We’ll improve on service delivery to Lagosians, says commissioner

Ajibola Ponnle, commissioner for establishments, training and pensions in Lagos, says her ministry will inspire paradigm shift towards improving service delivery to Lagosians.

Ponnle said this at the launch of Simple, High-Impact Interactive, Focused and Transformational (SHIFT), an initiative of her ministry.

She said it represents a new culture in the state’s civil service, focusing on quality performance, knowledge sharing and excellent service delivery.

Ponnle highlighted the importance of harnessing the potential of the state’s workforce through new thinking and approaches to accelerate the attainment of the vision for a greater Lagos.

She said: “This is the first of its kind in the service. The objectives of the S.H.i.F.T programme, fashioned after TED talks, is to share knowledge, in particular innovation and creative ideas that will move the State public service into a 21st century workforce. It seeks to connect knowledgeable resource persons within and outside the State public service to the generality of the public servants.

“It will bring together diverse staff across all MDAs and empower everyone to share their knowledge for the benefit of the rest of the State public service.

“The platform will facilitate employee communication and engagement. It will keep public servants abreast of modern trends in identified subject areas and serve also as a means of interaction and breaking silos.”

In his remarks, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor, said performance would be the criterion for reward and elevation in the state’s civil service.

“From today on, I assure you that our public service will be performance based. For anyone to be appointed as a permanent secretary, such person will have to sit for an examination and pass through an interview process. If we use the permanent secretary as a testimony, everyone will know that it is performance based, and not based on connection. It was something we started years ago and I think we have to go back to it,” he said.