By Violet Osatohanmwen Obamwonyi
The John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy (JOOPSA) in conjunction with the Office of the Head of Service, Edo State, and Development Alternatives Incorporation (DAI), has held a 2-day Stakeholders’ Strategy Validation Workshop with Permanent Secretaries of various Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) in the State and members of the Inter-Ministerial Counterpart Team (IMCT).
The workshop was conceived to garner inputs from critical stakeholders on the strategy plan and sustainability work stream for the operationalization of JOOPSA.
To achieve its mandate of up-skilling and retooling public servants in Edo State and becoming the foremost public service training institute in Africa, Edo State Government set up the Inter-Ministerial Counterpart Team for JOOPSA, which is currently collaborating with DAI and other partners on the operationalization of the Academy. The Academy has adopted an inclusive approach in order to obtain cardinal inputs for improved functionality.
Speaking at the event, the Managing Director, John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy (JOOPSA), Mrs. Precious Imuwahen Ajoonu, noted that the workshop was organized to acquaint all stakeholders of the strategy plan for the Academy.
“We are building the JOOPSA and we intend to build an institution that is inclusive. So we set up the Inter-Ministerial Counterpart Team made up of all the Directors of Administration (DAS) across all the MDAs and invited the Permanent Secretaries of all MDAs here today. We organized this workshop to show you the strategy plan that we have come up with, alongside inputs from members of the IMCT and our consultants from DAI. Please critique it, give us your ideas and let us all co-own the Academy together,” Ajoonu urged the stakeholders.
While revealing plans for the sustainability of the Academy, she noted that JOOPSA is taking shape to become a legal entity by the end of the first quarter of 2023, all things being equal.
She said: “Most people feel that if we want to sustain JOOPSA, we must create a law. I am happy to tell you that we already have a draft bill and all things being equal, by the end of first quarter of next year, we would be a legal entity.
“But we are well aware that administration changes, and the question on the mind of the Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki and the State’s Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa Esq., is how we can build a school that can outlive this current administration. The answer is ‘ownership’.
“If the school is owned by the civil and public servants, it would outlive this present Government because the people would say, we are getting value from this Academy and we must retain it. So we are not just relying on the legal framework, what is most important for us is including the people all through the process and getting them to co-own the strategy plan”.
Highlights of the workshop was the presentation of the strategy plan to the stakeholders by Mr. Babatunde O. Eniaiyejuni, Director of Studies, ASCON, as well as deliberations by the Permanent Secretaries, Members of the IMCT and other stakeholders.
