JOOPSA boosts capacity of 2,500 Edo workers

The Director-General of the John Odigie-Oyegun Public Service Academy (JOOPSA), Imuwahen Ajoonu has said that out of 10,000 Edo State workers Governor Godwin Obaseki approved for training, about 2500 workers have been trained.

Ajoonu said that the state government has a vision of transforming Edo State into a high-performing, progressive, and self-sufficient state.

Speaking recently, she said Obaseki recognises that civil service is the critical delivery engine of government.

She said that the governor established the JOOPSA to train public service to deliver high-value services to citizens and accelerate governance reforms.

She said: “To ensure that this ‘engine’ functions as it should and close existing skills gaps, the JOOPSA set out to train 10,000 workers in 2023 as approved by the governor.

She said that the importance of training and development in public services was even more urgent, given the growing complexity of the work environment, the rapid change in organisations and technological advancements, among other key drivers.

She said: “Since training started in March, JOOPSA has focused on foundational courses, such as the fundamentals of project management, introduction to public policy development, commercial acumen, professional etiquette, customer service, data analysis and interpretation, strategic communications, negotiation and conflict management.

“This is to ensure that civil and public servants possess both technical and soft skills needed to thrive in the world of work. Centralising and running training programmes in Benin City, allowed for over 70 per cent cost savings for the government. Travel costs have significantly reduced, allowing for better monitoring and evaluation of all training interventions.

“JOOPSA works with the best global subject matter experts to achieve its aim. The changing global economy, technology, politics and increased expectations for government performance demand new attention to the complex set of public skills and capacity.”