Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno and Gov. Charles Soludo of Anambra have bagged Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) award of excellence in digital governance.

The ceremony which was organised in collaboration with Crystal Edge Management and Technology Limited was in honour of public servants and institutions that have distinguished themselves in service.

Other awardees include Mr Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director of NNPCL, Mr Sonny Echono, Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) among 44 others across states and Local Government Areas.

Reacting after receiving the award, Zulum commended the organisers for finding him worthy of the honour, saying that he is excited.

Represented by Mr Tukur Ibrahim, Commissioner for Intergovernmental Affairs and Special Duties, Zulum admonished all governors to imbibe digital governance.

“Obviously I would like to call all the other governors, states , agencies of government  and all Nigerians to key in to the reform in the state’s civil service,” he said.

On his part, Soludo commended the organisation for driving grassroots development through digital governace.

Represented by Mr Tonycollins Nwabunwanne, Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, Soludo said that it was time to digitalise all governace processes.

“I Commended the organisers for the due diligence in selecting and organising the event, digital transformation has come to stay in Anambra

“I think the organisers are trying to carry development to the grassroots and to digitalis’s information in public sector so that from any state, people have access information at the federal.

“What i want to say to other governors is for them to emulate this digital transformation and make sure every ministry is involved in it, that is the way to go.

“If you go abroad today, you hardly seen anything they do manually, most things are digitalised and you will see Nigerians doing it better.

“So let’s bring it back home so thing can be better, the children are already doing better than we adults, so what is stopping us from digitalising all we do,” he said.

Echono dedicated the award to all the hardworking members of staff of TETFund saying that the recognition is a call for more work.

He said it was fundamental to best serve clientele with the highest standards of service, quality inline with the rich tradition of efficient service that also existed before.

“I dedicate the award to all our staff and the leadership also that we have, particularly the Honorable Minister of Education are for the tired mama spider, giving us very high, but very achievable. targets.

“We intend to use these as an instrument to galvanize the workforce to rededicate ourselves to meet the high ideals and the objectives set by Mr. President.

“Nigerians should accept and understand that regardless of the situation you find yourself on regardless of your level of leadership that you serve, that once you put your best somebody will notice somebody’s looking at you, if not today, in the foreseeable future.

“So we should enthrone a culture of merit a culture of competence, a culture of performance in our country and we will better for it; that is how most countries of the world develop,” he said.

In his remarks, Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF) Sen. George Akume, reiterated government’s commitment to move the nation forward.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Maurice Mbaeri, Akume said that government would continue to reward hardwork, urging all public servants to all give their best.

“Let me reiterate on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria that this government is determined to move the nation forward through your respective contributions from your various appointments.

“It is good and always very commendable to identify and reward excellence. And that is what the government stands for.

“So I’m happy that the Bureau has taken up this responsibility to identify those of you that have distinguished yourselves in your respective positions,” he said.

In his remarks, the Director-General of BPSR, Mr Dasuki Arabi, said that the bureau remains committed to improving public service across the nation.

He said that the bureau was willing to partner with states to establish state public service reforms bureaus for enhanced services in the country.

“I would like to state our commitments to improve collaboration with states to further digitalise their processes as part of the strategies to advance the dream of digital transformation of the public service in Nigeria.

“This is through adoption of National e-Government Masterplan to reinforce strategy and defining etiquette for implementation of digital innovations among common bodies in the states.

“Encouraging the use of collaboration tools that help the states agencies to manage their work processes, promoting the use of Collaboration Technologies and Social Media to engage with the citizens.

“Implement laws, policies, and regulations required to stimulate accelerate digital transformation for the states and create awareness on viability of new and emerging technologies.

“This is to improve service delivery, transparency, accountability and curb corruption as well as improve the living conditions of the citizens,” he said. (NAN)