Treat matters affecting people’s welfare with urgency, Tinubu tells perm secs

President Bola Tinubu has tasked senior civil servants to rededicate themselves to their duties and work towards improving the lives of Nigerians by acting with dispatch on matters that border on the welfare of citizens.

He gave the admonition when he met with the Head of Service, The Body Of Permanent Secretaries, and some Directors-General of agencies at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday.

He said policies impacting the welfare of the people and the economy must be treated with urgency, diligence, and a strong sense of duty.

President Tinubu warned that the ineffectiveness and unnecessary bureaucracy that result in the delay of interventions on the economy and with programmes targeting vulnerable citizens will not be tolerated.

He directed that a monthly briefing by The Head Of Service and submission of key performance indicator (KPI) reports should be made to his office for review, and that quarterly interactive meetings between the President and The Body of Permanent Secretaries will now be scheduled. The Head Of Service and The Body Of Permanent Secretaries have been mandated by the President to consistently measure progress in actualizing the Renewed Hope Agenda of his administration.

President Tinubu added: “Before the next meeting, I want to see progress in the civil service. I have been sending people to check the level of work that gets done. Service to the nation is extremely important. We are to change the narrative on Nigeria.

“You and I can change the perception about Africa, not just Nigeria. We might not get it 100 per cent right, but if we are focused, I think we can totally change and reshape the trajectory of our country in the right direction.”

The President also asked public servants to always think and work with a generational understanding of their role in shaping national history, knowing that they serve as the engine room of the government and that their actions will affect more than 200 million people in the country and abroad.

“Let us make our children’s dreams come true. Why are we slowing that down?

“It is not just shameful. It is unacceptable. We made a pledge to bring our people out of poverty. You should not increase their vulnerability. Help Nigerians to get out of these problems, do not compound the tough situation with unacceptable delays,” he said.

Earlier, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan briefed the president on the performance of the service in relation to previously established KPIs across multiple assessment streams.