>
The governments of Edo and Oyo States have promised collaborate with the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP) following the launch of the school’s Graduate Programmes in Public Administration and Public Policy.
The programmes, in partnership with Lead City University, Ibadan, was launched on Wednesday at the ISGPP premises located along Awolowo Road, Bodija, Ibadan.
Renowned economist and Founder of Lagos Business School, Professor Pat Utomi, was chairman of the occasion which also had the state governors of Edo and Oyo represented. While Governor Godwin Obaseki was represented by the head of his strategic planning team, Professor Julius Ihonvbere, Governor Abiola Ajimobi was represented by his Special Adverser on Efficiency, Mr. Isaac Ayandele.
Speaking during the course of the event, Prof. Utomi lamented that many political appointees and elected officials see the civil service as a problem rather than as an asset because of the dearth of quality, competence and excellence.
His words: “Political apppontees and elected officials now consider the civil service a problem, something they just put them aside. Everybody comes in and brings in a group of special assistants and those are the people they will work with. They see the civil service as a nuisance that they have to tolerate somehow”
He stressed that “until we change that, the civil service won’t feel it has meaning, value and rise to what its supposed to do.”
Professor Ihouvbere announced the Edo state government’s plan to collaborate with the ISGPP to train its civil servants twice a year in order to develop their capacity.
He pointed out that the think-tank was already helping to restructure the Edo State Ministry of Women Affairs where shady deals and incompetence had taken root.
In his own remarks on behalf of Governor Ajimobi, Ayandele stated that with the decay in the civil service and public service sector in general, there is no other time to talk about new programmes for public managers than now.
He stated that Ajimobi was looking in the same direction saying that “the Oyo state government would want to collaborate with ISGPP and Lead City to any length in as much as it will improve productivity in the state.”
In his welcome address, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the ISGPP, Dr. Tunji Olaopa, stated that the aim of the graduate programme is to fill the gaps in public administration in Nigeria where thoroughbred public managers who must be creative, committed, flexible, adaptable and resilient, are required.
He explained that “ISGPP Graduate Programme curricula recognize the need to put in place a new paradigm for collaborative rethinking of the way we conduct the business of government. It also recognizes theoretical confusion created by the conflicting interplay of weberianism (traditional ‘I am directed’ public administration tradition) and two generations managerialism with the public value governance variant that is prevalent in discourse; which are the software on which Nigerian public sector operates.”
Part of the launching ceremony was a distinguished lecture delivered by Prof Gabriel Ukertor Moti of the Department of Public Administration University of Abuja.
In his lecture titled “Governance Competencies in the 21st Century: Birthing the New Age Nigerian Public Manager”, Prof Moti stated that “there is a need to redesign the public administration curriculum in schools to be multidisciplinary, including cutting-edge research and management skills”.
He stressed the need for public servants to be able to combine theory and practice, adding that teaching, training and research must produce public managers who are genuinely interested in public administration ad public policy.
The Director, ISGPP Graduate Programmes, Prof. Bayo Okunade, at a press conference after the launching, explained that courses offered include; Executive Masters in Public Administration in Public Policy (EMPA), Executive Post Graduate Diploma Public Administration in Public Policy (EPGD) and short courses in Public Administration and Public Policy.
He explained further that the programmes will address deficits in the public administration courses as currently offered in schools.
“The programme will also prepare young entrants into public service,” he said.
According to him, “failure of governance is due to failure of public policy. That is why we give public policy a pride of place in our courses.”
The Pro-Chancellor of Lead City University, Prof. Jide Owoeye, explained that the university would among other things, assist ISGPP with matriculation guidelines, awarding of degrees and designing special frameworks for achieving certain skills for target participants, while the ISGPP would be in charge of course content.
Among the numerous scholars, private and public sector practitioners and students present at the event are the Board Chairman of the ISGPP,Prof. Akin Mabogunje and Country Director of DAI, Dr. Joe Abah. Dr. Abah offered to teach qualitative methods for free.
Registration for the programmes begins soon while academic programmes would kick off in September 2018