The executive chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Dr. Muheeba Dankaka, has described data gathering as an indispensable tool for the equitable application of the Federal Character Principle (FCP) in the Nigerian workforce.
Speaking during a one-day in-house training programme by the commission for its senior executive officers in Abuja, she underscored the importance of deploying the technological tool of data gathering to implement the principles of equitable and fair distribution of posts in the public service and infrastructural facilities amongst the federating units of the country.
Buttressing her points, the commission’s director of special duties, Hajia Aishatu Isa, data helps the commission make strategic and informed decisions which enables it to execute its duties effectively and efficiently.
“The commission is empowered to demand and receive returns on employment and socio-economic indices from any enterprise or corporate body and penalise any organisation which does not comply with such requests from the commission. These submissions would enable assessment of what the compliance level is, comparison improvement, review of options, evaluation of approaches and analysis of given patterns or observations of staff distribution.
“To proactively improve any activity or aspect of life we need to analyse data that has earlier been extracted from relevant transactions and gathered specifically, experimentally for that purpose,” she stated.
Isa further said data is extensively used for promoting, monitoring and enforcing compliance with the Federal Character Principle and for prompt decision making in respect of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) at the federal, state and local government (LGA) levels.
According to her, it gives a picture of where an MDA stands as an employer of labour, adding that these indicators shape the commission’s policy settings and provide evidence of success or problems.
Speaking on how to effectively communicate activities of the FCC to the government workforce and the general public, the commission’s director of public affairs and communication, Comrade Chuks Okoli, in his paper presentation “Effective communication and public enlightenment; pre-requisite for industrial harmony in an organisation”, opined that effective communication skills lead to effective service delivery in an organisation and by extension in public enlightenment.
Okoli stressed that effective communication has a major role to play in both achieving industrial harmony in an organization, as well as enlightening the general public on activities of the organisation.
In his recommendation, he enjoined members of the board, management and staff of the commission to join hands through effective communication in enlightening the public on the commission’s vision, mission and mandate.
Tasking staff on ethics and work habits in service, the commission’s director of state and plenary affairs department, Ndidiamaka Ezechukwu, urged them to exhibit integrity, professionalism, discipline, sense of responsibility and teamwork.
She noted that good work habit in service comes with a myriad of rewards even as she tasked them to invest in themselves by developing good work habits which will stand them out in the long run and contribute to organisational development.
