A former Head of Service of the Federation, Ama Pepple, on Monday, said Service Compact with All Nigerians (SERVICOM), initiated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004 to address the epileptic service delivery, has failed in its duties.
According to Pepple, despite the current administration’s change agenda, files are still missing, files are still being piled in one office or the other untreated, indiscipline, corruption and inefficiency looms large throughout the public service.
The SERVICOM Office is under the supervision of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) organised the event.
Pepple was speaking at the opening of a two-day National Policy Dialogue on Service Delivery with the theme: Efficient and Effective Service Delivery in Governance: Imperative for Driving the Change Agenda, held at the State House Conference Centre Abuja.
“The SERVICOM Charter was distributed to all government offices, SERVICOM desks were set up, and officers of grade level 16 reporting directly to the permanent secretaries were in charge of the unit.
“In the midst of varied and daunting challenges in the country and rising expectations from citizenry, the first question we should ask ourselves is this, in spite of all of the above has SERVICOM achieved it’s purpose? Definitely not. The public service continues to get knocks, criticism and to be seen in negative light in its service delivery agenda.
“This government places a lot of emphasis on change which the dictionary defines as making the form nature content the future or cause something to be different of what it would have been if it was left alone. And they say change is the only permanent thing in life because everything in life evolves, even a child is born and he changes everyday, as he grows older.
“The public service is therefore expected to be an agent of change and driver of change and to spearhead the slogan ‘Change Begins With Me’.
“Alan Watts says that the only way to make a change is to plunge into it, move with it and join in the dance. The public service has not done anything of this. We have neither plunge into SERVICOM and the change agenda, we have not moved with it and we have not joined in the dance.
“As a result SERVICOM and the public service has failed to spearhead the change mantra of the current administration but I hope with what the Head of Service told us today, that a change is coming even in the public service with all that has been put in place to revive SERVICOM.
“In addition, I would say that SERVICOM has not really achieve its objectives. What are the impediments to the success of SERVICOM? Can the public service ever deliver prompt, fair, efficient and effective service? What is the way forward for SERVICOM since this government is determine that we should not continue with our old ways? We use the expression it is no more business as usual. These are the questions I believe we can find answers to at the end of this forum.”
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, in his remarks said the objective of the forum is to seek ways to continually enhance citizen-focused service delivery by providing a platform for the exchange of ideas to advance improved service delivery as a direct outcome of the Change Agenda.
He said it is also sensitise key policy and decision makers (in the public and private sectors) on citizens’ expectations and provide a greater support for social accountability in service delivery and to improve government’s connection with the citizenry.
The Head of Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, in her remarks also said the launch of the “Change Begins With Me” campaign and the resuscitation of quarterly Civil Service lecture series, was a demonstration of the commitment of the administration that it was no longer business as usual in the public service.
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