The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) wrapped up its three-week 2024 mandatory training programme in Lagos on Saturday for procurement personnel across various ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to enhance their public procurement skills.
MDAs, including anti-corruption agencies like the EFCC and the ICPC, attended the programme expected to help combat procurement corruption and raise awareness.
BPP’s Director, Research, Training, and Strategic Planning, Adebowale Adedokun, stated that participants were trained to effectively manage procurement processes.
“The government will greatly benefit from the public procurement capacity development training, as it will enhance civil servants’ procurement knowledge, enabling faster, more timely work and compliance with established rules,” he said.
Mr. Adedokun urged participants to apply their learnings in their organisations and ensure due process in procurement.
“The ordinary Nigerians who are yearning for development like good roads, hospitals, electricity, etc. would begin to see the results if they did their work by following the rules and regulations and helping our political leaders not to do the wrong thing or help them to achieve their political goals but within the confines of the law,” he said.
The three-week training programme, which began October 21 and ended November 9, aimed to develop younger procurement personnel by sharing knowledge with professionals, including retired government directors.
The BPP Director emphasises the agency’s commitment to developing younger procurement personnel through a “Sustainable Plan” to improve the procurement system’s efficiency.
“So for all of us, what we are doing is groom. We are doing training with the trainer. As we are doing this, we are grooming, training, and improving capacity by transferring knowledge and preparing the upcoming generation for tomorrow’s knowledge transfer,” Adedokun said.
“Every country that has developed or been able to provide roads, electricity, healthcare, a good education system, etc., implemented public procurement efficiently in their country. What we are doing is laying the foundation for deepening economic growth and sustainable development,” he added.
Adedokun believes “the future would be brighter if we sustained capacity development and built people’s knowledge because knowledge, they say, is power. The essence of the training aims to develop visionary leaders who can lead by implementing good procurement practices, ensuring infrastructure, roads, water supply, and security in the country.”