News Investigators/ The Government of The Gambia says it will continue to draw from Nigeria’s civil service reforms to enhance public service delivery in the country.
The Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Civil Service of The Gambia, Alieu Njie, communicated this on Tuesday in Abuja.
Mr Njie spoke on the sidelines of a strategic study visit by a Gambian civil service delegation to Imeh Okon, Administrator, Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the delegation is in Nigeria for a study tour from June 20 to June 24 to understudy Nigeria’s public service reforms and institutional practices.
NAN also reports that the study visit is aimed at enabling the Gambian delegation to understudy Nigeria’s experiences in civil service transformation.
It is also designed to deepen cooperation between the two countries through peer learning and exchange of reform experiences.
Mr Njie said the relationship between Nigeria and The Gambia was built on longstanding historical and diplomatic ties, adding that both countries shared similar colonial experiences.
“History does not start today; it did not start from my trip; it started for a long time. Since after independence, these two countries share the same colonial antecedent.
“We are continuing the diplomatic ties between the two countries. In terms of the civil service, this is the first time that the Head of the Civil Service of The Gambia is visiting the Head of Service of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We are very grateful for the warm welcome and hospitality accorded to us.”
The Gambian official said lessons from the visit would be shared with the Gambian civil service to improve efficiency and service delivery.
“All that we have discussed and shared here will be filtered down to my civil service.
“We are working towards learning what Nigeria has done and what Nigeria is doing, to ensure that we replicate that in my country.
“This is why we are here in this country.”
He said that Nigeria remained a preferred partner because of its experience and expertise in various sectors.
“Nigeria has always been our big brother; there are so many things you can learn from Nigeria. Most of our civil servants went to school here in Nigeria, including myself.
“I attended a university here, so we know what Nigeria can offer in terms of technical expertise. Even in defence, health and technical assistance, we have been benefiting from Nigeria,” Njie said.
Responding, Mrs Okon said the visit would provide an opportunity for both institutions to identify areas of collaboration and exchange expertise.
Mrs Okon said the two sides would examine their respective strengths and areas requiring improvement to develop possible partnerships.
“By the time both of us sit down to identify the different pathways through which we have been engaging the public sector in our countries, we can easily identify areas where our expertise can also be adopted by the Gambian civil service.
“Right now, what we have done is an introduction to ourselves and to understand how both of us work.”
She added that further engagements would focus on assessing training needs and exploring opportunities for knowledge sharing.
“Going forward, it will be about understanding where the Gambian civil service has strengths and where PSIN has strengths, so we can exchange views and learn positively from each other.
“For me, this is just the early days of an ongoing engagement to review the offerings from both sides and determine how we can benefit from each other,” Mrs Okon said.
NAN
