BPSR: Maximising Lunch Break Time Seminar For Inter–Agency Collaboration, By Tijjani Mohammad
POLITICS DIGEST – In furtherance of her mandate of enlightening public servants on innovations, policies and programmes organizes a monthly lunch break time seminar.
The Lunch Break Seminar is a monthly platform through which the Bureau, in collaboration with a select organization, showcases her reform efforts in the select government ministry, department or agency to the Nigerian public servants.
In furtherance of this, the Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service, Muhammed Babandede, MFR, was guest to the bureau’s monthly seminar for the month of August.
Venue was the auditorium of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Abuja.
Restating the essence of the lunch break seminar, the Director General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Mr. D.I Arabi, stated that the bureau “uses the forum to share information, enhance joint capacity and thus, strengthen our common network”, noting that the seminar was part of BPSR’s function of disseminating information on all aspects of public service reforms to enlighten public servants on innovations, policies and programmes of government.
To realize these objectives, the Bureau conducts specific researches on aspects of government policies, and programmes, as it relates to specific government agencies, with the aim of mutually seeking ways and means that would assist such MDAs optimally deliver on their mandates, within the context of the overall government objectives of serving the citizenry and other stakeholders.
This has a multiplier impact on the bureaucracy and the entire public service.
First, the BPSR presents agreed areas/ challenges requiring reforms and what against their attainments.
Secondly, the Agency on which such reform activities are to be carried out, have the buy- i n, cooperation and support, knowing that such activities were complimentary, and not in conflict but would aid in the realization of the Agencies delivery on her mandates.
Finally, the lunch breakfast seminar presents to the wider bureaucracy and the public, the findings and how these were in a mutually agreed arena, with the result that the role of the Bureau is even better understood by other government agencies.
This, no doubt, would engender the understanding and cooperation of these agencies, should they become the focus of the BPSR for reviews.
In this regard therefore, at the August edition, stakeholders were informed that, in collaboration with the Service in June 2017, carried out a study in the Service’s Head Office in Abuja and three State Offices (Kano, Enugu and Lagos) to identify common constraints and incentive problems in obtaining an International passport.
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This study, according to the BPSR, DG, led to the following findings: Government – induced constraints, (ii) logistics/ infrastructure – induced constraints, (iii) human Resources – induced constraints, (iv) moral /hazard – induced constraints, (v) customer – induced constraints, (vi) passport supply chain management constraints.
It was on these findings that BPSR had to make recommendations to the service and Government towards the Service’s optimal delivery on her mandate.
As later presented by the Immigration Controller General, the BPSR Study Review of the Service’s activities had not only enabled the Service improve on her service delivery to the citizenry while the lunch time seminar provided the ambiance for the Service to share with the Nigerian public how BPSR had assisted the Service, through the study, while showcasing the value of inter- agency cooperation in ensuring that Nigerian citizens and other stakeholders could be served better when reform efforts are agreed upon and jointly coordinated.
It was therefore gratifying when the BPSR told the audience that the Nigerian Immigration Service was implementing most of the recommendations made by the Bureau , which as the Director General noted, had translated to improvements in quality service delivery in the Service.
Worth of note too was the DG, BPSR’s declaration that Government had accepted the Bureau’s recommendation that Nigeria Identity Management Commission’s database be the nation’s sole data, while the Service had commenced operationalizing the Ecosystem database in passport processing.
The Controller General’s presentation was to prove the efficacy of the BPSR’s collaborative effort in making the Service improve on her core mandate through a concerted in addressing the identified hitches to effective service delivery, by BPSR.
Such seamless cooperation not only ensures that BPSR delivers on her mandate, but also enhances good governance and service delivery of government bureaucracy – since service to the citizens was the essence of government.
The BPSR maximizes the platform as principal officers of other establishments are usually to the lunch time breakfast seminar.
Therefore, as President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration makes determined effort to move the nation to the next level and lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty, this collaborative effort between BPSR and other government establishments need to be vigorously pursued as, this, more than anything else, could be the catalyst required to achieve this noble objective, since service to the citizens is the sole purpose of government.
The Bureau of Public Service Reforms should therefore engage more government agencies in the lunch brek time seminars towards ensuring that government policies and programmes are refined for optimum service to the citizens.
Mohammad, Wrote from Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget & National Planning, Abuja.
