Federal government has promised to establish a world-class innovation hub by the first quarter of 2024, to assist civil servants to showcase their innovative ideas and achieve their dreams.
The head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, who made this known yesterday at the award ceremony on the third edition of the Federal Civil Service Innovation Challenge in Abuja, called on stakeholders to work with the civil servants to achieve their dream.
Yemi-Esan reiterated that the Nigerian Civil Service has very great potential for improvement, however, to unlock this potential, they must, first of all, recognise the cardinal role innovation plays as a catalyst for positive change and development in any economy.
According to the head of the Civil Service of the Federation, as a critical driver of the country’s socioeconomic development, the civil service must rise to the expected function of providing effective leadership and policy frameworks.
“Most of the time we think that it is the private sector that should provide leadership, but that’s not true. It is the public sector that should lead, so that means that we are lagging in our responsibility.
“The fulcrum of this edition of the federal civil service innovation competition is to bring innovative solutions to bear in addressing security challenges within the public space and develop new methods for advancing government business through public-private partnerships, as well as reducing the costs of governance.
“As you are already aware, the first-place winner will be awarded the price of a total sum of N3,000,000, while the first and second runner-up winners will get N1,750,000 and N1,000,000 respectively. The other ten top performers will get N200,000 as a consolation prize,” she said.
She advised prospective participants at the competition that their drive to compete shall not be anchored on the prizes, rather, the motivation should be premised on the passion to help the service solve problems and to be more efficient and productive.
“This is a competition to encourage each other to bring out the best ideas. It shouldn’t become a competition where we begin to pull ourselves down and tear ourselves apart,” she said.
Earlier, the permanent secretary of the special duties office, in the office of the head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Engr. Faruk Yusuf said that many developing countries, including Nigeria, have now realized the need for innovation to provide customer-focused, cost-effective and updated methods to improve public service performance.
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