HUMAN CAPITAL CRITICAL TO ATTAINMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE GOALS – LAGOS HoS

The Head of Service, Mrs. Olabowale Ademola has urged participants in a specialized orientation programme designed for recently deployed local government management staff to show leadership skills that will engender improvement of the quality of public service delivery in Lagos State.

Ademola who made the remarks at the closing ceremony of the programme noted that the event was designed to broaden the knowledge base of the Officers and expose them to the structure, processes and procedures in the mainstream civil service in order to adequately prepare them for the tasks ahead.

“There is no gainsaying that the quality of an Organization’s human capital is central and critical to the attainment of its goals and objectives. This underlines and explains the unwavering commitment of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, to the vigorous and systematic reform of, not only Public Service structures, processes and procedures including the realignment of existing MDAs and creation of new Agencies, but also to the enthronement of an efficient and effective human resource management and development system that is in line with international best practices,” Ademola averred.

She opined that as management level Officers, they cannot afford to be ignorant of the enormity of the responsibilities upon their shoulders to add value to public policy formulation and implementation given their extensive knowledge of the local government system.

The Head of Service urged them to always show leadership at all times knowing that the attainment of Government’s policy objectives now and in the future depend largely on the competence and capability of the workforce that they would henceforth be called upon to supervise.

“As we all love to say, change is the only constant thing in life hence be prepared to embrace change because the world of today is a rapidly changing one in which yesterday’s solutions may be inadequate to address tomorrow’s challenges. Lagos, an emerging megacity and one of the 100 most resilient cities in the world, needs a more creative and dynamic public service whose leadership must be proactive and constantly ahead of the game. Today’s world is technology-driven; as such you must regularly update your knowledge and skills in order to remain relevant,” Mrs Ademola said.