By ABEL JOHNGOLD ORHERUATA
Delta State Head of Service (HoS), Mr. Reginald Bayoko, mni, has reiterated that the yearly Senior Management Course for Senior Civil Servants, is a springboard to understanding and polishing an officer towards becoming a director and permanent Secretary before attaining the position of Head of Service which is pinnacle of the civil service progression.
Bayoko stated this at the opening ceremony of the edition of the Seven-Weekend Higher Management Course, organized by the office of the HoS, in collaboration with the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), for Senior Management Staff of the Delta State Civil Service, at the Development Center, Asaba, on Friday, 3rd September, 2021.
While imploring Civil Servants to be loyal to the Government of the day, the Delta HoS disclosed the State Government’s quest to boost the efficiency and effectiveness of workers for enhanced service delivery.
He called on 162 participants of the 17th ASCON, to work towards bringing out the best in them in order to justify the State Government’s investments in the staff training in terms of human and infrastructure development to ensure a conducive learning environment.
The HoS, who enjoined participants to be disciplined at all times, noted that senior management staff can only succeed when self discipline is instilled.
“At the end of the program you should be a complete polished person”, he added.
While disclosing that there was a gap in the training before Gov Ifeanyi Okowa led administration and emphasising the relevance and importance of the training, Bayoko further revealed that there would be a review of the program in the past five years.
Earlier, the Director General (D-G), ASCON, Mrs. Cecilia Umar Gayya, mni, said the objectives of the programme were to prepare participants for higher responsibilities and performance in the Delta State Public Service; enable participants acquire requisite knowledge, skills and attitude for effective performance on their jobs. As well as expose participants to current thinking on good governance, transparency and accountability; and test the extent to which participants can apply acquired skills back on the job.
Gayya, who was represented by the Director of Studies, Mr. Goodluck Audu, stated that the foregoing objectives indicated the importance the Delta State Government had attached to the program for the past seventeen years, and this explains the reason for which it has continued to commit resources to the program with all the seriousness that it deserves.
Gayya urged participants not to perceived the examination component of the program as a threat, rather, it should be viewed as a stepping stone towards fulfilling part of the preconditions for promotability to senior Management positions in the State Civil Service.
She encouraged participants to put up a regular attendance at lectures and cooperate with all the programme facilitators throughout the duration of the program. “This would qualify them for the ASCON certificate and equip them for higher responsibilities back on the job”. Gayya noted.
The ASCON D-G, who felicitated Deltans and the State Government for celebrating 30th anniversary of the State’s creation, aligned with Gov. Okowa statement that “Deltans have come to live as one big, happy family and the State has continued to forge ahead in all indices of human, physical and economic development”.