Kwara trains civil servants on budget planning, defence

The Kwara State Government has trained planning officers across the state civil service on budget planning, preparation and defence, as part of efforts to address gaps in budget submissions and improve the capacity of public servants.

The three-day capacity-building workshop, which ended in Ilorin, focused on equipping the officers with practical skills required to prepare accurate and quality budget submissions for their respective ministries.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, the Acting Head of Service and Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare, Dr Olufunke Mercy Shittu, said the government would upscale in-house training for civil servants to improve their capacity, productivity and efficiency.

She said the training became necessary following gaps observed in budget submissions by planning officers across ministries, stressing that effective budget preparation was critical to the achievement of government’s development objectives.

“This is not going to be the last. We will upscale in-house training. This is an opportunity to train the untrained, and we want you to demonstrate this when you get to your various ministries,” Shittu said.

The Acting Head of Service said the positive feedback from participants indicated that the workshop had achieved its objectives, adding that similar training programmes would be sustained.

She commended the resource persons for the training, which covered critical areas of budget planning, preparation and defence, noting that the workshop combined theoretical lessons with practical exercises.

Shittu urged the participants to apply the knowledge acquired in their respective ministries, particularly in preparing budget submissions, rather than allowing the training to end in the classroom.

She also disclosed plans to visit ministries to assess how participants were applying the skills acquired and measure the impact of the government’s investment in staff development.

According to her, the assessment would help the government determine whether resources committed to capacity-building programmes were producing the desired results.

Shittu urged the planning officers to share the knowledge gained with their colleagues, describing them as ambassadors of the training.

She added that the state government would continue to invest in the development of its workforce as part of efforts to strengthen public service delivery.