The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Service delivery

  • LCC assures road users of improved service delivery

    The Managing Director of Lekki Concession Company Limited (LCC), Mr. Mubashiru Hassan, has assured motorists plying the Eti-Osa-Lekki-Epe Expressway and residents along the axis that the company would upgrade its services to serve them better.

    He gave this assurance during a meeting with a three-man delegation of the Lekki Residents’ Association led by Mr. Segun Ladega.

    Hassan said the recent review of the toll tariff at the Admiralty circle and Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge toll plazas was not meant to put burden on motorists, but to take care of exigencies in the costs of operations of the company and to upgrade its services to the people of the state.

    “The aim of the company is to upgrade its services for motorists and residents in our catchment areas to enjoy a first-class treatment on the expressway.

    “There is no gainsaying the fact that our roads are the most secured in the state. I can assure the people of the state, especially motorists plying the expressway, that we will give them value for money as it relates to their convenience such as 24 hours free vehicle breakdown and recovery services by the company’s route and incident management team, LCC dedicated police, LASTMA, Man O War teams, toll-free customer service help lines and other services”, he said.

    Hassan noted that while trying to serve them better they would need to be patient with the state government as ‘’ this improved services would be taken care of on gradual basis”.

    He assured the Lekki Residents’ Association that their demands would be looked into for a better working relationship.

  • Lagos implores workers to improve on service delivery

    Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has implored workers to improve on service delivery to Lagosians.

    Speaking on the importance of strategic management for the actualisation of the mission and vision of the state at a workshop organised for the state public sevice, Ambode lauded the workers for their performance.

    Represented by Commissioner for Establishments, Training, and Pensions, Dr. Akintola Benson, Ambode  urged the workers not to rest on their oars.

    He said improvements are not only important, they are also critical and fundamental. He promised that he would always ensure that they are on the path to actualising their vision and fulfilling mission.

    He disclosed that enormous value and investment have been given to the impartation of knowledge and skills of the workers.

    He urged the workers to make better contributions to the productivity and effectiveness of the public service.

    He noted that they must learn the importance of team work in the execution of strategies, ensure open communication, good management and effective leadership.

    “Without these hallmarks of corporate governance, it is difficult to manage strategically because the basic framework of goal-setting and decision-making are missing. Setting up a control and reporting mechanism is also important to strategic management as part of a wider corporate governance push.

    “This allows the organisation to make changes when they are needed to constantly monitor its own progress,”he said:

    He stressed that each department and unit of the public service needs to identify and capitalise on its core competencies. “These competencies then have to be developed and enhanced. After this, the Public Service must ensure that the competencies are not unnecessarily duplicated unless when compelled by exigencies,”he said.

    He continued:“If you know, for instance, that your department business is lagging behind in utilising the power of the internet to serve our esteemed citizens, one of your goals can be to revitalise or introduce an online platform to connect or communicate with the segment of the population that your department serves.

    “Importantly, the goals set should be measurable, specific and have a time frame attached to them. Setting goals in this way helps to strategically position the organisation for continuing and future successes.

    “I will like to emphasise that no framework for strategic management can be effective in the absence of team work and synergy. This is another aspect of growth and productivity that the Ministry of Establishments, Training and Pensions has been emphasising in the different trainings and workshops organised.”

  • BEDC pledges improved service delivery

    BEDC pledges improved service delivery

    The management of the Benin Electricity Distribution Plc (BEDC) has promised improved service delivery to its customers in Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti states.

    It made the pledge at the graduation of the third set of BEDC graduate-trainees and second set of technician trainees, held in Benin City.

    The company’s Managing Director/CEO, Funke Osibodu, said the company was committed to rendering better services.

    She said the training of employees was aimed at boosting their performance.

    Describing the graduates as future leaders, she said: “We have, so far, engaged over 700 graduates and technicians and we intend to engage about 1000 in the first phase. We give them intensive two months classroom training and after that 10 months of practical field training on the understanding of the electricity business. We are grooming them to sustain the good things we are doing. The whole purpose is about the customers, how to serve them better. There are many areas to work on but we are improving and as we grow, we will bring more trainees”

    Edo State House of Assembly Speaker, Hon Kabiru Adjoto, represented at the occasion by the House Committee Chairman on Energy and Water Resources, Hon. Chris Okaeben, commended the  BEDC for its job creation. He advised the trainees to see themselves as being privileged to be employed, stressing that they should ensure that they hold high service standards in doing their jobs without compromise.

