Winifred Oyo-Ita, Head of Civil Service of the Federation, has called on the military and civil servants to embrace and apply new technologies in discharging their duties for enhanced service delivery.

Oyo-Ita made the call while presenting paper at the Inaugural Lecture of Nigeria Defence Course 27, titled: “Civil Service Reform and National Development,’’ on Tuesday in Abuja.

She said that adopting new technologies would boost the nation’s economy and ensure accountability.

“We need to have a breath of fresh air in carrying out our jobs; civil servants should be courageous to try out new reforms.

“Archaic ideas should be done away with, new innovations and technologies should be embraced for better service delivery.

“Many old workers believe things should remain and be done  the way it used to be when they started but that shouldn’t be the case, because these technologies are to make our jobs easier and improve efficiency,’’ she said.

She said that there was a strong correlation between a strong civil service and a strong economy, adding that if the civil service is weak the nation will also suffer economically.

The Head of Service said that for an improved service to be achieved, government should invest more on human capital development, saying that the budget for training keep declining every year.

She, however, appealed to the Ministry of Budget and Planning to consider the training budget and improve on it.

Oyo-Ita also complained about the poor salaries of civil servants describing the situation as unfair compared to the salary of the military.

“A level eight officer in the civil service earns N42, 000 at entry and after over 30 years before becoming a director he or she goes home with only N348,000 this is not fair.

“I appreciate the sacrifice the military is making for this country; I really admire and respect the military because without them we won’t even have a country.

“The military and the civil servants should continue to strengthen the relationship they have for national development,’’ she said.

In his response, Rear Admiral Adeniyi Osinowo, Commandant National Defence College, thanked Oyo-Ita for honouring their invitation and presenting a detailed paper.

He said that the lecture had provided the Course 27 participants with the much needed knowledge they required.

“This lecture has met the aspirations and requirements of the college; this platform has provided one of the needed knowledge to bridge the psychological gap between the military and the civil servants,’’ he said.

Osinowo said that the impact of technology in our life, public sector and the way we fight as military had become more pronounced than before and it must be embraced.

He also stressed that the relationship between a strong civil service and the nation’s economy was proportional.(NAN)

– Sept. 25, 2018 @ 16:29 GMT |