The attention of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has been drawn to an online publication with a headline titled: “NCC Incurs a Deficit of N17bn, Spending N35.2bn on Personnel, Consultancy Fees”.

The Commission is concerned with the inability of the online publication to accurately interpret the contents of its 2021 Annual Reports which have been made public. As a result, the publication gave a wrong impression that the Commission incurred a N17bn deficit because of expenditures on personnel and consultancy fees. This is far from the truth.

Though the Statement of the Financial Performance of the Commission for the period ended December 2021, clearly indicates that the sum of N17.3bn was a “Surplus/(Deficit) retained for the period)”, this does not imply that the Commission incurred a cash deficit as the expenditure in its financials were both in cash and accruals applicable to the year.

If the publication had inquired of the constituents of our expenditure, it would have learnt that the expenditures for the year 2021 included accruals for items undergoing procurement at the end of the year, like the State Accelerated Broadband Initiative, SABI, being implemented by the Commission, which was standing in the sum of about N24bn in the financial report.

The Commission also remitted an Operating Surplus/Spectrum Fees of estimated N197.7bn to the Federal Government, under the same Financial Performance Reporting period, and had a bank balance of about N46.97bn, erasing any doubt that there was any deficit spending.

The Commission, therefore, disclaims the wrong impression created by the above headline, and subsequent misinterpretation of our financial report in the publication may have had in the minds of the public, and stakeholders.

The Commission reiterates its commitment to effective and transparent processes in all its regulatory, management and financial activities.

As a demonstration of the commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Administration towards ensuring a sustainable Performance Management eco-system in the Public Service in tandem with the global drive of assessing and measuring the impact of governance on the people, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, CFR, has charged Federal Permanent Secretaries to step up their games.

Dr. Yemi-Esan, CFR, made this disclosure at the opening ceremony of a One-Day Retreat for Permanent Secretaries on the Institutionalisation of Performance Management System in the Public Service on Friday, April 14, 2023, in Abuja.
The HoCSF stated that the perception of the widely anticipated Performance Management System in the Federal Civil Service is progressively moving from a conceptual idea to a work-in-progress, adding that through the right partnerships and stakeholder engagements, necessary mechanisms have, and are being put in place for transiting the Service from the use of the Annual Performance Evaluation Report (APER) framework to the new Performance Management System (PMS).

She stated further that the essence of the Retreat is to brainstorm towards ensuring that PMS is institutionalised and fully operationalised in the Public Service by the year 2025.

According to her, “as managers of the largest Public Service in Africa, we must remain conscious and alive to our responsibility of guaranteeing the effective coordination of our teams and other available resources. This is key, so as to bring about a remarkable change in the way the Public Service in Nigeria works,” Yemi-Esan said.

While appreciating the turnout of Permanent Secretaries and Permanent Secretaries-Designate at the occasion, Dr. Yemi-Esan, CFR urged them, as Chief Administrative and Accounting Officers of MDAs to pay greater attention to the welfare and well-being of their personnel, as well as provide necessary tools to enhance productivity and service delivery.

She disclosed that the effectiveness of the entire Civil Service machinery is, largely, determined by the mental, emotional and physical wellbeing of its workforce.
The HoCSF reiterated that the focus areas among others in the new PMS within the implementation framework of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021 – 2025 (FCSSIP 25) are to: i. Finalise performance measures at the individual and unit levels with regard to KPIs and targets;

ii. Introduce regular performance appraisals and dialogues to obtain multi-source feedback; iii.Introduce a performance monitoring and reporting system;
iv. Implement an effective incentive and consequence management system; and v. Introduce development plans that incorporate employee development objectives and components in performance plans.

Other key focus areas include to:
vi. Professionalise Human Resource Management;
vii. Introduce performance-related pay system;
viii. Publish annual reports on PMS;
ix. Timely report dashboard metrics across all MDAs; and
x. Initiate voluntary exit package programmes.

Earlier in his Welcome Remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Career Management Office (CMO) – OHCSF, Dr. Marcus Ogunbiyi, affirmed that the 2023 edition of the Annual Retreat of Federal Permanent Secretaries was held at the instance of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation for the implementation of the New and Modern Performance Management System, as a tool for appraising employee performance and the delivery of institutional mandates in the Federal Public Service.

