Lagos, LASU begin diploma course for LG workers

PSSDC 1

Top government functionaries at the event

Top government functionaries at the event

Lagos State Government and the Lagos State University, LASU, have begun two-year diploma programme in Local Government Administration and Development Studies for staff of local governments in the state.

The programme, being packaged by the Lagos State Public Service Development Centre, PSSDC, in partnership with LASU, will help break stagnation among officers hampered by academic qualification. With the certificate, such officers will reach grade level 14 in the civil service instead of remaining on grade level 7 as the final bar for a clerical officer.

Speaking at the orientation progamme at the weekend in Magodo, Ketu area of Lagos, Director-General, PSSDC, Dr. Olufunmi Ajose-Harrison said local government played very key roles in the delivery of democratic dividends, saying that one of the key performance indicators for LG administration was the ability to effectively implement policies, strategies and reforms agenda that delivered, guaranteed and sustained the dividends of democracy to the populace.

According to Ajose-Harrison, the capacity building programme had therefore, been designed to afford students the opportunity of enjoying a blend of academic and practitioners training, which would equip them with requisite knowledge, skills and attitude needed for effective public sector management and administration.

“It will also align them with the work culture and strategic institutional objectives of the state in tandem with the greater Lagos policy direction of the present administration encapsulated in the acronym T-H-E-M-E-S. The course will equip participants with organisational and operational problem-solving skills in local government administration to enable them evolve alternative solutions, with a view to producing practical administrators,” he said.

Vice Chancellor, LASU, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, urged the workers to pay more attention to learning, saying that if they were to embark on such a course outside the country, they would not pay less that 50,000 to 75,000 US dollars, which is equivalent to about N18 to N27 million.

“Having completed this course, you will be expected to compete with those in Harvard and so on, never undermine yourself. A year at Harvard will cost you 52,000 dollars. Without this collaboration, we may not be able to afford this fund, that is why LASU and PSSDC collaborate on this. We merge our competencies for your benefit and that of our state.

“Nobody will clean up Lagos and Nigeria other than Nigerians. We must do it right by making our environment work and clean. PSSDC and LASU knew that if they come together they can deliver the best any university can give you in the world.

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“Your role, your resolve is to be the best. A whole lots is rotten in the system of Nigeria. We always ascribe the problem to the government and not ourselves, how do we treat people who come to our offices? hen they send Mail to you, how long do you take to respond to them? You want people to grease your palm before you can act. Let people know that you are a changed fellow the moment you leave this hall today. Let them know you are ambassador, they should not find you among those who will perpetrate iniquities. Be consistent, be bold to take decision,” he challenged them.

Chairman, Lagos State Local Government Service Commission, Alhaji Babatunde Rotinwa, in his paper, said the imperative for capacity building as a means of ensuring organizational goal attainment could not be overemphasized, especially as it related to the State and Local Government level.

“The reasons are as follows: First, the renewed demonstrated passionate zeal and extraordinary commitment to deliver the dividends of democracy, especially at the grassroots level is not lost on observers. However, this will require a critical mass of officers who has the requisite knowledge, skills and attitude to deliver on citizen/customer expectations. The pace and speed at which the Lagos State Government is moving therefore, needs to be matched by greater capacity in the state to sustain or even increase it.

Participants at the event

“Secondly, we live in an era that is replete with unprecedented changes which are occurring in diverse areas and on many fronts. In such an era, we need a well-trained, intellectually sound and technologically equipped workforce to be able to deliver the dividends of democracy at competitive costs. In this connection, the knowledge and skills of staff at the state and local government levels need to be updated while they need to be exposed to best practices in management to prepare them not only to cope with the demands of today’s environment but to also face the unpredictable future,” he said.

According to Rotinwa, quite a good number of staff at the state and local government levels would have risen through the career ladder to assume higher responsibilities without being adequately prepared for those higher responsibilities, saying that the knowledge and skills of this group of staff needed to be immediately enhanced through training to provide them with the tools they require to discharge their responsibilities efficiently and effectively.

Rotinwa added that like most organization in the public sector, state and local government institutions across the country, has a large crop of professionals from different educational background, saying that most of these professional would have moved up the career ladder to top management positions largely on account of their professional skills alone.

“However, it is a fact that as such officers move up the career ladder, they need more of managerial skills rather than technical skills to run their organization/departments effectively. Unfortunately, due to a combination of factors most of such professionals were not availed of the opportunity to receive managerial training. In this circumstance, the recommended capacity building programmes will not only rectify the past oversight but will also ensure that all professionals are well prepared for managerial positions in the future.

 

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