By: Imo Thomas -Umuahia.
With the flag-off of the Umuahia Dedicated Internet Access/Wide Area Network project by the Governor of Abia state, Dr. Alex Otti, the old era of operational inefficiency is gone for good in Abia civil service.
Flagging- off the Network project in support of digital governance in the state over the weekend at the NnamdiAzikiweSecretariatUmuahia, Governor Otti said that the goal is to improve governance deliverables by empowering civil servants to do their jobs in a result-oriented way.
“The digital transformation initiative is expected to revolutionize governance, enhance civil service efficiency, and connect the state’s economy to the global digital space,” Gov. Otti assured.
He highlighted the need for civil servants to embrace digital tools and announced that ICT competency would soon become a requirement for career progression in the state civil service.
He encouraged Abia civil servants to upskill or risk stagnation and warned that operational inefficiency and resistance to technology would no longer be tolerated.
“Going forward certain levels of efficiency with the use of relevant technology shall be required as a necessary condition for exposure to new opportunities and promotions in the civil service.
“The state will avail its employees all the right support to scale up their IT systems knowledge, it is incumbent on everyone to appreciate that the era of operational inefficiency is gone for good.
“The direct and medium-term goals will include the streamlining of the bureaucratic structure of the civil service, faster turnaround time, effective document archiving and tracking, objective data-driven performance management processes, and the gradual elimination of the structures that impede personnel and institutional productivity,” Gov. Otti stated.
In his speech, the State Head of Service, Mr. Benson Ojeikere, described the day as a special one for civil servants in the State and said that by the time the project is completed, the Abia civil servants would be the happiest workers in Nigeria.
He thanked the Governor for giving the civil service a priority and recognizing it in his transformational agenda, as well as assured of improved service delivery.
Earlier, the Chief Information Officer to the State Government, Mr. Gerald Ilukwe, noted that a government network is the foundation of any digital government program and said that the project is a major milestone in the transformational agenda of Governor Otti’s government.
He assured all MDAs whose offices are not yet covered in the current phase of the initiative that it would benefit in the second phase.
“This phase one is focusing on the multi-tenant building complexes that have many MDAs in them in the first instance. Even as we are rounding off this one, we are going to start the next one.
“By the end of this service year, the entire government ecosystem in Abia will be linked up to one interconnected network,” Ilukwe stated.
He assured also that workers would be able to transact their operations in a manner that is more secure than the manual paperwork, saying that the initiative would be completed and commissioned in 5 weeks.
The Group Managing Director of IPNX, Mr. Ejovi Aror expressed gratitude to the Governor for granting them the opportunity to be part of the transformative initiative.
“This partnership signals the beginning of a new chapter in the journey towards building a digitally connected, technologically advanced, and economically empowered Abia State,” Mr.Aror expressed.
