Lawan, CNA Task N’Assembly Staff on Work Efficiency, Oath of Office

Udora Orizu

President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan and Clerk to the National Assembly, Ojo Olatunde Amos have tasked the staff of the parliament on improved work efficiency in order to take the health of the Senate, to the next level of robust productivity.

The duo gave the task in Abuja, in their separate remarks at the opening ceremony of a three day capacity building workshop, for staff of the Senate (directorate levels), organised by the National Institute for Legislative & Democratic Studies (NILDS).

The Senate President, in his remarks said the workshop which focuses on the staff of the Senate on directorate levels 15-17 is a crucial cadre of the senate bureaucracy.

Lawan who was represented by Senate Minority Whip, Senator Philips Aduda explained that the training seeks to open thoughts to generate new patterns of attaining efficiency and to create more opportunities for implementation and sustainable progress.

This, according to him, is often a good way to go given the dynamic nature of notions around the legislature and of learning in contemporary times.

He urged the participants to be dedicated, adding that growing the system is collective and a task that must be accomplished.

On his part, Clerk to the National Assembly, Ojo Olatunde Amos said the internal workings of parliamentary relations with the other branches of government, public perception, in terms of comformity of parliamentary behaviour and practices, with International norms and conventions, are fundamental to the health of the National Assembly in Nigeria.

He stated that directors should be accountable to their committees and departments, as they will not entertain any excuse, and as well will not hesitate to apply the public service rules against any erring staff.

He therefore urged all public servants in the country, especially parliamentary administrators, not only to be passionate about their job, but to endeavor to put on their thinking cap,to bring ingenuity to play, on how to improve their statutory duties.

While commending the Director General of NILDS for his proactiveness and efficiency in marshalling the statutory mandate allocated to his office, he appealed to the participants to dump the attitudes of ‘poor self concept, and self limiting beliefs’, and seize the opportunities to be presented in the workshop to upgrade their capabilities.

Earlier in his address, NILDS Director General, Professor. Abubakar Sulaiman noted that the institute have ensured that it’s approach to capacity building is evidence-based and hence predicated on the actual needs of legislators and staff.

This he said informed the readiness of the institute to partner with the National Assembly to conduct this three-day capacity building workshop for staff of the directorate cadre in the senate.

He said, “The workshop is designed following a needs assessment study conducted by the Clerk Senate sometime in 2020 before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Institute was approached to develop training modules to respond to some of the capacity gaps identified in the study. In addition to that, the Institute recognizes the serious lacunae that opened up in the National Assembly following mass retirements in the last two years. This has made the need for training of staff even more necessary to ensure smooth operations of the Assembly particularly in core legislative areas such as chamber operations, management of plenary and committee activities, legislative research and public policy analysis, budget analysis and monitoring as well as leadership skills.

“However, beyond the routine 2-3-day training for staff, the Institute has emphasized the need for more intensive capacity building activities such as certificate courses and postgraduate programmes, which can substantially boost the capacity of staff and improve their performance. The Institute’s credit carrying courses have significantly improved the skills of staff, including committee clerks. These programmes go beyond simply equipping staff with the specific skills necessary to carry out their statutory roles. Instead, they focus on promoting critical thinking and reflection while at the same time encouraging participants to translate newly acquired knowledge into action. They are also designed to be flexible and tailor-made for an adult audience.”