FG pays N2.5 bn death benefits to workers

The Federal Government of Nigeria said it paid some of the backlog of death benefits to deceased civil servants to the tune of N2.5bn in 2020 apart from the provision of Group Life Assurance cover for Federal Government employees in 48 MDAs for same year.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoS), Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, said this on Tuesday during the virtual interactive session with civil servants.

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She urged the civil servants to look ahead and remain creative by exploring and making the best of opportunities in carrying out their mandate.

According to her, the meeting was necessitated in order to bring up to speed on the progress of the programmes and activities geared towards the advancement of the service.

“The Office also initiated programmes targeted at improving the well-being of its workers.

“These programmes include; Provision of Group Life Assurance cover for Federal Government employees in 48 MDAs for year 2020; Payment of some of the backlog of death benefits to deceased civil servants to the tune of N2.5bn.

“Restructuring of Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) Programme for collaboration with the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board (FGSHLB) to provide mortgages for 139 profiled Off-takers in various Housing Estates developed by private developers.

“The Office will also identify and partner with credible developers for the provision of affordable housing for civil servants,” Yemi-Esan said.

She said that the initiatives in the “New Civil Service” include the Enterprise Content Management (ECM), Capacity Building, Performance Management System, Innovation in Service and Welfare of Civil Servants.

On ECM, the HoS revealed that over 300 work processes have been identified in Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) and some of these processes will be used in the ongoing digitization process.

“Furthermore, the office has organised an ‘end-user’ training for 16 MDAs on digitalization on ECMs.

“In addition, the National Policy on Virtual Engagements in Federal Public Institutions has been developed,” Yemi-Esan said.

In the area of capacity building, the HoS revealed that the arrangement for the training of the second batch of SMAT-P training for 1500 officers has been concluded and it is expected to hold in November, 2020.

She added that her office had concluded the second batch of induction training for 500 newly recruited officers from Grade Level 07-10, while the training of the third batch of 700 Officers is expected to hold in the first week of November, 2020.

She said that the selection processes for LEAD-P/Special Presidential Cohort training for civil servants on Salary Grade Level 10-14 have commenced, and is targeted to train at least 100 officers annually.

She said, “In the area of Performance Management, the office in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) started series of workshops on Job Objectives Setting for officers in the Public Service.

“The first batch in the series was held for 150 Officers in the OHSCF in August, 2020.

“Service-Wide training for an estimated number of 1800 Officers drawn from 42 MDAs will start in November, 2020. The training will run back to back.”

On Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), she said that selected MDAs have received end-user and self-service trainings, meant to enhance the user experience of officers and reduce pressure on the IPPIS office.

According to her, there were also plans to conduct IPPIS Service-Wide verification for employees of Foreign Affairs in Nigerian foreign missions and HR Records Verification for Officers in non-core MDAs.

The HoS said that housing and transportation are key areas of staff welfare that would be given attention and therefore promised that plans for effective transport system for civil servants in Abuja and other states were being processed.

She therefore urged the workers to remain purpose-driven, dedicated and exhibit the highest level of transparency, professionalism, confidence as well as competence at all times.