The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) on Tuesday underscored the need for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to partner with one another to enhance service delivery.
Dr Lawrence Boms, Country Head/Resident Representative, UNITAR Nigeria office, made the call at a four-day seminar on Collaborative Leadership in Abuja.
Boms said that “rather than working in silos, officials at different MDAs in the country need to team up and see themselves as partners in the task of working to promote sustainable development in the country.
“Also sharing knowledge and other resources and working harmoniously together produce better results.’’
He said the seminar aimed at fostering effective collaboration among leaders of agencies; promoting better alignment among the actors and decision makers in MDAs.
“It will also help them to recognise when collaboration is effective as well as understand some of the most common barriers to effective collaboration and be able to put in place practical measures to overcome them.
“Often times, Ministries, Departments, and Agencies at individual country level work in silos; not recognising existence of capacities/resources within each agency.
“It is my belief that this programme will enable participants to discuss the different barriers and challenges to collaboration and identify possible strategies, techniques and tools to overcome them.
“So as to improve the leadership skills necessary to promote and support collaboration.
“This is crucial considering the importance of partnership as a vital tool for achieving the 17th sustainable development goals 2030,’’ he said.
According to him, access to inter/intra agencies capacity and knowledge will create much needed collaboration and synergy, thereby promoting effectiveness.
He said that the UN training institute would continue to partner with other agencies in the implementation of programmes and activities which impact positively on people and strengthen good governance.
Similarly, the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi said that the purpose of the seminar was for MDAs to synergise and to understand the components of leadership as expected.
Amaechi who was represented by Ms Anthonia Ekpa, Director Road Transport and Mass Transit Administration, Federal Ministry of Transportation urged participants to extend the knowledge acquired from the seminar to others.
He said that one of the challenges faced in the public service was lack of collaborative leadership, adding that public service requires leadership that was collaborative.
“We cannot push the public service to achieve the economic agenda of government and other policies without working as a team; most of the reasons that affect our governance structures at all level are that we do not want to share.
“We do not want to share information, data, the content of our past, we do not want to share the benefits accrued to officers even when it is their legitimate right, “ he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that seminar was organised by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in collaboration with the Norwegian Embassy in Nigeria. (NAN)