President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged Nigeria’s civil servants to shed bureaucratic inertia and embrace innovation as key agents in delivering his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Speaking on Wednesday at the inaugural International Civil Service Conference in Abuja, the president declared that the time for a passive, outdated civil service is over.
“This conference must not be a talk shop. The civil service is not a supporting actor; it is the platform through which our national transformation will be delivered. We must rejuvenate, innovate, and accelerate. The time to act is now,” Tinubu said.
Themed “Rejuvenate, Innovate and Accelerate,” the event drew senior public officials and reform advocates from countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Ghana, Morocco, Kenya, and Azerbaijan, reinforcing Nigeria’s position as a leader in public service reform in Africa.
President Tinubu unveiled sweeping reform measures, including a comprehensive personnel audit and skills gap analysis across federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). The aim is to eliminate inefficiencies and build a high-performance, digitally enabled bureaucracy.
He also directed MDAs to collect, protect, and publish data in full compliance with the Nigerian Data Protection Act, emphasizing that data is the “new oil” for governance.
“We must let our data speak for us, within Nigeria and to the world. Global benchmarking must reflect our progress in real time,” he added.
Tinubu commended Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoCSF), for spearheading reforms under the 2021–2025 Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP).
A notable highlight was the introduction of Service-Wise GPT, a homegrown artificial intelligence tool aimed at enhancing civil service efficiency, responsiveness, and decision-making.
The conference marks a turning point in Nigeria’s quest to build a modern, AI-integrated, and performance-driven civil service that meets global standards and effectively supports national development.
