By John Ikani
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has emerged as top performer in business efficiency and transparency in Federal Government’s ranking of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) for the year 2022.
This latest result is reminiscent of the Board’s 81.46 per cent score in Ease of Doing Business, which placed it top of all other MDAs for the period January – June 2022.
In the Executive Order 001 (EO1) Compliance Report released in Abuja by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), the NCDMB achieved a score of 81.11 per cent to beat 52 other MDAs captured in the evaluative ranking.
Issued on 18 May, 2017, by President Muhammadu Buhari, the EO1 on the Promotion of Transparency and Efficiency in the business environment seeks to facilitate entrenchment of policies and practices that would foster an environment conducive to business, particularly start-ups, by eliminating bottlenecks.
PEBEC explains that an “MDA’s EOI overall performance is a combination of scores on the Efficiency and Transparency measures weighted at 70 per cent and 30 per cent of the overall score respectively.” “The top performing MDAs differentiate themselves by achieving a balanced performance on both the Efficiency and Transparency scales….”
Under Efficiency, the agency’s adherence to its service delivery timelines is key. For Transparency, the chief consideration is existence and functionality of websites, as well as availability of detailed information on timelines, costs, statutory requirements and customer service contact channels. In combination, these would eliminate abuses in the system, including rent-seeking activities.
PEBEC has been consistent in publishing the EO1 Compliance Report since 2017, from monthly reports submitted by MDAs.
This latest award follows NCDMB’s emergence as “a Level 5 Platinum Level organization” in a summary report of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) Self-assessment Tool (SAT) released in January, a rating which translates as “Exceptional Performance with a performance level of 90.5%.”
The BPSR had at a presentation ceremony held at the NCDMB Conference in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State noted that NCDMB is structured to achieve its vision, mission and strategic objectives, which have been effectively communicated to relevant stakeholders and well understood by staff.
Another accolade that came the way of the Board recently was the selection of the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote as the recipient of the Leadership Local Content Champion of the Year Award by the Board of Editors of the Leadership Group Limited. The award will be conferred on the Executive Secretary at the 14th edition of the Leadership Conference and Awards held on January 31, 2023, in Abuja.
In October 2022, the Executive Secretary was conferred the Distinguished Capacity Development Award by President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) at the Nigeria Excellence in Public Service Awards, reconfirming the Board’s excellent delivery of its mandate.
