By Evelyn Usman

In its avouch task to acquaint its civilian staff with the Federal Government’s contemporary policy issues on economic development, the Nigerian Army, held its maiden edition of Financial Management Training for the Ministry of Defence senior civilian staff, Thursday.

Recall that the Federal Government began public finance management reforms to address the challenges of transparency, accountability, corruption, and poor service delivery, following the assertion that Nigeria had not made much progress in its economic development efforts, due to these challenges.

Consequently, in 2004, the country embarked on Economic Reforms and Governance Project, ERGP sponsored by the World Bank to address the challenges, which led to the introduction of Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, IPPIS Government Integrated Financial Management Information System GIFMIS Treasury Single Account TSA, E-Payment, and International Public Sector Accounting Standards, IPSAS.

Apart from equipping the senior MOD civilian staff working in Army establishments with skills and knowledge needed to make healthy and financial decisions in their personal and professional life, the financial management training also heralded the commencement of a new synergy between military and civilian staff of the Ministry of Defence, with an overriding commitment to optimizing the vision of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Farouk Yahaya and better security architecture for Nigeria.

For the three days duration of the training, the senior MOD civilian staff had the opportunity to learn in the welcoming ambience of the newly constructed auditorium of the Nigerian Army School of Finance and Administration, NASFA , Arakan cantonment, in Apapa, Lagos, from expertise in the field, as well as engaged in interactive sessions that deepened their understanding of the selected critical topics.

The training, which covered several lectures on different topics , provided them with a comprehensive overview of the latest developments and best practices in the field of public finances and healthy workplace relationships. It also acquainted them with the changes that have taken place in the public financial management system in Nigeria, the objectives of the Federal Government’s reform, the progress made so far and the impact on the country’s financial management system.

In his remarks, the Chief of Account and Budget, Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Adetokunbo Fayemiwo, explained that among other aims, the financial management training was designed to imbue the participants with the skills and necessary expertise that would be critical in confronting challenges of financial management and office administration.

In addition, he said it would enhance the participants’ skills on financial management at the strategic level, adding that it was designed to enhance sound mind, deeply analytical and flexible senior officers with capacity to carry out financial, administrative and military duties, in furtherance of the objectives of the Ministry of Defence.

According to the Chief of Budget and Defence , “As we are all aware, the Nigerian Army constitutes an important component of the Nigerian society. However, an army cannot operate in isolation, hence cooperation is a cardinal pillar of the vision of the Chief of Army Staff.

“Cooperation with all relevant stakeholders is an important factor for success in all Nigerian Army operations. There must be synergy at all levels and effective liaison with all relevant stakeholders in order to ensure our common objective of security of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“ It is in line with this vision of the Chief of Army Staff and in fulfilment of the request for training by senior civilian staff, that I directed the School of Finance to conduct this seminar. I pledge to always work in full liaison and cooperation in order to optimize our common objective of an effective and efficient Nigerian Army operations”

The CAB informed that on his assumption of command of the Nigerian Army Finance Corps in August 2022, his mission statement was “To bequeath a Corps that is proactive and proficient in delivering financial services to support the Nigerian Army in accomplishing assigned missions in defence of Nigeria”.

This mission statement, according to him, reemphasized the role of the Corps in the dynamics of the transition of public financial management policies of the Federal Government of Nigeria and the need to optimize goals in support of the Nigerian Army in all phases of operations.

He added that it was also aimed at enhancing transparency in all Nigerian Army financial transactions, improving its compliance with extant regulations and minimizing waste in defence expenditure.

According to him, “ the premise of the seminar was based on the vision of the Chief of Army Staff which is “A Professional Nigerian Army, Ready to Accomplish Assigned Missions within a Joint Environment, in Defence of Nigeria”. One main four pillars of the vision is cooperation. As we are all aware, the Nigerian Army constitutes an important component of Nigerian society. However, an army cannot operate in isolation, hence cooperation is a cardinal pillar of the vision of the Chief of Army Staff. In line with this pillar, there must be cooperation with both sister Services, par military and security agencies, and other important stakeholders including you the staff of the Ministry of Defence, our parent supervising ministry Cooperation with all relevant stakeholders is an important factor for success in all of Nigerian Army operations.

“There must be synergy at all levels and effective liaison with all relevant stakeholders in order to ensure our common objective of security of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is in line with this vision of the Chief of Army Staff and in fulfillment of the request for training by senior civilian staff, that we have had the training in the past three days”.

Earlier in his welcome remark, the Commandant, Nigerian Army School of Finance and Administration, Brig. General Ehioze Osifo, said history was made with the commencement of the first edition of the Training for MOD senior civilian staff.
The objective of the training according to Osifo, was to appraise senior MOD civilian staff with contemporary policy issues of the federal government and other work-related thematic issues, adding that the topics and facilitators were carefully selected to reflect the objectives of the training.

He highlighted the selected topics to include: an overview of the all recently promulgated Public Financial Management Reforms of the Federal government, the role of Financial Regulations in public expenditure management, and the importance of financial regulations in ensuring transparency and accountability in public expenditure management.

Others were: “ Personal Effectiveness and Time Management in the Workplace explored the best practices for managing our time effectively, setting priorities, and achieving our goals in the workplace, which will help you become more productive and efficient in your job.

“ Mastering emotional intelligence for enhanced workplace relationships is critical to building healthy workplace relationships, mastering our emotions and communicating effectively with your colleagues, which will improve your ability to collaborate and work effectively as a team”.

He added that the workshop ended with an exploration of performance management, feedback, and appraisal, describing it as an important aspect of workplace effectiveness and how to conduct appraisals in a way that is fair and objective.

While reminding participants that a lot of effort and resources had gone into the planning and preparation of this programme, he urged them to optimize the benefits of the training, even as he informed them that the school was opened for training of both Military and personnel of the Nigerian Police Force and other security agencies such as the Nigerian Correctional Services, Nigerian Immigration Services National Security and Civil Defence among others.

Also speaking at the event, former Director, Accounts, Alhaji Ibrahim Gwargo, who retired in May 2023, described the importance of training personnel as the most vital key to producing an efficient workforce and civil service.

While noting that the topics of the training were carefully selected to enhance participants’ capacity in their respective workplaces, he said it would also enhance their preparations towards the promotion examinations as senior civil servants.

The Director, Civilian Personnel Unit, CPU , Command Finance Office, CPU Mrs Margaret Elumelu who was among the participants, described the training as a welcome development in the right direction.

She said, “This is a welcome idea to the civil service, especially for those of us that are seconded to the Military. Besides it is the first of its kind and we appreciate the Director, Account and Budget because this is happening in his time.

“The training was impactful. About 53 of us participated. The knowledge acquired will be related to others as we go. We hope training like this will continue, as it goes a long way to boosting efficiency”.

It was envisaged that after the training, participants’ performance in their various offices, would justify the level of engagement and interactions they have had with various resource persons.

As participants exited the well-furnished auditorium of the NASFA, they looked forward to the Chief of Budget and Accounting’s promise of hosting another one before the end of this year, as well as making it an annual affair.