    He said a bill was under review on power theft because of incessant theft of power and the concern for the safety of Edo citizens as well as the need to ensure that more power was available to the people of state.

    Elizade University Vice Chancellor, Professor Theophilus Fadayomi, said the university was ready to train manpower for distribution companies (DisCos) across the country. He said the institution has entered into a partnership with BEDC because it shared the vision of the company to develop manpower.

     

  • Lagos trains workers on service delivery

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has asked all workers in the state Public Service to provide good customer service to his citizens.

    The governor, represented by the Commissioner, Lagos State Ministry Of Establishments, Training, and Pensions, Dr Akintola Benson, spoke at the training organised by the ministry.

    Speaking on the topic, “Creating and maintaining a customer-centri driven culture in the Public Service delivery System”, Akinwunmi said civil servants must be polite, responsive and proactive in their interactions with the citizenry.

    He said the training was designed to improve the quality of service delivery in the state by encouraging and charting a path to the adoption of a customer-centri, customer-focused, or customer-driven perspective in the public institutions.

    He added that his administration understands the citizens-changing needs, noting that the momentum and complexity of global change are challenging all organisations, including government agencies, to move faster, work smarter, use their resources more effectively and think further ahead.

    Akinwunmi added: “Indeed, and more than ever before, governments at all levels, have an opportunity to change  their interactions with citizens.

    ‘’The emergence of new tools, technologies and methods offers a unique chance to secure the bond between the public and those who serve them.’’

    He continued: “Every officer and stakeholder in the Lagos State Public Service. For instance, it has been noted that the public sector could easily emulate the private sector’s use of technology in order to meet the ever-increasing citizen expectations and boost commercial viability. But many authorities, saddled with legacy systems which are no longer fit for purpose, are today struggling to take advantage of modern technology. And some authorities rely on outdated communications channels, many of which only operate during standard government office hours.

    “It would then appear that the next task is to consider how the Lagos State Public Service can build on these observed global best practice and domesticate the learning outcomes. I am confident that continuous training of our officers will address this all-important issue. In any case, it is my view that the following strategies will be central to any effort to ensure that the Lagos State Public Service adopts a positive change in perspective and orientation by adopting more extensive customer-centri policies and practices.”

  • SON, NAFDAC partner on service delivery

    • Reps score SON high on lab centre

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Directors-General, Mr. Osita Aboloma and his National Agency for Food, Drug  Administration and Control (NAFDAC) counterpart, Professor Moji Adeyeye, have affirmed the commitment of the two organisations to the welfare and health of Nigerians through improved collaboration.

    In a statement by SON, the affirmation was made during a courtesy visit by the NAFDAC DG and some members of her Management to the SON in Abuja.

    Aboloma said the two sister regulatory agencies have the collective responsibility of working for the overall interest of the nation and its people.

    “The enabling Acts of the two agencies as well others have clearly delineated their functions, the areas of perceived overlap should be taken as opportunities for collaboration and cooperation rather than competition.

    “The use of the Harmonised Systems (HS) Codes for examination of goods at the nation’s entry points was in line with international best practices and aimed at reducing conflicts to the barest minimum

    “I’m  advocating the expansion of the seamless collaboration between the two agencies in standards development activities at technical committees, standards compliance and enforcement,”he said.

    Meanwhile, House of Representative Committee on Industry have scored the  SON high on effective implementation of budgetary provisions for their laboratory complex at Ogba, Ikeja.

    The Committee Chairman, Abubakar Moriki, who led an eight-man delegate of Patrick Aisowieren; Micky Kazzim; Sam Onuigbo; Ahmad Kalambaina; Mohammed Ibrahim; Baderinwa Bamidele and Yusuf Buba, praised  Aboloma for attaining 95 per cent completion of the project.

    He said the inspection was necessary to ascertain the depth of implementation of 2017 budget in preparation for the passing of the 2018 appropriation bill.

    The Chairman who commended the spate of construction and equipping, said the observation of the laboratory complex will forge the basis for the provision of facilities to  jump start operations.

    Touring the four-storey building, which include refrigerator testing chamber,  food microbiology and  food data processing unit, among others, Moriki said full operation should begin by March.

    He said: “Towards the tail end of 2016, we were here and the project was at an appreciable level of completion though the equipments were not installed and positioned in their respective offices. Now in 2018 and in the process of considering the appropriation for the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), it is necessary to come and visit the facility and see other places where they are conducting  their operations.”

    He urged the DG to ensure strategic distribution of the testing equipment across regional laboratories to avoid concentration in a locale.

