Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule, has declared a 3-day management retreat on role relationship for political office holders and top government functionaries towards fostering synergy and collaboration.
Governor Sule declared the retreat open in Abuja on Monday.
The retreat, which is organized in collaboration with the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) is aimed at bridging the gap between political office holders and government functionaries in order to deepen understanding and enhance communication across institutions and among high ranking officers of Nasarawa State.
Declaring the event open, Governor Sule said the state government decided to organize the retreat in order to acquaint new appointees with the policy direction of his administration and to sharpen their capacity with a view understanding their roles and responsibilities.
"We believe that by doing this, we will place you on the right pedestal towards the realization of the development objectives of our noble administration," he stated.
The Governor added that it became necessary to engage the ASCON, one of the reputable training organizations in the country in order to build the capacities of the participants and make them more efficient, effective and responsive to deliver services to the people of Nasarawa State.
"In achieving this, we were meticulous on the choice of topics selected for this Retreat to cover critical areas of the economy of the State, which include the relationship between Political Office Holders and top government Bureaucrats in Nasarawa State Public Service, Team Building as a Strategy for Organizational Development, Public Office Holders, Security and Challenges of Political Transition, among others," he said.
He said the event also availed his administration the opportunity to further induct participants on the imperatives of the Nasarawa Economic Development Strategy (NEDS) document.
"You are therefore expected to apply the knowledge to be gained at this retreat vis-a-vis the policy objectives contained in the NEDS document in order to guide the implementation of your respective mandates," he added.
Governor Sule used the opportunity of the event to reiterate that with Nasarawa still developing, it has become necessary for the participants to grasp fully issues of development and attendant challenges of service delivery as fundamental requirements for good governance.
He emphasized that the only way up make sustainable progress is to imbued the participants with principles of transparency, accountability and prudent management of resources and due process in the execution of government programmes, policies and decisions.
The Governor equally used the opportunity to caution political appointees from active engagement with politicians aspiring to contest for elective offices come 2027, urging them to henceforth desist from such actions that is capable of distracting them from discharging their responsibilities.
While charging the participants to pay particular attention to the presentations to be made and also contribute meaningfully to the discussions, he expressed confidence that with the calibration of the resources persons they will do justice to the chosen topics.
In an overview of the retreat, Director General, ASCON, Mrs. Cecilia Gayya, said the retreat offers the participants a unique opportunity to engage in introspective self-reflection with the hope to have a paradigm shift that will the participants emerge as more effective, efficacious, efficient and emphatic leaders.
The DG added that the retreat affords the opportunity to examine the intricate dynamics between political office holders and government bureacrats, aimed at distilling the essence of effective governance.
In an opening remarks, Secretary to the Government of Nasarawa State, Labaran Shuaibu Magaji, PhD, said the retreat is aimed at equipping new appointees with the technical knowledge to discharge their responsibilities.
The SGNS appreciated Governor Sule for approving the resources for the retreat, as well as the commitment towards training and re-training of political office holders and top government functionaries, aimed at improving the socioeconomic of the state for rapid transformation of the state.
The 3-day retreat, has the theme: Transforming Nasarawa State Through Synergy and Collaborative Leadership: The need to Bridge the Gap between Political Office Holders and Government Functionaries in the State."
The retreat is being organized for commissioners and members of the Nasarawa State executive council, special advisers and senior special assistants.
