Enugu govt trains top civil servants on policy alignment, innovation

The Enugu State Government has commenced a four-day onboarding retreat for Permanent Secretaries and Auditors-General as part of efforts to strengthen public service delivery and entrench a results-driven governance culture.

The retreat, themed “Strategic Policy Alignment and Disruptive Innovation,” is organised by the Office of the Head of Service and aims to equip senior civil servants with the skills and mindset required to effectively implement the policy direction of Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah’s administration.

Declaring the programme open on Tuesday, Governor Mbah, represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said the retreat was designed to deepen participants’ understanding of the administration’s vision, governing philosophy and implementation framework.

He said the exercise was intended to align the “engine room” of government with the administration’s reform agenda, noting that effective governance depends largely on a professional, innovative and accountable civil service.

Delivering a keynote address titled “A Deep Dive into the Vision and Governing Philosophy of Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah,” Prof. Onyia said modern governance must be driven by clarity of vision, data-driven decision-making and measurable outcomes.

He stressed that government must move from being a passive regulator to an active enabler of development, particularly in human capital development, adding that policies must be executed with speed, discipline and precision.

According to him, the retreat is structured to align Permanent Secretaries and Auditors-General with the administration’s governance philosophy, performance-tracking model and feedback-driven policy implementation process, while reinforcing their roles as key drivers of policy execution across ministries, departments and agencies.

The SSG also emphasised the importance of strategic planning, operational efficiency, meritocracy, transparency, accountability and effective data collection, urging participants to develop policy action plans that would eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks, reduce red tape and improve service delivery.

Earlier, the Head of Service, Dr. Godwin Anigbo, described the retreat as a strategic onboarding programme for senior public officers, stressing that there was no room for “business as usual” in the state’s current governance dispensation.

He said the administration’s disruptive innovation agenda had moved beyond campaign promises to technology-driven policies already impacting citizens, and charged Permanent Secretaries and Auditors-General to align fully with the vision to sustain and accelerate reforms.

Dr. Anigbo disclosed that the state government had approved the establishment of a Public Service Training Institute the first in the South-East to promote continuous manpower development and policy research.

He added that the retreat underscores the government’s resolve to align the civil service with global best practices and position Enugu State as a sub-national hub for innovation, excellence and people-centred governance.