By: Goodluck E. Adubazi, Abuja.

Nigeria’s drive to modernise public service delivery gained fresh momentum this week as the Federal Ministry of Works officially migrated its operations to the federal government’s 1-Gov Enterprise Content Management (ECM) cloud platform, marking a major step away from paper-based bureaucracy toward fully digital governance.

The go-live ceremony, held Tuesday at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, brought together senior government officials, civil servants and key stakeholders, including the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack. The transition places the Ministry among a growing list of federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) adopting centralized, secure digital systems for records and workflow management.

Representing the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, Minister of State Bello Muhammad Goronyo described the launch as a milestone in institutional reform, praising the leadership of the civil service and pledging full ministerial support for the platform’s implementation.
Mrs. Walson-Jack said the move reflects the Ministry’s readiness to align service delivery with modern global standards, noting the critical role the Ministry plays in national development through the planning, construction and maintenance of Nigeria’s federal road network.

“Strengthening information management in a sector where records, approvals and institutional memory are essential is both timely and strategic,” she said, adding that the ECM system reinforces accountability, professionalism and continuity in public service.

According to the Head of Service, the migration is not merely a technological upgrade but a structural shift in how government work is organised, documented and executed. Integration into the 1-Gov cloud ecosystem, she said, will allow the Ministry to collaborate more securely and efficiently across government, in line with federal public service standards.

The launch also advances the Federal Government’s broader digitalisation roadmap, which targets the full digitisation of work processes across the civil service by December 31, 2025. The initiative supports Pillar 5 of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (2021–2025) and aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope Agenda,” particularly its focus on improving governance and service delivery.

Mrs. Walson-Jack acknowledged Galaxy Backbone Limited, the government’s digital infrastructure provider, for hosting the platform and strengthening Nigeria’s data sovereignty through a shared, secure cloud environment.
Earlier, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Rafiu Adeladan, described the go-live event as a defining moment in the Ministry’s reform journey. He said the digital transformation programme began in April 2023 with the aim of eliminating manual processes and improving efficiency.

The programme was implemented in two phases, he explained: the first focused on system deployment and digitisation, completed in 2024, while the second covered cloud hosting, application deployment, staff onboarding and large-scale capacity building.

Key achievements include the rollout of the DocuFlow ECM software, the creation of more than 2,000 official email accounts for secure correspondence, and the establishment of a dedicated scanning centre to accelerate records digitisation. The Ministry has now digitised over 70% of its records, despite the volume and complexity involved.

Mr. Adeladan credited collaboration with the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the OECD ECM preparation team and Galaxy Backbone for strengthening institutional efficiency and improving service delivery to Nigerians.

As more MDAs come online, officials say the transition signals a decisive shift toward a more transparent, efficient and digitally driven Nigerian public service.