Adekunmilola Adio-Moses is the Director General (DG), Lagos State Public Service Staff Development Centre (PSSDC). A Development Economist and Certified Information Systems Auditor, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Ibadan and a Master of Science degree from University of Lagos (UNILAG). He is an alumnus of Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Ghana; Harvard University (Kennedy School of Government), United States of America and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management. Adio-Moses has over 20 years of professional public administration experience in the Lagos State Public Service where he has been actively involved in the design and implementation of the Lagos State Government Global Computerisation Project, which set up Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Solution, the World Bank-Assisted Lagos Metropolitan Development and Governance Project (LMDGP) and Public Service Staff Development Centre (PSSDC) Institutional Transformation Plan. He came into Lagos State Public Service Staff Development Centre three years ago as the DG. In this interview with ENIOLA DANIEL, he spoke about the impact of the PSSDC on the state’s public service and future plans.

What drives your vision at PSSDC?
PSSDC turned 30 in 2024. The vision of the agency is to be a world-class centre for learning and development. It is important for us to have global respect because Lagos State is respected globally. Therefore, the quality of staff, the skill set and the corporate performance must always be at par with what the government is trying to achieve.

We have been able to help the government to achieve its goals. I was part of the team that put the Traffic/Transportation, Health/Environment, Education/Technology, Entertainment/Tourism, and Security/Governance, Social Inclusion, Gender Equality, and Youth empowerment, known as the THEMES+ Agenda, together. We made the document when Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was preparing to be sworn in. It’s an opportunity to be part of the team implementing the document. The idea is for PSSDC to become a public service university and a centre of learning which the whole world can be proud of. We want PSSDC to be a go-to place, an incubator where ideas would be researched and tinkered with to become workable.

PSSDC is a place of lifelong learning and a place where there is no limit. We welcome ideas; we explore possibilities and that is why we have a mix of staff – the old brigades whom I call my generals and the foot soldiers whom I refer to as my marines. You can’t go wrong with that kind of combination.

What would you say you have achieved since you assumed office as DG?
I was appointed as DG on January 4, 2023. I had a discussion with the governor on his expectations for PSSDC. I worked with the governor when he was Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions. He made it clear that he wanted PSSDC to evolve into a citadel of learning that endears people that are into research and development.

The first thing I did when I was appointed as DG was to ensure Internet facility into the premises, running underground fibre from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Alausa, to Magodo.

Secondly, we knew that we have to provide the technology to carry out digital training programmes. So, we came up with the Computer Based Test (CBT) classrooms and we converted blocks of nine classrooms to a CBT facility. We bought 300 computers and set them up inside the classrooms.  We did that to ensure that people can come to the centre and learn digitally.

We gave the infrastructure a facelift, upgraded the furniture and others. At the same time, we started the refurbishment of the guest house to ensure a kind of quality a DG can sleep in.

I moved on to create a sports facility; we built a football field, lawn tennis, table tennis, volleyball, basketball courts and others to give a 360 degree experience, ensure team bonding, and health.

We put so much effort into CBT because we want to prepare ourselves to be able to provide services to big organisation like the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), West African Examinations Council (WAEC), International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and others. Some universities in the UK have approached us to have a branch of their institutions in PSSDC. We are hoping to build 100-bed accommodation.

How has PSSGC transformed the Lagos State Civil Service?
Civil service is key in the role the Lagos State government is playing across Africa. Our focus, according to the law that set up PSSDC, is to train staff from level 12 and below. That was essentially done because the foundation of our staff is paramount. We want to ensure that by the time any public servant in Lagos State gets to the management level, which is level 13, the person would have been grounded in the values, ethics and skill set required of a public service personnel in Lagos State. For us, the most important thing we are trying to teach public servants is the ability to learn and relearn, and adapt because that is where resilience comes from.

There are various forms of training. The first is the induction course that spans three months, then other training is determined by the sector a civil servant is deployed to.

Tell us your background
I have been in the public service since 1999. I am an economist by discipline. I come from a rich background of training and values. I believe what you do should speak for you and that has helped me in the civil service. I started in the office of the Accountant General. I worked with Olusoyin Williams and Akinwumi Ambode before I worked with the current CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso in economic planning and budget. That background was instrumental in understanding how the public service works to infuse the balance between being a public servant and having an efficient and effective mindset.

You have brought innovations to the centre. Was this place underutilised before your appointment?
PSSDC has been evolving. There are times where one experiences down time to improve on something. We are lucky in Lagos State to have consistency in leadership and the leadership has helped to maintain the vision.  So, the vision that was born over 30 years ago is stronger today because people have gone out, studied what happened in other climes and decided that the same can be done in Lagos.

We can attract the best of brains to the public service. We can attract innovative ideas to the public service. It is my belief that we should attract the best brains to public service. I am proud to say that things are looking better.