Agencies. It was a 10-day programme with a special focus on the concept of leadership and strategic communication”, the Commissioner stated.

On the Structured Training Programme (STP) for officers due for promotion exercise, Ponle reported that 3,755 Public Servants participated in the STP in the year 2020, while in Y2021 the revised STP was organised in collaboration with Public Service Staff Development Centre for 5,238 eligible officers for the ongoing promotion exercise.

Speaking on the relationship between the State Government and the various unions in the State, the Commissioner said that the Ministry recently organised a training workshop for Labour Leaders on “Strengthening Trade Union Leadership, Mitigating the movement’s succession challenges and fostering sustainable industrial harmony for a more prosperous Lagos State”.

“In fulfilment of the pledge made during the Y2021 May Day Celebrations of workers, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu last Friday presented official vehicles to the NLC and TUC Chairmen to enhance their movement in the administration of the unions’ numerous activities”, she said.