By Melvin Onwubuke
Lagos State Government has collaborated with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants to build the capacity of civil servants in finance.
The three-day workshop with the theme “Increasing Capacity for Public Financial Management and Sustainability” kicked off on Monday in Lagos.
Mr Bode Agoro, Head of Service of Lagos State in his keynote address said the objective of the workshop is to provide a platform for dialogue, knowledge exchange and continuous dissemination of international best practices in both public and private sectors across Lagos State.
He said the theme was very appropriate at this critical time, when the government’s efforts were steered towards rebuilding the economy.
In addition, he said that a government could only fulfil its obligation of service delivery to the public when its finances are properly managed.
He applauded the efforts of the Lagos State Treasury Department to maintain international best practices in its work and strategic management of public finances, at a time when there is insufficient resources.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Accountant General, Abiodun Muritala, has said that the state government and ACCA have been working together for several years in order to improve the capacity of its civil servants.
He emphasized that the workshop was to upskill the state’s workforce through ACCA’s research-based insights.
According to Muritala, capacity-building programs such as this are crucial for this value-added profession.
On his part, Mr Tom Isibor, ACCA’s Country Head said, ACCA’s objective was to be a force for public good.
He stated “What that means is that we support governments, ministries, and agencies to be able to deliver various services to citizens.
“For them to be able to do that, civil servants must be properly equipped, and we just wanted to support the government of Lagos State in its task of achieving its objectives.
“We want to increase our capacity for public financial management and sustainability because we have discovered that to access funds in the future and to be able to meet UN SDGs goals, we must be on the map for public financial management and sustainability.”
Furthermore, Mrs Alero Onosode, a business leader and the facilitator of the workshop said “At the end of the day, what the participants are hoping for in terms of capacity building is that they have the knowledge and the skills to be better than they were when they came in.”
She noted that in the course of their employment, participants were expected to work as world class experts.
