Navigating Governance: My memoir of four years of service in the public sector

It has been four years since I started working in government and I must say it has been a learning experience understanding the nuances of governance from an internal perspective. It has been an eventful journey with highs and lows. I have met amazing people across projects and programmes. These experiences, though humbly, have broadened my perspective and shaped my thoughts on how things really work.?

My first assignment as a Project Manager at the Edo State Economic Management Team headed by my amazing mentor Daniel Ikuenobe- Chairman Edo State Economic Management Team was to consolidate a database of projects and initiatives carried out by the Executive Governor between 2016 and 2020, which was used as a baseline data for impact assessment. Thanks to an amazing team of colleagues, we were able to crunch time in aggregating data by introducing tools across Ministries, Departments and Agencies to getting tasks done. This was useful in the designing a scorecard for the administration showing “what was promised to the people versus what was done”.

Just few days into this task, we were hit my the Covid-19 pandemic and the realities that came along. This created a shift in operations but alongside opportunities as some of us were reassigned to the Edo State Covid-19 Taskforce secretariate were I worked with other colleagues is managing the state’s Covid-19 mobile screening centers across 12 local government areas alongside the data management system. The emergence of Covid-19 at the time was a learning period for everyone but most importantly an opportunity to innovate with new ideas in solving the challenges we had as a government. I had the opportunity to administrate recruitment and training for personnel across the screening centers and alongside my friend John Osawe, we were able to create a state screening database which captured insights on residents in the state and was useful for planning across sectors.

In 2021, the Edo State Civil & Public Service Transformation Programme- which was centered on reforming the Civil and Public Service to function better in alignment with the current needs of residents of the state, gave me deep insight into organizational development within the public sector. It was an interesting opportunity to be part of the redesign process for the Ministry, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in enabling better service delivery.?

Working at the Edo State Strategy, Policy, Projects and Performance Management Office was a growth process. Thanks to an amazing leader- Sarah Ajose-Adeogun. I had the opportunity to work on multi-sectoral advisory and technical support to MDAs. I have also had the opportunity to drive and render oversight to some amazing projects. Some that stand out for me include:

• Edo State Tourism Masterplan where I had the opportunity to work with consultants, the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism, and other stakeholders from the wider tourism ecosystem in the development process. This project enabled us to create tourism products and a 10-year roadmap and is informing the state’s approach to developing its tourism sector.

• The development of the Community Content Plan for both the Benin Port and Benin Enterprise Park was another exciting task. I rendered both technical and managerial oversight. This was quite interesting as we were able to drive inclusivity in designing the content development plan for the host and impact communities with inputs from members of these communities (including women and youth) which will help improve quality of lives, create jobs, and facilitate private sector development.

• Supporting the Edo State Project Implementation Unit (PIU) and the “Light-Up Edo” Project in driving alignment of the state’s Transportation masterplan with its infrastructural needs was another. It was an amazing experience for both projects as we were able to develop and implement ways to drive the prioritization of roads and related infrastructure across the state.
• Rendering oversight on the Digital Capability Strengthening Programme sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (DigiLink Programme): My task was focused on working with my team in managing implementation partners and the delivery of the programme in achieving digital transformation for public service reforms. This included improving efficiency as citizens interact with government services. This has led to the establishment of a multi-disciplinary design team responsible for government service design across MDAs (change agents) and is informing the development of the Edo State Digital and Data Management Agency and a Digital Policy toolkit in guiding the state’s approach to sustaining its various initiatives. This is also driving a change in service design approach across MDAs and is informing the strengthening of the Edo State Technology Ecosystem through the participation of the private sector, investors and other development partnerships.

• Rendering oversight on the capability strengthening programme with United Kingdom-Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Fund (UKNIAF) was also a great privilege as we were able to build the skills of members of selected Civil and Public Servants from MDAs in technical writing as a means in driving investments readiness for key infrastructural projects in the state
• Other amazing projects I was opportune to add value to include the design of the Edo State Residency Card implementation strategy; the development of the Edo State Mining sector strategy and the facilitation of several stakeholder engagements across sectors (Health, Waste Management, Security, Urban and Regional Development, amongst others)

Looking back, I consider this a privilege to define some of the most audacious projects and programmes that set the state on a great course for Edo State. It was awesome working with and learning from people of different backgrounds as we collaborated in building on a shared goal-a BETTER EDO STATE.

Multi Sector collaboration, political will and pursuit for change have been instrumental to what we have done. Looking back I can say it was worth it after all.