Dr. Ogunbiyi added that the institutionalisation of PMS provides a systematic process of planning work, setting targets, providing support to employees and measuring results, stressing that it also provides the framework for continuous tracking of employees’ performance in a manner that is consistent and measurable for developing and improving their capacities to perform on their jobs and for motivating them for increased productivity.

He noted that the 2023 PMS Retreat is the beginning of a series of engagements between the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and Permanent Secretaries on the institutionalisation of PMS, with particular reference to planning for service-wide Key Results Areas (KRAs). “This retreat is expected to provide clear strategies and develop capacity for the full roll out of Performance Management System across all MDAs. It is our belief that our collective efforts in supporting the process of institutionalisation of a new appraisal system will put the Service on a path of sustainable and improved service delivery to the Nigerian citizenry,” says the Permanent Secretary.

The Retreat featured presentations from various Resource Persons and Facilitators on Ministerial and Sector PMS Strategic Planning, Service-wide KRAs, Objectives, Targets, Criteria Values, PMS Workflow, Demonstration of PMS IT Solution, Syndicate Sessions and much more.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said the collaboration between Nigeria and India in the creative industry has begun to yield fruit, with the impending launch of the all Nigerian-Indian cast movie, entitled “Post Card from India”.

The Minister made the remarks in Abuja on Thursday when he received the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Shri Balasubra Maniam, on a courtesy visit.
He said the Ministry is in the forefront of bringing together Bollywood producers, actors and promoters to interact and exchange

ideas with their Nigerian counterparts in Nollywood, as India and Nigeria are the two power houses in the creative industry.

“I am glad that the recent collaboration between Nigeria and India in the area of culture, industry, film and music has yielded fruits. I am glad that the recent film, ‘Post Card from India,’ which was

actually shot in India, will be coming out in July this year,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said the Nigerian Government has offered land to Indian investors in Abuja and Lagos to build a comprehensive film city
in either of the two cities in order to further deepen the economy of the creative industry.

He also said that a team of Indian investors last August inspected the Millenium Tower Complex, which would be an iconic cultural centre in
Abuja when completed.

The Minister pledged the readiness of the ministry to sign some of the outstanding Memoranda of Understanding with India to strengthen and deepen the relationship between the two countries in the creative sector.

He stressed the need for the governments of India and Nigeria to open windows of opportunities for the private sector of both countries to forge new ties beyond government-to-government bilateral relations.

“I think the success of the India-Nigeria relationship is not just government-to-government. I think government-to-business and business-to-business have been the major drivers of this relationship and I want at this point to commend the effort of Mr. Jitendra

Sachdeva of the Skipper Group, who led a delegation of investors to Nigeria in August last year.

“I think that’s a model we should emulate and encourage because the business sector and business movers are even faster to open up and cut down barriers more than the government at times,” he said.

In his remarks, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Balasubra, who traced the bilateral ties between Nigeria and India back to 1958, said the new film, “Post Card from India,” with Nigerian and Indian cast, would showcase the composite cultures between the two
countries.

He said the outstanding MoUs on Joint Film Production and Cultural Exchange Programme would further solidify the cultural ties between
Nigeria and India.

According to the Kaspersky (www.Kaspersky.co.za) Digital Payment survey, 37% of respondents from Nigeria experienced financial losses associated with threats when using online banking and mobile wallet services. The majority of users (97%) lost up to USD $1,000 equivalent as a result of these incidents, while 3% of the respondents reported a loss of more than USD $1,000 equivalent.

According to the Kaspersky Security Network, 161,272 financial threats were blocked in Nigeria by Kaspersky in 2022. These attacks were aimed at stealing financial information such as credit card numbers and login credentials and usually rely on social engineering tactics to lure victims.

