By Dirisu Yakubu

As part of its commitment to enhance service delivery, the federal government through the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, OHCSF, Tuesday, signed an agreement with the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, AIF, to support the digitalization of some priority areas of the federal civil service.

Witnessing the signing ceremony at Day-Two of the second day of the Nigerian Economic Summit was Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and the Executive Vice-Chair, Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, Mrs Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede.

Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation signed on behalf the OHCSF while Aig-Imoukhuede signed on behalf of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation.

The agreement, according to a statement signed by AbdulGaniyu Aminu, Director, Pres and Public Relations, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, “signals the commencement of the implementation of the Enterprise Content Management Solution, ECMS, in the service.”

The statement read in part: “The ECMS will ensure the management of electronic content through the entire life cycle of a process document, including document creation, distribution, utilisation, retention, and disposition. The goals of the ECM solution is to create efficiency and effectiveness, ensure the integrity of processes and their outcomes, as well as reposition the federal civil service for better performance and improved service delivery.

“In 2017, the Vice President facilitated the partnership between the OHCSF and the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation to develop a clear communicable action plan building on the Federal Civil Service Strategic Plan 2017-2019. This led to a signing of Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, between the OHCSF and the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation to establish the relationship. The Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation supported the development of the revised strategic plan through the engagement of Mckinsey & Company. The Federal Civil Service Strategy & Implementation Plan, FCSSIP2017-2020, was eventually finalised and approved by the Federal Executive Council, FEC in July 2017, with the intent to improve and develop capacity in the public sector to collaborate with the private sector in advancing the nation’s economy.

“The current stage is that of organizational readiness assessment, which is assessing the OHCSF’s state of readiness to adopt the ECMS and measure future outcomes of the project implementation. Meanwhile, the OHCSF is preparing for ISO 9001-2015 (Quality Management System) certification, which will provide direction for establishing, developing, implementing, evaluating, maintaining, and improving an effective and responsive compliance management system within the OHCSF, for the purpose of enhancing organisational readiness for the ECMS.”

Speaking at the event, AIF founder, Aigboje Aig-Imuokuede, said: “As we approach the final stage of funding and implementing the ECMS, I am compelled to reflect on what has been a synergistic relationship with the OHCSF. We are proud to be working alongside an organisation of this calibre to create efficiency and ensure the integrity of federal civil service processes and their outcomes,” Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Said.

“As we work together to provide the necessary resources and funding for the full implementation of the enterprise content management solution, this is a proud moment that will see us fulfilling one of the priority areas of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2015-2020,” he added.

On her part, Dr. Yemi-Esan expressed government’s commitment to “improving public service delivery and efficiency to ensure that the people of Nigeria have a seamless experience of federal civil services. Prioritising the effective and equitable delivery of services is one of the most sure-fire ways to promote economic growth and reduce poverty. It begins with us.

At the event, a joint evaluation panel was set up by the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation and the OHCSF to develop a roadmap for the evaluation and recommendation of the appropriate vendor to implement the ECMS.