All over the world the challenge of managing an efficient and service oriented bureaucracy is a major hurdle government and social scientists both in and outside the academia has been attempting to unravel all these years. The idea of a bureaucracy in the modern world is akin to sluggishness, inefficiency, Redtapism, lack of data, inaccessibility to basic information, unskilled workforce and general mal-administration in the system.

In Nigeria, the above mentioned characteristics of the civil service is highly present and previous regimes have taken steps to re-positioned the Federal Civil Service through series of reforms, commissions of enquiry, civil service purge and even outright mass sack of staff. In all of these little or no impact has been identified in the expected results of the exercises. The reason is not farfetched - lack of a framework supported by reliable data, technology based infrastructure and the political will on the part of the initiators.

However, in Edo State, the objective of The Staff Audit, Verification Exercise (SAVE) and Biometric Enrolment of Employees and Provision of Automated Payroll and Pension System project is miles apart from the initiatives and approach of the military interregnum. In line with the objective of the Adams Oshiomhole government in making the Edo State bureaucracy one of the best in Nigeria in terms of remuneration, skills, service delivery and manpower development via training and re-training, it is important and rightly so for the government to keep updating and appraising, on a regular basis the true position of its workforce, establish needs assessment of the service, ensure people are promoted as and at when due, ensure placement procedures are adequately followed and most importantly recruit qualified people into vacant positions.

In modern bureaucracies across the globe, technology has become a big enabler of service delivery and Africa countries such as South Africa, Namibia, Senegal, Ghana and the Federal Government of Nigeria have taken a lead in this process. The attendant benefits cannot be quantified to both the people and the government.

What is this process all about? The Staff Audit, Verification and Biometric Enrolment of Employees and Provision of Automated Payroll and Pension system is a project aimed at promoting efficiency and result-oriented civil service in the state. It will require every worker that draws his or her remuneration from government coffers to physically present him or herself for finger-printing exercise. Afterword a person -specific electronic card is produced and peculiar to the worker. The card will in addition to the picture contains major data of the person. It will aid in payment of salaries, taxation, utility bill payment and every other activities the staff will be involved in.
The project is compartmentalised into three different phases, the first phase is the staff audit exercise, this requires a kind of census as explained above, the second phase will involve a comprehensive Verification and Biometric exercise across the state of the entire workforce, while the third phase involves the automation of the payroll and Pension system. As we all know Pension administration is a complex issue in most parts of the developing economies across the globe, however with the help of science and technology, hitches associated with pension administration in Nigeria and a few other countries are being surmounted steadily and progressively and Edo State should not be an exception.

Aside from capturing the basic data of the staff, it will assist the state government to update and know the total number of people in the service and by default make huge savings for the state. The Biometric project is the baby of the government incubated by the Service itself and mid-wifed by the Information and Communications Technology Unit of the Governor’s Office.

The Comrade Governor is very much aware of the importance of consultation and stakeholder interest in a project of this nature to avoid mis-Information, rumour peddling and outright falsehood on the nature of this exercise, hence the Office of the Head of Service which is the clearing house for the civil service is anchoring the implementation of this project in concert with key stakeholders such as Labour Unions, Permanent Secretaries, Directors, Heads of extra-ministerial parastatals, local government officials, Pensioners Forum and Teachers unions.

Finally, “Project SAVE” is a program that is intended to leapfrog Edo State into what Policy-Economists refer to as the Nigerian Tiger in terms of economic development. It will encourage the serious prospective investor to plan comprehensively; it will make economic planning easier and allow the government develop industrial layouts, new residential areas, site schools and health centers, help plan child welfare and education, help in urban and new towns planning and assist in data management generally.

Project Save is here, support it, enjoy it, show up for it, ask questions and collaborate to make it a huge success.

Taiwo Akerele
Senior Special Assistant to the Governor
(Policy Formulation and Economic Strategy)
Governor’s Office, Benin City.