Dapo Olaosebikan

Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) formally launched a SERVICOM Charter which the organization is confident will enhance services to her numerous target-audience nationwide. The launch took place in Abuja on Tuesday.

At the elaborate occasion held in the Council’s main auditorium and attended by some key stakeholders in the export sector of the economy, NEPC unveiled its official charter aimed at raising “expectations and define the standard of service to be provided to customers and members of staff” of the prime government agency.

In his address at the occasion, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, Executive Director/CEO of the Council reiterated “that role of Council in the country’s economic diversification drive has never been in doubt and can therefore not be overemphasized, especially now that the present government of President Muhammadu Buhari has placed more emphasis on the need for the nation’s economy to be more sustainable and inclusive through the non-oil export sector”.

Remarking that since its inception in March 2004 SERVICOM has remained one of the institutionalised organs of the Federal Government for effective public service to customers’ satisfaction by MDAs, the NEPC boss said the launch of the performance Charter is in line with the vision to provide prompt and effective service to the Council’s customers at all times. This, he explained, is in furtherance of NEPC’s commitment to changing the narrative of contributions of non-oil export sectors to the country’s economic grid.

According to him, “The Charter is basically an operational tool to guide our business conduct with our core clients, the exporters, and other stakeholders whom we are responsible and obliged to provide efficient services – as Trade Promotion Organization, in line with expected international best practices”.

Awolowo also said he is of the conviction that “Efficient service delivery at NEPC would ultimately translate to improved exports, inclusive growth, and increased revenue for the government, particularly NEPC’s vision of “Making the world a market place for Nigerian non-oil products and services”, is a focal mission of the council. “To this end, we expect our customers to constantly evaluate our performance and provide feedback on how to improve such services”, he further emphasized.

Awolowo assured the public that “The charter would also guide the activities of service provision and delivery as well as enable the agency to process exporters’ certificate within 24 hours provided all relevant documents and payments are submitted and confirmed”.

“I can assure our clients and other stakeholders that both management and staff of the Council are highly committed to this charter because this is what we were employed to do. We would, therefore, ensure that no one is short-changed by the quality of our service. Similarly, members of staff must ensure that they provide services based on NEPC’s core values of professionalism, integrity, teamwork and customer care. To those end, I have directed Servicom Unit to ensure that henceforth, no file should exceed a maximum of 48 hours without being treated,” he reassured.

Mr. Sidi-Aliyu Abdullahi, NEPC Director of Policy and Strategy, in his review of the Charter talked about the purposes of the official document. As he revealed, these include “NEPC’s highest level commitment to providing best services; communicate rights, entitlements, and responsibilities to clients; define the standard of services expected by customers and staff; enabled improved services; and creating free atmosphere for evaluation, monitoring and measurement of activities”.

Mrs. Nnenna Akajemini, National Coordinator/CEO of SERIVICOM, commended NEPC for unveiling the Charter, especially as “this will provide the solid base for customers to demand to be served fairly, promptly, transparently and in time – in line with the goals for which SERVICOM was established”.  

She further remarked that “Making this public means that NEPC has now properly documented a guide and standard for us to ensure that quality services are truly provided with measurable timelines, and when they fail we hold them accountable”.     

The document of the Service Charter, which equally attracted Mrs. Affiong Umoh, Director Reform Coordination and Service Improvement of Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment, exporters, Organized Private Sector, representatives of relevant Ministries and other stakeholders to the launch, was put together by NEPC SERVICOM Unit. The review date for the NEPC’s Service Charter is December 2020.