A fresh impetus is on the way to boost public service in Africa as the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission ( FCSC) , Prof. Tunji Olaopa, met with his Zambian counterpart Dr Choolwe Beyani in Abuja on Tuesday.

Beyani who is the President of the Association Of African Public Service Commissions (AAPSCOMS) and Chairman of the Civil Service Commission of the Republic of Zambia commended Nigeria’s role in supporting the association.

He specifically commended what he described as Nigeria’s pivotal role “as one of the “pioneers of the association of African Public Service Commissions (AAPSCOOMS) which was established in 2008..”

At a dinner for Beyani and some officials of the Zambian commission in Nigeria, Olaopa said that Beyani’s visit was a “wake-up call for the FCSC on the need to add networking with the African community of practice and professional bodies to our reform plan.

“The benefit of your coming is that you communicated, through your body language that, in all we do, we must take mental note of how our reform effort might benefit from comparable countries’ smart, good and best practices so we do not reinvent the wheel of progress.

“We have also heard from you, that many African countries might indeed benefit from Nigeria’s ongoing reform efforts, hence the need to revive the old and reinforce and strengthen the network that Nigeria has with local, regional, and international public administration communities of practice for all that is worth to harvest the benefits of economies of scale.

“At the Nigerian national level, we owe the public administration scholars and researchers in the universities, think tanks and research cum training institutes the duty of reviving our national professional platform, the National Association for Public Administration and Management (NAPAM), so, we can have a veritable platform for sharing and learning.

“It also became clear from our conversation, that there is a huge loss of institutional memory regarding some of recent past achievements of the continental regional bodies on public administration, including the Conference of Ministers/Heads of Public/Civil Service (CAMPS), e.g. the management guide for reform that we developed around 2007/08.

“Also, we need to revive the African Public Service Charter (APSC), as stock-taking in terms of how far its domestication and implementation continent-wide has gone. There is also the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM)’s civil service institutional component, as well as the African Association for Public Administration and Management (AAPAM)’ Innovation Awards, and a legion of other past initiatives that either require reinvention, strengthening or consolidation.

“We must however hold, as priority, a technical conversation for stock-staking. I hope CAFRAD in Tangier, Morocco can organise a technical baselining event to bring together all the regional bodies on public administration for required stock-taking.

“In other words, AAPSCOMMS can’t go it alone. We need to pool all available resources together: with the African Union Commission (AUC) as nodal point, while we make spirited efforts to regain the old partnership we enjoyed with the African Development Bank (AfDB), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA), and reaching out to African foundations like the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, the UNDP, and other multilateral and bilateral agencies, we should be back strong and steady in no time.”

Earlier , Beyani noted that the public service commissions of Africa share a common vision of an African public service which is an effective engine of service delivery in oder to create a better life for the African citizenry.

“The knowledge and insight that the commissions collectively possess make them pivotal in appropriate African public service transformation.

“Taking this into account the public service commissions in Africa decided to create a platform, namely the Association of African Public Service Commissions (AAPSCOMS) which is the reason we are here in your beautiful country today”, he said.

He listing the objectives of the association as including to “provide a common platform for the commissions to promote and share best practices; promote professionalism in the conduct of the business of the commissions; promote research in human resources, public administration and management practices to enhance service delivery; promote solidarity among African commissions by fostering relationships towards a shared vision on public administration and management on the continent; develop and implement common capacity building strategies and programmes in order to recruit and retain a well-trained, professional and skilled public service in Africa; develop linkages and networks with international and regional bodies in order to promote the objectives of the association and facilitate the implementation of inter-governmental goals applicable to the public service; promote transparency, accountability and equity in pursuance of good governance; and promote the increased use of information and communication technology and other innovations to improve public administration and management; and enhance the working relationship at the political and administrative interface through the promotion of role-clarification.”

According to Beyani, the association carries a noble cause and subsquent office holders like him and Olaopa should carry the huge responsibility to ensure there is continuity and that they pass on the agenda of the association to future generations in a stronger and more vibrant state than they inherited.

He recalled that at its inception in 2008 the Chairperson of the Public Service Commission of South Africa was appointed as president of the AAPSCOMS at the meeting in Uganda. Three vice-presidents were also appointed for the western, eastern and southern African regions, namely – Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, Nigeria Vice President for West Africa; Chairperson, Public Service Commission, Uganda for East Africa, Chairperson, Public Service Commission, Zambia, for Southern Africa.

“The first executive meeting of the president and the vice presidents was held on 29 and 30th July, 2008, in Abuja.

“It is on record that delegates received an exceptionally warm reception from the host, the federal civil service commission of Nigeria.

“In 2011, the general assembly of the association was also held here in Abuja Nigeria. This is just part of the many examples that show Nigeria’s immense contribution to the association from its inception up to the last general assembly that was held in Zambia in 2019.

“The Kenya public service commission committed to hosting the general assembly in 2019 and has to date affirmed its commitment to host the general assembly. It is for this reason that arrangements are underway to hold the general assembly in September 2024, in Nairobi Kenya.”