..to expand Edo-Gov 2.0 interface with Oracle, e-Procurement, GIS, ERAS
By John Ewah
Building strong institutions that would provide effective service delivery and at the same time be accountable to the people, has been at the forefront of the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration in Edo State.
In the last six years of his administration, Obaseki has recorded landslide achievements in the reforms of government institutions in the State, in order to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the people in terms of service delivery, protection and interest representation.
The Governor reiterated this during the presentation of the proposed 2023 Budget to the State House of Assembly, where he noted that the 2023 budget tagged ‘Budget of Resilience and Transformation’ was informed by the need to build a resilient and sustainable foundation for the reforms, initiatives and programs embarked upon by his administration in the last six years.
Part of such reforms would include the Governor’s integration of technology into governance mechanisms in the State. Obaseki noted during the proposed budget presentation, that his administration remains committed to technology deployment in governance.
He reiterated his administration’s determination to ensure that 30% of government services are offered online before the close of 2023.
According to Obaseki, “We are investing in the infrastructure and software to ensure technology adoption across the service. We would be expanding the Edo-Gov 2.0 interface with – Oracle, e-Procurement, GIS, ERAS, all geared towards ensuring that the business of government is done swiftly and revenue administration is enhanced to meet set targets. Our goal is that by the end of 2023 up to 30% of government services will be offered online”.
The Governor emphasized that in the course of 2022, there was an increased effort to improve service wide transformation in the civil and public service as the much needed e-governance was adopted in the State.
He said: “The e-governance digital platform we need to work was adopted, which has now computerized roles and activities in the civil service. Our efforts at restructuring government and public institutions have resulted in better service delivery across board, even as we have attracted landmark investments in different sectors of the State’s economy.
“The civil service is now digitized in terms of process automation and revenue administration while the work environment has been sanitized. The wider economy is experiencing a boom with domestic and foreign investors coming up with big-ticket projects across agro-processing, energy, hospitality, solid minerals, technology, arts and culture, entertainment and service sectors”.
“We conducted a service-wide digitization exercise with the deployment of over 4,000 computers and other digital infrastructure, which have helped in creating digital versions of government records”, Obaseki added.
The Governor expressed delight at the enhancement such digitalization of governance has provided the workforce in the State. He maintained that the consolidation on the ongoing public/civil service transformation exercise, is making the transition into digitalizing the systems and processes in government, seamless.
In furtherance of his workforce enhancement campaign in the State, Governor Obaseki in May 2022 increased minimum wage in the State to N40,000 which saw an upward review of workers’ salaries in the State by 33.3 percent.
According to the Governor, the move to increase workers’ salaries in the State “was done in acknowledgement of the dire economic straits that workers have been subjected to as a result of the galloping inflation and other economic hurdles witnessed in the year”.
He also noted that the rolling out of phase II of the recruitment exercise has injected new life into the civil service across various cadres.
Similarly, the need to provide a conducive work environment for public servants in the State necessitated the Obaseki administration to undertake a total refurbishment and construction of office blocks in the Edo State Civil Service Secretariat Complex, equipping all buildings within the complex with state-of-the-art facilities.
He noted during the proposed budget presentation that while Block B at the complex has been completed, construction work has advanced in the New Agriculture Hub, which is to host MDAs in the agriculture ecosystem, while the Health Hub on Sapele Road is being constructed to host all MDAs in the health ecosystem.
In terms of human resource and capital development, the Governor reiterated his administration’s commitment to the continuous training of its workforce, as well as catering to their welfare, in order to achieve his administration’s goal of building the most agile and efficient public service in West Africa.
Obaseki also expressed his determination to improve performance by recruiting best hands across board into the service, to aid efficiency in its workforce.
“We are intensifying hiring of the best hands across board, through the efficient implementation of our Human Resource Strategy, Performance Management System and Learning & Development Plan. This ensures that the John Odigie Oyegun Training Academy lives up to its expectations and serves to train civil servants in the best way possible for optimum service delivery. We are also enhancing and expanding the workspace for MDAs across the State”, Obaseki said.
In developing human capital, the Governor buttressed his administration’s sustained investment in human capital development, which according to him, remains the fulcrum for the developmental goals of the State as over 15,000 teachers, who are deploying digital tablets to teach over 300,000 pupils/students across public schools in the State, have been trained.
These various reforms which have been carried out are to be consolidated on in 2023, as the 2023 ‘Budget of Resilience and Transformation’ shows improved investments in tech-based governance, workforce enhancement and human resource development.
