Edo First Lady Visits JOOPSA: Emphasizes Training and capacity building for Civil and Public Servants

By Our Reporter

The Coordinator, Office of the First Lady, Mrs. Edesili Okpebholo Anani, has commended the Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, for his resolve to revive the Edo State civil and public Service, noting that training and retraining will enhance productivity. This was disclosed during a courtesy visit to the Director General, Mrs. Gina Otamere at the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy (JOOPSA), in Benin City.

Speaking at the meeting, Mrs. Anani complimented Mrs. Otamere for her dedication to championing training for civil and public service, social welfare, women, children, and youths.

‘It is good to know what you do at JOOPSA. It is good to have you at the helm of affairs because I know how professional you are. Your rise from civil service to this position is really commendable.’

Mrs. Anani also complimented the Governor Okpebholo-led administration for extending opportunities to serve in governance, to the Edo people.
‘It is also good to know what the Governor is doing, enhancing his own people. In the past, we had outsiders, foreigners, consultants taking the job of civil and public servants and almost making our workforce redundant.
However, we are hardworking people, and it is time we take ownership of our roles.’

‘With the mandate we have now, and you have, you have been saddled with that responsibility by His Excellency, the Governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo.
Your task is to revive the civil service, train and retrain, and make them grow on the job, becoming more productive, efficient, and hardworking.’

‘I thank the Governor for believing in his own people. The Governor has said, Edo State is for Edo people, and we must enhance our people to be effective.’

In a similar vein, Mrs. Otamere appreciated Mrs. Anani for her visit and reaffirmed her commitment to abide by the policy statements of Governor Okpebholo-led administration to build a productive, efficient, and effective civil and public service in Edo State.

While highlighting the key mandate of the institution, she emphasized that Edo State will no longer use consultants in line with Senator Monday Okpebholo-led administration’s policy.

‘This is John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy, saddled with the responsibility of providing capacity building, training programs for civil and public service in Edo State. Our main focus this year is to work in line with Mr. Governor’s policy statements. So, for JOOPSA, our focus is developing those functional skills across the civil and public service to enable civil servants to be self-sufficient, carry out their role and responsibilities, and we are looking at building capacity among staff that will enable them to perform effectively and efficiently on their jobs.’