The President of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM), Mallam Ahmed Ladan Gobir, has challenged public sector leaders to redesign processes around citizens’ needs rather than institutional convenience.
The CIPM President made the call while delivering the keynote address at the Ogun State 2026 Public Service Day Celebration Lecture in Abeokuta to the state’s public and civil service leaders, scholars, organised labour, private-sector representatives, and other stakeholders.
Speaking on the theme “Transforming the Public Service: Advancing Innovation, Accountability, Participation, and Inclusion,” Gobir also challenged public-sector leaders to ask whether existing procedures still create public value.
While calling for a fundamental transformation of the nation’s public service, anchored on innovation, accountability, participation, inclusion and strategic people management, Gobir insisted the ultimate purpose of public service is not merely to process paperwork but to improve citizens’ lives.
He noted that citizens experience government primarily through the quality of public services they receive, since government, he added, remains an idea, while public service is its experience.
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The CIPM boss, therefore, urged public institutions to move beyond measuring activity and processes to measuring the actual value and impact delivered to citizens.
According to him, innovation in the public service must go beyond simply digitising existing processes. He, therefore, cautioned against “digitising dysfunction”, since technology cannot compensate for institutions that have failed to rethink inefficient processes.
On accountability, the CIPM President described it as “the mathematics of trust,” emphasising that public institutions must earn citizens’ confidence through competence, fairness, transparency, consistency and responsiveness.
He also stressed the importance of meaningful citizen participation, noting that participation should go beyond inviting citizens to events after decisions had already been made.
“Rather, citizens should have opportunities to influence decisions that affect their lives,” he added.
On inclusion, Gobir stated that public services should be designed to accommodate citizens across different socioeconomic, geographic, technological and demographic circumstances.
He warned that a service can not be described as truly inclusive if it is technically available, but practically inaccessible to significant segments of the population.
Speaking specifically on Ogun State, Gobir acknowledged the state’s development ambitions and encouraged it to pursue a model of transformation that goes beyond infrastructure and technology, while advising the state to build institutions that are responsive, effective and centred on citizens.