Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu has authorised a comprehensive personnel audit and skills Gap Analysis across the Federal Civil Service.
The President gave the order in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital at the Maiden Edition of the International Civil Service Week, 2025.
He said the move was to deepen capacity noting that placing the right people in the right roles is the only guarantee of giving the high-performance culture Nigerians country deserves.
According to him, Civil servants are not just the backbone of effective administration across borders, but it’s very essence.
“Your role as the quiet architects of stability, innovation, and public trust is invaluable. The Civil Service, as the vehicle through which the government delivers public goods, has steered us through economic cycles, constitutional transitions, and social democratic consolidation”. The president said.
He said the vision of the Civil Service aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda, which is a comprehensive roadmap for building a secure, inclusive, and prosperous Nigeria.
He emphasised that a revitalised Civil Service is not a supporting actor, but the central platform for delivering national transformation and the Renewed Hope Agenda.
“At the heart of this Agenda is a Public Service that works efficiently and effectively for every Nigerian and your role in this transformation is indispensable”. President Tinubu said.
The President also directed all Ministries, Extra-Ministerial Departments, and Agencies to capture information and safeguard it under the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, ensure swift release for public value while ensuring the highest data protection and privacy standards.
“Accurate, secure, and sovereign data is the lifeblood of every reform we pursue. Data is the new oil, but unlike oil, its value increases the more it is refined and responsibly shared.
“We must let our Data speak for us. We must publish verified datasets within Nigeria and share them in internationally recognised repositories. This will allow global benchmarking organisations to track our progress in real-time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage”.
President Bola Tinubu, therefore, charged all public service leaders and stakeholders to return to their institutions with renewed determination.
Head of Civil Service of the Federation Mrs Esther Walson-Jack said for any Civil Service to be efficient and effective in Service delivery, partnership at all levels is the way to go.
“When we talk of collaboration and partnership, we’re talking of collaboration at all levels, not only with international development partners, but also local development partners, as well as professional bodies.
“So we are looking towards partnering with as many as ready to add value to the reforms that are ongoing, as many that are ready to add value to the work that we do as civil servants, because, indeed, it is a great assignment to deliver on the national development goals”.
Mrs Walson-Jack further noted emphasis that discussions and deliberations from the conference will change the narrative of the Nigerian Civil and Public Service but making it more digitally driven.
“It would be more reform and more citizen centered driven, and we expect that as many as have come for this conference would also take back to their own public services, a lot of innovations that we have seen here in the conference.
As the Civil I unite under the shared ideals of service excellence, it commits to forging partnerships that transcend national boundaries, harness technology for the greater good, and elevate the civil Service as a beacon of hope and progress for all nations