However, the impact of a cyber threat targeting digital payments does not just impose a financial burden on consumers, but also affects them psychologically. For example, 60% of respondents from Nigeria said that they were very anxious about getting their money back. 43% of users reported that they have less trust in digital payment providers. 80% also stated that they became more vigilant after experiencing a cyber incident, and 65% installed security solutions like an antivirus on their infected devices.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, 64% of users in Nigeria faced at least one incident when using digital payments. That’s why it’s increasingly important to know how to interact securely with any emerging technologies, including online banking and mobile wallet services. And all stakeholders, like government, digital payment providers, users and even cybersecurity companies need to come together to create a sustainable and secure payment ecosystem,” said Emad Haffar, Head of technical experts at Kaspersky.

To help users embrace digital payment technologies securely, Kaspersky experts suggest the following:

• Do not share your PIN, password or any other financial information with anyone online or offline.
• Avoid using public Wi-Fi to make any online transactions.
• Use a separate credit or debit card to make online transactions. Set a spending limit on the card which can help keep a track of financial transactions.
• Shop from trusted and official websites.
• Use a reliable security solution such as Kaspersky Premium (https://apo-opa.info/3EQxD1D) on all your devices which are used for financial transactions. It helps to detect fraudulent or suspicious activity and check the security of visited websites.

For developers, banks and companies involved in providing digital payment services, Kaspersky recommends:

• Invest in holistic cybersecurity solutions that can help detect fraud across multiple levels of online payment processes and consumer touchpoints.
• Complex attacks by APT groups on financial institutions are also on a rise. In-depth visibility and threat intelligence are a necessity to keep customers protected and to ensure business continuity. Using the Kaspersky Threat Intelligence (https://apo-opa.info/43V1DnQ) service is helpful to support your IT teams in analysing and mitigating threats.
• Conduct cyber awareness training for employees continuously. This will help employees know the red flags to look for when an organisation is under attack and to understand their role in protecting the organisation.

By Sampson Ikemitang

The Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Information & Culture, Mrs. Lydia S. Jafiya mni, has declared open A-One day sensitization workshop on the Sectoral Strategic Plan/Transition Document and FCSSIP25 organised for Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Parastatals and the Management staff of the Ministry in Abuja. The workshop which took place in Newton Park Hotel and Resort Limited, Wuse 2, Abuja, had in attendance Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Parastatals and Directors in the Ministry as participants.

While delivering her Key note address on behalf of the Honourable Minister, Alh. Lai Mohammed, Mrs Jafiya mni welcomed all participants at the workshop and urged them to avail themselves of the opportunity to learn the new reform going on in the Federal Civil Service tagged, ‘’Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021-2025 (FCSSIP25), as it will make them remain relevant in the service.

According to Mrs Jafiya,mni “MDAs are directed to develop and document the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Job schedules/descriptions for every staff”. She added that MDAs are further expected to digitise the past records and subsequently automate workflows by eliminating dependence on paper documents, increase productivity and reduce organisational risk through the establishment of the Enterprise Content Management (ECM).

It will be recalled that the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folashade Yemi Esan, had in recent past, introduced Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021-2025 (FCSSIP25), as a new reform into the Federal Civil Service essentially to break away from old to a new paradigm of productive, result-driven, world-class Federal Civil Service with a view to attaining accelerated national development for the country.

It is worthy of note that FCSSIP25 has its main focus on six priority areas namely:- Capability Building and Talent Management; Performance Management System; IPPIS HR; Innovation; Digitalisation and Staff welfare. The service also, has its Core Values which include: Accountability, Meritocracy, Professionalism, Loyalty and Efficiency (AMPLE).

It should be emphasised that four Presentations were made by eminent Resource Persons at the event. These are: An Overview of Federal Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021-2025 (FCSSIP25) which was delivered by Dr John O. Magbadelo. Also, Performance Management System (PMS) was taken by Mrs. Bosede Olaniyi. Whilst Review of Transition/Handing Over Documents was handled by the Director Planning Research and Statistics (PRS), Mr. Usman Abdulkadir and Mr. Dimas Hamidu took the Development of Information, Culture and Tourism Strategic Plan 2023-2028.

Participants expressed appreciation to the Ministry for organising this all important workshop and lauded the swift initiative aimed at bringing them up to speed with new developments in the civil service.