Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Prof. Tunji Olaopa, has given insight into the strategic role of the civil service in the Federal Government’s attainment of its ambitious $1 trillion economy in 2030.

Olaopa spoke, yesterday during an in-house strategy retreat of the FCSC in Abuja.

He noted that his commission had re-profiled the execution of its mandates to align with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the need to contribute to the realisation of the $1 trillion economy.

He said that the retreat was to set in motion series of strategic processes that would transform the FCSC into the critical human resource management (HRM) expert advisory hub that the Federal Government of Nigeria could draw on.

According to him, there is a need to consolidate the execution of the commission’s mandates in a manner that aligns with the Federal Civil Service and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP) being implemented by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. OHCSF.

He said the alignment was essential for complementarity, expanded scope of reform impact, and shared vision and passion.

Olaopa stressed the need to rethink the founding constitutional mandate of the commission, especially its role as the gatekeeper and promoter of the merit system.

He said that the strategic retreat should consider how the mandate of the FCSC could “keep being executed while maneuvering the structural landmines of the federal character policy.”

According to him, the gatekeeping of the merit system also demands that the FCSC put in place a rigorous and competitive entry-level recruitment and staffing assessment that drastically cuts through the framework of nepotism and patronage as a mechanism for political compensation at the expense of civil service workforce efficiency

Also at the retreat were the Team Lead of PACE (a programme of the British FCDO) and Country Director of DAI, an international development firm, Dr Joe Abah. They gave goodwill messages that stressed the importance of the FCSC to the public service of the country and the need to manage the perceptions about the commission.