Directors-General and Chief Executive Officers of agencies and parastatals under the ministry of Science and Technology have respectively promised to engage themselves in activities and functions that will enable them deliver on the core mandate of their respective departments and agencies.
They made the pledge in Abuja at the occasion specifically designed to sign performance agreement between them and the minister for Science and Technology, Prof. Ita Okon Bassey Ewa.
In his address at the occasion, the minister said, the in house signing of performance contract among himself, “the Permanent Secretary, directors and heads of our agencies/parastatals is a pragmatic paradigm shift development management approach that is informed by the present administration’s commitment to not only producing deliverables but also to execute programmes/products which must improve the livelihood of our citizenry”.
In terms of assuring the country of what will be the benefits of the contract, the minister made it abundantly clear that, “with this strategic shift towards achieving concrete, tangible and measurable results, and to positively touch the lives of our teeming population, His Excellency, the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, recently signed performance bonds with all cabinet ministers to deliver on their respective mandates. On your behalf, I signed the performance bond document, hence the need to cascade the signing of the agreement down to your respective levels today, bearing in mind that your success is ours and vice-versa.”.
He posed a reminder that as a ministry, they are expected to improve the quality of lives of Nigerians through adoption and utilization of appropriate technologies as well as promote scientific research for innovation and technological development of Nigeria.
Other key areas in the drive to serve the people according to the minister include, “promoting and protecting the intellectual property rights in science and technology in Nigeria, facilitating the linkages between industries and research and development outputs and provision of policy, regulatory and administrative services”.
He told them that, “to guarantee the attainment of these milestones, we are expected to conduct an internal assessment/ review how far we have achieved our benchmarks by the end of November 2012. This is necessary, because our performances are in turn expected to be assessed by government and Nigerians at the end of this fiscal year (i.e. 31st December, 2012).
It is my hope that all hands must be on deck to ensure that we come out with nothing less than an excellent pass mark, bearing in mind that science, technology and innovation are the catalysts for all socio-economic developments”.
In his speech, the Permanent secretary of the ministry, Mrs. Rabi Jimeta, said, the essence of the performance agreement is to ensure that performance is all the mandates of the ministry is realized just as she enjoined the affected officers to perform optimally.
Meanwhile, the minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, who was represented by the Secretary of National Planning Commission, Barr. Fidelis Ugbor said the agreement is a progressive device in which nations all over the world seek to advance the cause of their nation based on deliverables. He enjoined them to look at the assignment as service to humanity and nation.
Prof. Idris Bugaje, the DG of National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, NARICT, who responded on behalf of his colleagues, simply said, the ministry should always count on them.