President Bola Tinubu‘s appointment of Didi Walson-Jack as the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoSF) brings with it significant expectations for reform and modernisation within the Nigerian civil service.
Development Diaries reports that the Special Advisor to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, announced President Tinubu’s appointment of Didi Esther Walson-Jack.
As the new head, Walson-Jack is expected to prioritise transparency, efficiency, and accountability in government operations.
Her leadership is expected to focus on combating corruption and instituting merit-based promotions to enhance productivity and morale among civil servants.
Additionally, she is expected to implement strategies that will streamline bureaucratic processes, making them more efficient and citizen-friendly, thereby improving public trust and satisfaction with government services.
One gap that the outgoing HoSF, Folasade Yemi-Esan, was unable to address is civil servants drawing salaries from the government after relocating abroad.
Development Diaries earlier in July reacted to the report of a male Nigerian civil servant who left the country for the United Kingdom in 2022 and revealed that he still received his monthly salary in Nigeria.
According to a BBC report, the 36-year-old taxi driver said he received N150,000 monthly from his place of work in Nigeria. This development underscores the existence of systemic inefficiencies and gaps in the management of human resources within the civil service, allowing for such discrepancies to go unnoticed for extended periods.
Walson-Jack is expected to address this, alongside other shortcomings crucial for restoring confidence in the civil service, citizens’ trust in governance, and ensuring that public funds are judiciously managed.
Development Diaries calls on Walson-Jack to, upon the confirmation of her appointment by the Senate, to embark on transformation initiatives to improve service delivery and reduce redundancy, in stringent adherence to the extant rules and regulations of the civil service of the federation.