    “We should be looking forward to seeing  many of these testing equipment separated all over, not necessarily concentrated in one location. It is a service you provide to many of the cement companies,” he said.

    longer be a challenge as a laboratory for chemical test analysis would be operational to certify strength of compression, thereby limiting the risks of building collapses.

    The noted that new departments  would be spread among the new phases of regional laboratories coming up  in the North East, South East, and South West.

    He said: “We have been looking forward to this visit because you are our major advisers. We are open minded and open for change. We are open to anything that would add value to the work we do. This laboratory has been accredited to ensure that anything certified in Nigeria will be acceptable all over the world. We are also expanding this facility to accommodate more laboratories, because the World Trade Organisation (WTO) which Nigeria is a member requires that all goods that leave Nigeria must be tested and certified and to achieve that we must a state-of-the-art laboratories to achieve this. Our Ogba laboratory is where we store goods we seize during our enforcement activities waiting for ratification or destruction.”

    Speaking on partnerships with necessary stakeholders, Aboloma said: “Other regulatory agencies are collaborating with in a sustainable manner. The collaborations he revealed is in terms of funding researches, equipment, capacity building, and human capital development.”

     

  • Institute decries poor service delivery in transport sector

    Institute decries poor service delivery in transport sector

    The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport,(CILT) has decried the poor service delivery in government owned transport sectors across the country.

    The Institute however said transport sectors in Nigeria would only get it right if the draft National Transport Policy is reviewed and approved.

    This was disclosed in Abuja Wednesday during the inauguration and presentation of certificate to members at the Aviation chapter of the Institute.

    Speaking, the Assistant Director of CILT, Reynolds Shodeinde said: “Private companies who are into logistics and transport are efficient but the government owned companies seems not to be getting it right.

    “Until such a time that we have a substantive policy that can stipulate how management should run,   how operation should run, how administration should run,  we will continue to fall and rise.

    “We will continue to see this kind of situation until we have a workable national transport policy.

    “The good news is that all these would soon be a thing of the past because the policy after it is being reviewed would afford us the change we desire in the transport sector”.

    On the essence of the Institute to the transport sector, Shodeinde said: “When the manpower of an organization improves on its skills, the effect is that service delivery also improves.

    “The membership of CILT affords it’s members trainings that makes them better and more efficient”, he said.

    The Spokesman of the Institute, Alex Okosun also explained that being a member of the Institute would afford them more opportunities.

    He said: “CILT covers the five modes of transportation and being a member would make one to become a force to reckon with in the transport sector”.

  • Usman pledges effective service delivery

    The Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) Managing Director, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman  has assured stakeholders of effective service delivery. She made the  pledge during a stakeholders meeting in Warri, Delta State

    Addressing over 300 stakeholders at the meeting, she promised to make the seaports world standard.

    Usman said the current management would do all within its powers to ensure that the Warri Port and all other seaports across the country lived up to expectations of the government, the stakeholders and the public in terms of service delivery and contributions to the growth of the economy.

    She praised the NPA staff in Delta Ports for sustaining the ports and solicited their support, urging them  to devise strategies for increasing the tempo of activities in the ports and raise revenue generation.

    Stakeholders expressed concern that the Delta Ports and other ports in the Eastern region, do not enjoy the patronage they deserve, even though majority of the importers are from the region. Usman, however, said her team was determined to reverse the trend with a view to making the port attractive for business.

    According to her, the meeting with the Executive Directors of the NPA was to enable them listen to their complains, and interact with the stakeholders and workers to address the challenges facing the ports.

     

  • Red Star restates commitment to service delivery

    Red Star restates commitment to service delivery

    Red Star Express Plc has assured its clients and customers nationwide that the closure of the Abuja Airport will not affect its business.

    Abuja is a major destination for all courier business. Most packages emanate from Lagos and other economic cities, such as Port Harcourt, Kano, Kaduna, Ibadan for next day delivery to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), while others transit through Abuja to core northern states. The FCT also generates a lot of traffic in terms of shipments going to other regions which makes the Abuja Airport very vital for smooth operations in the courier industry.

    The Assistant General Manager (AGM) Operations and Services, Mrs. Inemesit James-Okoro, said Red Star Express has in place, modalities that ensure prompt deliveries of client’s packages anywhere in major cities across the country, saying that apart from the option of land transportation, there are other air services to neighbouring cities around the FCT to facilitate early morning deliveries.

    “We are out to provide Speed, reliability and ‘peace of mind’ for customers shipping in and out of the FCT during the closure of Abuja Airport as announced by the Federal Government” she stated.

