President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday described Nigeria’s civil service as the backbone of effective governance and national development, asserting that the public service remains indispensable to the success of his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Speaking at the opening of the maiden International Civil Service Conference in Abuja, organised as part of the 2025 Civil Service Week by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the President lauded civil servants as the “quiet architects of stability, innovation, and public trust.” He emphasised that an efficient public service was critical for delivering government programmes and ensuring sustainable national development.
“The Civil Service has steered us through economic cycles, constitutional transitions, and democratic consolidation,” Tinubu said. “To deepen capacity, I have authorised a comprehensive Personnel Audit and Skills Gap Analysis across the Federal Civil Service. We must place the right people in the right roles.”
With the conference themed “Rejuvenate, Innovate & Accelerate”, the President said it reflected the administration’s ambition to modernise the public sector in line with global digital trends. “An innovative Civil Service is crucial to meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges. It is not a supporting actor but the central platform for delivering national transformation,” he declared.
President Tinubu also highlighted his administration’s ongoing efforts to improve civil servants’ welfare, citing the new national minimum wage, consequential salary adjustments, and the approval of the Pension Bond Scheme as morale-boosting policies. He stressed the importance of data in evidence-based policymaking and directed all ministries and agencies to rigorously collect and manage data in accordance with the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.
Commending the Head of the Civil Service, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, for championing reform, Tinubu noted milestones such as digitalised work processes, continuous learning programmes, and the recent launch of Service-Wise GPT as indicators of visionary leadership.
Walson-Jack, in her remarks, said the conference demonstrated the civil service’s capacity for innovation and self-reliance, being fully self-funded through strategic partnerships. Goodwill messages were delivered by global figures including UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and Lord O’Donnell, former UK Cabinet Secretary.
