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From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
The Director General of the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy, Imuwahen Ajoonu has said that 2500 Edo workers have been trained out of 10,000 approved by the state governor, Godwin Obaseki for utmost service delivery.
She said that the state government has a vision of transforming Edo State into a high-performing, progressive, and self-sufficient state, and recognizes that civil service is the critical delivery engine of government for this process.
Ajoonu stated that the governor established the JOOPSA to train its public service to deliver high-value services to citizens and accelerate its governance reforms.
“To ensure that this ‘engine’ functions as it should and close existing skills gaps, the John Odigie-Oyegun Public Service Academy (JOOPSA) set out to train 10,000 workers in 2023 as approved by governor.
“So far, the academy has trained 2,500 workers and is on track to meet its 10,000 targets. JOOPSA aims to strengthen the public service institution through capacity building,” Ujoonu said.
She said that the importance of training and development in public services is even more urgent, given the growing complexity of the work environment, the rapid change in organisations, and technological advancements among other key drivers.
“Since training started in March, The John Odigie-Oyegun Public Service Academy (JOOPSA) has focused on foundational courses such as the fundamentals of project management, introduction to public policy development, commercial acumen, professional etiquette, customer service, data analysis and interpretation, strategic communications, negotiation, and conflict management.
“The thinking is to ensure that Civil/Public Servants possess both technical and soft skills needed to thrive in the world of work.
“Centralizing and running training programmes in Benin-City, allowed for over 70 percent cost savings for Government.
” Travel costs have significantly reduced, allowing for better monitoring and evaluation of all training interventions.
“JOOPSA works with the best global subject matter experts to achieve its aim.
“The changing global economy, technology, politics, and increased expectations for government performance demand new attention to the complex set of public skills and capacity”, Ujoonu added.