  • IATA urges cargo operators on service delivery

    IATA urges cargo operators on service delivery

    The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has advised air cargo stakeholders to accelerate the modernisation of their service process to enhance the delivery of quality service.
    Its Chief Executive Officer, Alexandre De Juniac, gave the advice at the World Cargo Symposium in Abu Dhabi.
    He said after several years of non-growth, air cargo demand began to rise in the second half of last year.
    In January, cargo performance showed a seven per cent growth in demand compared to the previous year.
    Partnerships, he said are critical in driving industry transformation.
    “Driving change—whether it is to modernise processes or unlock value through innovation—is challenging for a business where global standards are so vital.
    “Air cargo is highly regulated–so governments must be on-board with change. We are a complex value chain, so building industry consensus is critical. To be successful we must work in strong partnerships,” he said.
    Juniac stressed the need to address safety concerns with the shipment of certain goods, such as lithium batteries, an area partnerships are critical.
    Industry and government, he said, had worked to put in place regulations based on global standards so that lithium batteries can be shipped safely.
    Juniac said: “The problem is that the regulations are not being enforced. We still see too many examples of abuse including mislabelling of batteries. We ask governments to step up enforcement and take a tougher stance against rogue shippers. They have the power to impose significant fines and custodial sentences on those violating the regulations. We ask that they put these in place to stop the violations.
    “Two of the fastest growing and most profitable parts of the business are focused on meeting specific customer needs. These are e-commerce as well as time- and temperature-sensitive cargo such as pharmaceuticals. It’s a great example to illustrate that we are most successful when we understand and meet customer expectations with value-added solutions.
    “Shippers want responsive services based on intelligent systems to self-monitor, send real-time alerts and respond to deviation.
    “Technologically speaking, this is possible. The key to this and other innovations is using data efficiently and effectively. Finding solutions to unfulfilled or even unrealised expectations creates value for customers. And that propels a business. Listening to the customer has never been more important.
    “The positive forces currently supporting growth are good news. But our customers are telling us that they expect more.
    “Complicated and convoluted paper-based processes that are basically unchanged from the 16thcentury are still being used in air cargo today.
    “Our customers pay a premium to ship by air and they rightly expect modern processes and high quality services focused on two key areas for industry transformation.”
    He said the industry has been pursuing a digital transformation known as e-freight for over a decade developing into a key element for market adoption.
    junaid said e- freight has gained global penetration attaining 50 per cent among industry users.

  • Fashola to DISCOs: step up your service delivery or quit

    Fashola to DISCOs: step up your service delivery or quit

    Minister of Works, Power and Housing Babatunde Fashola yesterday warned distribution companies to step up their service delivery or quit.
    Fashola gave the warning at the opening ceremony of the 11th monthly stakeholders meeting in Lagos.
    He said: “We all know the issues around metering and billing system; we must build the trust and confidence that customers’ complains will be addressed.
    “We need to do whatever is possible in our various distribution areas to improve the quality of service and continue to train our personnel to recognise that customer is king.
    “If we cannot provide or solve their problems, we own it a duty to explain what we are doing.
    “We own it a duty to fish out a few members of staff; not all, because we have some dedicated staff.
    “I am conscious of the challenges the operators are facing.
    “We are working as hard as we can to make the environment more responsive to you and as I have said and will repeat that as pioneers, you will carry some burdens.
    “You will have to sacrifice, perhaps more than what you have done,” he said.
    Fashola said without the customers and the consumers, there would be no business.
    “I think that all of us in the public and private sector must understand that. If you don’t have the skill and the patient to serve, leave.
    “But I am optimistic that things will get better, I am optimistic that we can win together and we can win for the Nigerian people.”
    On the liquidity issues, Fashola said government was working with other development partners.
    “Local and international partners would have shown commitment and inspiring appetite to play in this market.
    “We are trying to see what we can do together to bring the liquidity issues under some control and from there eventually solve it.
    “Our partners in government are also inspiring and showing understanding of what the challenges are. So, it is quick decision-making now.
    “Collaboration and decisions will be fair, but firm, and we expect that people will respect the decisions and also processes to be re-engaged as they come,” the minister said.
    Managing Director, Ikeja Electric Mr. Anthony Youdeiwoe described 2016 as a challenging year for stakeholders.
    According to Youdeiwoe, though, the challenges still remain, they are better discussed whenever we meet like this.”
    He said efforts were also ongoing to address the challenges and proffer solutions.