The Federal Government has called on Chief Executive Officers, Board Chairmen and members of parastatals, agencies and commissions to live to the demand of integrity and patriotism, and be result-oriented in the discharge of their respective duties.
The Director General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Mr D. I . Arabi, gave this admonition at the opening ceremony of the induction of the 9th Batch of Chief Executive Officers, Chairmen and Members of Governing Boards of Federal Parastatals and Commissions, held in Abuja on Monday.
The agencies involved in Mondays’ event included Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Nigerian Content Development And Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and National Biotechnology Development Agency (NBTDA).
The BPSR boss said the induction ceremony was coming at a time of “growing concerns expressed about the weak corporate governance practice and the struggle and misunderstanding among board members in some Federal Parastatals, Agencies and Commissions.”
Arabi stated that the federal government would institutionalise the induction programme and other capacity building workshops in order to update the knowledge of the board chairmen and members who are more often than not brought from outside the civil service system.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, commended the contribution of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) to the success of the event and other similar initiatives.
“It may interest you to note that Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) has been visible in Nigeria since 2001 with focus on three major projects: Promoting Democracy and Good Governance; Support to the Security Reform (SSR) in Nigeria; and Promoting Economic Development through partnership with the various levels of Government.
“In the recent past, KAS has partnered with the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning to organize capacity building for the Permanent Secretaries of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on “Implementing the National Development Plans”; Capacity building for Special Advisors and Technical Assistance of the Honorable Ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; and the capacity building workshop for Anchors and Secretariat officials for the development of the National Development Plan 2021 – 2025 amongst others.
“Distinguish Ladies and Gentlemen, it is very obvious that the KAS has calved a notch for itself in the Nigerian space for improving democracy and good governance, security, and as well as the economy through seminars, retreats and capacity building programs with very excellent resource persons and facilitators, sharing experiences, knowledge and best practices,” the Minster said.
Konrad is a German political foundation, a nongovernmental organization. It is part of the official German development cooperation and thus is funded by the German Government. It has more than 100 offices worldwide and it has been active in Nigeria for 20 years now. The focus of its work in Nigeria lies in the promotion of democratic governance and the rule of law and security sector reform
