Government approves paternity leave for NITDA staff

The Federal Government has approved paternity leave for the staff of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, disclosed this at the presentation of NITDA’s Employee-Centric and Scheme of Service in Abuja on Tuesday.

“Both documents took almost five years to complete and they present a holistic approach to the development of the agency on one hand and the employees on the other.

“Key areas include the introduction of paternity and compassionate leave, responsibility award, transfer benefits and staff homeownership loan, among others”, Pantami said.

The minister said the scheme of service will serve as a veritable tool for making the agency more functional as it develops into one of the most strategic government’s institutions.

He said the new scheme of service provides the approved cadre for NITDA and specifies the skills and certifications required for appointment and promotion in the agency.

Pantami said the conditions of service is to re-engineer the operations and structure of NITDA with the aim of providing an enabling environment for effective strategy development and execution.

“This will match the global industry requirements that are needed to develop and regulate the innovative and agile digital economy industry”, he added.

He also disclosed that the Scheme and Conditions of Service would enable the agency to effectively key into the digital economy mandate of the Federal Government, enhance its corporate culture, attract and retain highly skilled staff, amongst others.

The Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation had received the final versions of both documents for vetting, the minister said.

“We are committed to attracting and retaining highly skilled and highly motivated personnel in the Digital Economy sector, including all the parastatals under our supervision.

“To this end, I have directed the management of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to develop a Career Structure (Scheme of Service) and Conditions of Service for NIMC”, he said.

Earlier in his address, the permanent secretary of the ministry, Engr Festus Daudu, said the presentation of the new scheme of service was an attestation that the federal government is interested in making sure that the Public Service is better positioned to deliver on its mandate of service delivery to the citizenry.

“The issue of staff welfare in every organisation is a very vital and critical issue that should not be toiled with”, he said.