11th April, 2019
Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode and political economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, have harped on the need for synergy among civil servants in order to enhance performance in service.
The duo spoke at a two-day training for civil servants in Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, saying that harnessing the benefits of team building and synergy to maximise performance in the Lagos State public service should not be underestimated as “Lagos State Civil service needs to be trained and retrained so that, working together, the output of the Lagos State Civil service will be exponentially increased ”
Speaking, Ambode, who was represented by the Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Dr. Benson Oke re-echoed his administration’s appreciation of the benefits and advantages training and retraining could impact on the performance and delivery of services of the Lagos state civil servants.
According to him, synergy happened when one plus one equals ten or a hundred or even a thousand, saying that it was the profound result when two or more respectful human beings determined to go beyond their preconceived ideas to meet a great challenge.
“Synergy is better than my way or your way. It is our way”, he said.
Ambode argued that synergies were not only about cost reduction but could also be access to markets, exchange of products, avoiding overlaps, and exchange of best practices.
“Synergy is also described as bonus that is achieved when things work together harmoniously. Synergy is everywhere in nature. Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much,” he said.
Speaking, Utomi said the training was about synergy to enable civil servants increase their productivity and become result-oriented and commended the state government for deeming it fit to impact the workers with such a laudable training.
“This is the kind of knowledge to impact on workers and business partners. I commend the Lagos State Government for impacting such a laudable knowledge like synergy and teamwork on its workforce”, Utomi said.
The Permanent Secretary, Office of Establishment and Training, Mrs Rhoda Ayinde, congratulated the participants for being counted worthy to be part of the programme, urging them to appreciate and bring the knowledge acquired to bear in the attainment of the strategic objectives of the government.