The Lagos State Government has tasked staff of the Office of Transformation, Creativity and Innovation (OTCI) to think outside the box as they continue to develop better and newer ways of improving the State Public Service while seizing the opportunities in the New Normal.

The Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, gave the charge on Thursday, at the year 2021 Annual Staff Retreat of the Office of Transformation, Creativity and Innovation with the theme, “Public Service Reforms: The Imperatives of OTCI in Effective Service Delivery in the New Normal”.

Muri-Okunola, who was represented at the Retreat by the Permanent Secretary, Local Government Establishments, Training and Pensions, Mr. Biodun Bamgboye, commended OTCI for coming up with a lot of innovations in times past, urging them to continually evolve cutting edge innovation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said, “As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of changes to the ways things are done across the globe. And now, there is a new normal in every sector. This is why the theme of this retreat, ‘Public Service Reforms: the Imperatives of OTCI in Effective Service Delivery in the New Normal’ is very apt. Despite the challenges of the new era, many opportunities abound”.

The HoS noted that providing good governance demands that the staff of OTCI must plan, predict the future and guide the State Public Service in the New Normal era.

“Public Service Reforms is about Institutional and Administrative transformation aimed at improving efficiency and productivity of the Public Service. A reform that is not resisted is not a reform, and the new normal has mandated us to adapt and adjust as a matter of urgency”, he stated.

Also speaking, the Director-General of OTCI, Mr. Toba Otusanya expressed the readiness of his Office to continue its work towards total transformation, creativity and innovation in the Lagos Public Service.

His words: “Though, we have had some successful initiatives in the past such as Service Charter, Growth Mindset and elevation of Administrative Cadre to Human Resource Professional Cadre among many others, yet OTCI remains committed to its mission and vision statement. In fact, we have a lot of programmes and initiatives in the pipeline that will further advance the Lagos State Public Service”, Otusanya said.