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Only 15.7% of schools have basic water supply, sanitation services— Expert

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Acting Programme Manager, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) Mr Eyo Offiong, has said that only 15.7 per cent of schools in Nigeria has basic water and sanitation services.

Offiong was speaking at a Two-Day Media Dialogue on ” Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilets” in Calabar on Wednesday.

He said that the percentage signified low Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities in the educational sector.

He called for an increase in the number of WASH facilities across the educational sector in the country.

According to him, there was need for adequate water and sanitation facilities in schools to aid teaching outcomes.

” The 15.7 per cent of schools in Nigeria with basic facilities is a national outlook, it is a national average.

” It is for government to ensure the political will and commitment to provide water in schools as well as basic sanitation facilities to expand beyond the communities or local government where the donor partners are involved in.

” It is for government to commit funds into ensuring that this happens. The good thing about the statistics is that it brings clearly what needs to be done and how it can be done.

” So far, in Cross River state, the government has also declared emergency in the wash sector last year.

“The government has gone further to drill over 200 solar powered bore hole in the past six months and the process of completion is ongoing.”

Offiong added that the Governor Ben Ayade had also committed to providing 3 million dollars annually for the next five years to make the state an Open Defecation Free state.

” Going by the statements of the governor, the state is ready and willing to move ahead to ensure we become open defecation free state and also to drive the state in education and health.”

The acting manager also noted that to drive the initiative, six Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the states had been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) which is the highest in the country.

He highlighted the LGAs declared ODF as Obanliku, Bekwara, Yala, Ikom, Boki and Yakurr.

He added that the state had provided 20,367 new household laterines under the Water Supply and Sanitation collaboration Council Programme ( WSSSRP) while 4,088 volunteer hygiene promotrs were trained on hygiene practices.

Meanwhile, Mr Bioye Ogunjobi, WASH Specialist, United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), disclosed that Nigeria now have 13 Local Government certified Open defecation areas(ODF).

He added that Jigawa and Bauchi state had over 3,000 communities certified ODF.

Also, Mrs Yemisi Akpa Chief Scientific Officer, Federal Ministry of Water Resources said the achievement of the 13 ODF Local Government Areas in the country was not enough as more needed to be done to ensure good hygiene practice by 2025.

Akpa noted that to achieve ODF by 2025, there was also the need to provide an average of 100 household laterines annually in all the 774 LGAs

She urged Nigeria government to constitute technical working group to operationalise the National Roadmap towards ODF.

She, therefore, called on Cross River government to be more committed through funding to deliver the remaining 12 LGAs yet to be declared ODF.

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Upcoming 2024 Promotion examination exercise will be on Computer Based Test (CBT) -Prof. Olaopa

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—-says wage and compensation dimension of meritocracy must be addressed in civil service

Joel Ajayi

In his effort to scale-up the ongoing reform in the Commission and the necessity to achieve his objectives in the Federal Civil Service; the Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Prof. Tunji Olaopa has said that the Commission’s 2024 Promotion examination exercise will be on Computer Based Test (CBT) in line with the modernization and digitization program in the Federal Civil Service. He also said that restoring competency based HR practice and merit system in civil service will be meaningless if the intended reforms fail to address the wage and compensation dimension of meritocracy.

Olaopa who stated this on Thursday at the maiden Federal Civil Service Commission’s Monthly-Seminar Series for officers on grade levels 14 and above; opined that his numerous engagements with the Chairman, National Income, Salary and Wages Commission whose insights were re-assuring and solution context was important in the Commission’s reform agenda.

The event which gave the Hon. Commissioners and Management Staff opportunities to express their view witnessed Commission’s Director of Promotion; Mr. Sani B. Torankawa presented a Seminar-paper tagged: “Institutional framework and procedures for the conduct of Directorate level Promotion Examination: Guaranteeing Integrity, Credibility Transparency and Accountability”.

Chairman in his opening speech disclosed that the objective of the maiden-monthly-seminar series was designed to institute a seminar-space and learning-lab for federal officers. He added that the seminar was one of avenues the Commission deepens the sharing and learning of key reform issues and benchmarking in Nigeria.

He said the Commission will transit through the upcoming 2024 Promotion examination exercise from analogue to Computer Based Test (CBT) in tandem with the modernization and digitization of Federal Civil Service core operations.

Reeling out how the digitization is going to be implemented, Olaopa said the Commission will roll out an online-recruitment portal that will be accessible to all Nigerians and which will allow eligible candidates to pre-fill recruitment form and update them from time to time in preparation for the placement of adverts for recruitment into the public service and to the Federal service and in preparation for assessment and interview.

The Chairman revealed that henceforth eligible candidate will undergo computer based test and oral interview with result collated and released real-time.

He further revealed that the Commission was going into out-sourcing contract with National Open University and by extension with Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) both as technical partners with a view to take advantage of their infrastructure, networks and experience for online-accreditations, computer based test and examination as well as promotion-interview for officers in the Federal Service starting with Directorate level officers.

Talking about the maiden seminar, he disclosed that the event was convened to critically examine some of the first level issues and risks associated with the planned transition from analogue to online-computer based assessment processes as they touch on promotion exercise for Federal civil servants.

“We are not just looking at digitizing our online processes, computer based processes; we are also going to listen to some of the stakeholders who have been in this service, who have observed the way promotion are conducted”.

According to him, a lot of technical conversation will follow going-forward where some experts including Ministers that are doing well in computerization of their services will be invited to critique what the Commission is doing as part of due diligence to make sure that the Commission is doing the right thing.

He asserts that social-media orientation will be carried out where sets of media-clip will be made available to all civil servant to enable them to know the process for computer based assessment. He added that civil servants will also be taking through some orientation sessions conducted by the Head of Service in form of mock-test to prepare officers for 2024 promotion examination scheduled to hold in the 3rd quarter of this year.

Citing COVID19 pandemic as a case in point, he pointed out that ICT were used to work remotely from office seamlessly; saying that Commission will not be distracted by voices that believes that the initiative will not work. He stressed that the Commission will continue to perfect the process as the program is being deployed. He said, “We are going to do it whether we score 50 per cent or whatever”.

He informed that apart from digitization and computerization program being contemplated by the organization, there were other phases to be unveiled in due course which will be geared towards Commission’s reform plans once the endorsement of the President Ahmed Bola Tinubu is secured.

He emphasized that the Commission’s staff capacity and institutional structure need to be upgraded to sustain the momentum that various reform will create. He noted that as all efforts are channel to strengthen the professionalism of the Federal bureaucracy, the establishment of professionalized and modernized Federal Civil Service in line with the Renew-Hope Agenda of the government cannot be overemphasized.

The high point of the event was panelists/speakers presentations delivered by Mr. Ataboh Ademu-Director (Learning & Development)-OHCSF represented by an Asst. Director-Dr. Mohammed Bashir; Prof. Olugbenga D. Ojo-Director (Examination & Assessment-NOUN); Dr. Ahmed Dunoma Umar-Permanent Secretary-Fed. Min. of Youth Development; Mr. Olu O. Ilesanmi-Rtd Fmr. Permanent Secretary, Fed. Ministry and Mr. Mato Yusuf Abdullahi Director (ICT)-FCSC. This was followed by Q & A session.

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