By Chris Ndibe
Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN) are considering forming a unique partnership for capacity development for the staff of the Authority.
The two agencies agreed on the move when two officials of the Institute led by Mrs Bola Thomas, a Director, paid a courtesy visit to Prof. Adesoji Adesugba, Managing Director of NEPZA in Abuja on behalf of Dr Abdul-Ganiyu Obatoyinbo, Administrator/Chief Executive of the Institute.
According to Mr Martins Odeh, Head of Corporate Communications, NEPZA,
Adesugba expressed delight over the visit and said the institute remained a scholarship hub that could train, expand and shape the knowledge horizon of Civil Servants for high performance.
He explained that the public sector could only drive the country’s aspiration of a robust economy if civil servants had the required expertise to interpret government policies.
According to him, the Authority will key into the institute’s various training and induction programmes to enhance the capacity of its staff.
“We are, therefore, prepared to partner with the institute to give our work force the required expertise to carry out our mandate of industrializing the country using the free trade zone scheme.
“The Authority has a herculean task of stimulating local production, jobs creation, wealth creation and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) respectively.
With this in mind, we are convinced only well trained work force can deliver
these deliverables and this well thought out partnership can help the Authority achieve these goals,’’ the NEPZA Chief Executive said.
On her part, Thomas thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for making the right choice in appointing Adesugba as NEPZA boss, adding that it was a case of “round peg in round hole’’.
She said the planned partnership between PSIN and NEPZA was a master stroke, adding that its actualisation would throw up new set of resilient and knowledge based work force for the Authority that could be used to drive the country’s industrialization faster.
Thomas reiterated that the institute was the central learning ivory tower for the Nigerian Public Service, adding that it played a pivotal role in developing people for a first class public service.
According to her the institute offers a comprehensive suite of programmes that build strategic capacity in the public service, focusing particularly on core areas in public governance, leadership, public administration and management.
