The Edo government on Thursday commenced the onboarding of old and newly inaugurated permanent secretaries at a training to prepare them for the switch over from analogue to e-governance.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin, recalls that Obaseki, had promised to switch over from analogue to e-governance when he swore-in 14 new permanent secretaries, earlier in the year.
Mr Goodluck Igbinedion, Managing Director, Edo Information Communication Technology Agency (EICTA), in his opening remarks at the training, disclosed that the agency was in charge of the onboarding programme.
Igbinedion also said that the EICTA would help train permanent secretaries to achieve the governor’s goal on e-governance.
He noted that trainings for the permanent secretaries would centre on Microsoft Word, excel, power point, video conferencing tools and basic computer appreciation.
“You know that technology is the bedrock of every transformation and the engine room that drives every transformation; that is why we are here.
“Our digital governor promised Edo residents that he would be the last governor that will sign a memo on paper.
“The journey has started, and it has to start from the top, that is why we are here today to train our permanent secretaries to make sure they have all the tools, the skills and the knowledge to drive digital transformation.
“Tomorrow they are going to be trained on Edo golf, Edo golf is an initiative that we just launched, and it’s going to make the civil service to work paper less, and that will be enough to bring them on board into the digital world of today”, he said.
In his remarks, Mr. Lucky Wasa, permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, said that the onboarding workshop for old and new permanent secretaries would help them fit into the new age.
Wasa assured that the programme was very apt and would fit into the Making Edo Great Again (MEGA) agenda of the present administration.
Similarly, Mr. Toju Onaiwu, one of the recently inaugurated Permanent Secretaries, said that the onboarding training was a very good initiative by the Obaseki-led administration which has brought them to a higher responsibility.
“This is a very good initiative by the Edo government, because it is bringing people to a very high responsibility and enduring that those people have the resources to do the job that they are supposed to do and do it well.
“We have gone through many aspects of up scaling, to enable us perform at the highest level that is demanded of us. It is a very good initiative by the state government to carry on with this onboarding programme for us,” he said.
Mr Washington Abbe, Permanent Secretary/Chairman Pensions Bureau, said that the training would avail some of them who were newly sworn-in permanent secretaries integrity on the job.
“The training has greatly empowered us on what is expected of us, on how we should go about the job and how to carry along those who are below us, and my appreciation goes to God and the EICTA for availing us this opportunity,” he said (NAN)
