By Stephen Adeleye
In a bold move to strengthen institutional integrity and enhance project staff productivity, the Kogi State Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (Kogi L-PRES) has held a two-day Ethical Workers’ Leadership Retreat for all the management and support staff
The retreat, organized in collaboration with the Centre for Ethics and Self Value Orientation (CESVO), an international anti-corruption NGO based in Lokoja, was themed “Understanding the Fundamentals of Ethics, Workplace Ethics and Public Service Value Orientation”
Declaring the retreat open, the State Project Coordinator, Mr. Otaru Abdulkabir Onoruoyiza, described the training as a strategic investment to build the capacity of the project staff on ethical standards, public service values and institutional resilience to improve productivity at work place.
Otaru said the exercise was beyond routine capacity building, but a deliberate effort to help project staff grow both professionally and personally.
He urged participants to reflect on their work ethics, adjust where necessary, and build on their strengths to deliver the L-PRES Project Development Objective (PDO) in Kogi State.
According to him, project implementation is a collective responsibility, true institutional change must begin with the individual contribution to the successful implementation of the L-PRES Project.
“We have thought outside the box to embrace this worthy collaboration. We are now partners in progress.
“I advise the project staff to immediately practise what they have learnt as they return back to the office so that the resources invested will not be in vain,” Otaru said.
He charged project staff to remain committed to self-development, stressing that the knowledge goes beyond L-PRES and will remain relevant even after the end of the project cycle.
On his part, the Executive Director of CESVO, Prince Salih Yakubu, said the training was in fulfilment of a pledge made when Kogi L-PRES was honoured for its integrity record.
Yakubu recalled that Kogi L-PRES ranked second among only ten states that met CESVO’s ethical standards after its annual secret investigations nationwide.
The feat, he said, earned the State Project Coordinator induction into the CESVO Hall of Fame as Integrity Icon of Nigeria (IION), and the project, the Corporate Ethics and Integrity Compliance Award.
He disclosed that CESVO has trained over 47,000 Nigerians in the last five years on ethical reorientation.
“The choice is now theirs. We have done a lot of expose.
“What we want to see in the next few years is transformation in character, conduct and leadership to make Kogi a model for other states,” Yakubu said.
He revealed that a communique was issued at the end of the retreat to set a clear direction, while structures would be put in place to ensure the knowledge is imbibed.
The two-day retreat featured interactive sessions, case studies, role plays and psychometric tests.
Six critical modules were covered, including effective office communication, ethical leadership, managing executive stress, emotional intelligence, strategic planning and office politics.
In his paper titled “Managing Workplace Executive Stress: A Silent Killer,” Yakubu decried rising stress among Nigerian workers, such as lost of sleep over work, headache, palpitation, hypertension, among others.
He identified excessive workload as a major cause and advised workers to be decisive, set priorities, avoid perfectionism and procrastination, and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Similarly, CESVO Faculty Advisor, Dr. Tom Adejo Yusuf, in his presentations on Emotional Intelligence and Office Politics, described office politics as the use of power and social networking to influence change.
He said it could be positive when it promotes fairness and ethical decision-making, but negative when it involves backstabbing, manipulation and self-promotion.
He noted that over 60 per cent of employees engage in office politics and advised staff to be cordial, genuine, helpful, maintain proper documentation, build relationships and guard their character.
The participants, described the retreat as eye-opening, thanked the management of Kogi L-PRES and pledged to turn a new leaf, with a vow that their conscience would henceforth remain their guide.
