Experts underscore role of financial managers’ upskilling, sustainability in revamping economy

The up-skilling and sustainability of public financial managers at a time when Nigeria’s efforts are geared towards revamping its economy is very crucial, Bode Agoro, head of service at Lagos State government, has said, adding that they lead to capacity building.

Agoro spoke at a three-day workshop on capacity building for public financial management and sustainability organised by the state treasury office in conjunction with critical stakeholders in Lagos held at the state treasury resource centre at Alausa-Ikeja.

The theme of this workshop, ‘Increasing Capacity for Public Financial Management and Sustainability,’ according to Agoro, resonated with efforts at revamping the economy.

He stressed that the theme was very appropriate at this crucial time, hoping that it would, without a doubt, have huge beneficial effects on the states. He explained that a government could only fulfil its mandate of service delivery to the public when its finances were properly managed.

In essence, he said, “better financial management leads to better utilisation of government resources which, in turn, results in proper service delivery to the public.

In Lagos State, we are not just called ‘The Centre of Excellence’ by accident; this is so because past and present administrations have never paid lip service to effective and efficient service delivery, hence the various landmark projects and achievements that are providing great values to the public,” he noted.

The state head of service charged the finance professionals to always bear in mind that they should work towards ensuring their roles in delivering effective and efficient services do not come into question considering the population of the residents to cater for in the state.

He pointed out that, as the case may be, a surge in customers’ demands would always arise and urgent need to increase capacity in order to meet these demands and ensure sustainability, should not be overlooked.

“To achieve this, a meticulously structured and strategic financial management plan for effective governance must be implemented to guide the allocation and utlisation of public resources in a transparent, accountable and responsible manner in the various ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs),” he said.

Abiodun Muritala, the Lagos State Accountant General, in his address, commended the state’s partnership with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) for over 15 years to deliver a structure which, according to him, has yielded mutually beneficial technical relationships that focus on enhancing the state public financial management system.

According to Muritala, the three-day workshop is a furtherance of Lagos partnership with ACCA aimed at enhancing participants’ working financial capacities.

“We live in a world more dynamic than ever; a world where yesterday’s mindset is already obsolete for tomorrow’s challenges. Capacity building programmes such as this are, therefore, vital for us to remain a value-added profession in a sector as crucial as ours,” he said.

Alero Onosode, managing director at AAO-Tsalach Limited, who was one of the facilitators, said the workshop was ideal for the public financial managers in the state because it would enable them to upskill in the various areas of their endeavours and to operate at the global level.

“The participants will get the skills and knowledge they need to be better in their jobs, and to operate as world-class professionals,” she said.

Yemi Faseun, chief talent officer at YF Talent Partners, who spoke on leadership, said for a long time the leadership conversation was mainly focused on corporate firms, but now it has been channelled towards the public sector.

“Nigeria needs to change its leadership perspective; we decided to bring leadership conversation to this public sector forum. Let’s not concentrate on the corporate sector alone. The kind of conversation we had at the workshop was experimental and not theoretical; it’s about how you can lead yourself and be able to lead others as well,” he said.

Olusola Olowoyeye, the chief executive officer at BetaPlus Group, a strategic partner with ACCA, said their partnership with the Lagos State government was functional to its push for the public financial professionals in the state to be upskilled and fit for the future.

“This event is a game-changer for financial professionals. They will be learning more about report writing, presentation and data analytics, among others,” he said.

Olarenwaju Lawal, a staff member and participant, applauded the organisers of the workshop which she said was impactful.

“This training has been impactful, it exposed us to how to manage public finance and resources. We need vibrant and prudent financial management to be able to help the government with what it’s doing with the tax-payers money.

“Hence, this training is apt at a time like this, considering the various projects of the state government which requires transparency and accountability in financial management,” she said.