The Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Innovation and Technology, Mr. Tunbosun Alake, has reiterated the need for a strong national cultural values programme in order to engender positive outcomes that will sustain the development agenda of the country.
Alake made this known during the monthly Lagos State webinar series tagged “EXCO SHARES 4.0”, an initiative of the Office of Establishments and Training designed to foster knowledge-sharing between members of the Executive Council and Public Servants on the transformation agenda of the present administration.
Speaking on the Topic “Values and National Development”, the Special Adviser stressed that it is important for Nationals and Sub-nationals to develop strong value systems as cultural values influence the ways nations perform, saying some of the cultural norms/constructs we hold dear might not allow institutions to perform.
He emphasised that it is difficult to maintain a democracy and consistent national development if the underlying values necessary to sustain it are not respected, describing “values” as innate belief systems and judgements about what is to happen in life and that such values influence actions while the actions help define life’s outcomes.
Explaining the concept of “value constructs” pioneered by Geert Hofstede, a social psychologist, to drive home his point, the Special Adviser listed the core value constructs to include “Masculinity vs Femininity”, which explains how masculine values reflect a desire for achievements, ability to plan for the future while feminine values are more socially oriented and selfless.
He averred that the “Individualism vs collectivism” value construct describes how individuals essentially follow their own path while collectivists let the needs or desires of the group determine their actions, pointing out that the “Low vs High Power Distance” construct defines how power distance indicates the degree to which one accepts inequality, hierarchy or authoritarianism.
Alake continued that the “Low vs High Uncertainty Avoidance” concept is about how high uncertainty avoidance reflects a desire for rules or consistency and the belief that the world is a dangerous place, therefore, what is new or unpredictable should be avoided; he described the “Delayed vs Instant Gratification” construct as how reward should be measured, either immediate or deferred.
The Special Adviser explained that each society or country expresses the value constructs in one increasing measure than the other and in some cases picks the ones that are more suitable to them, maintaining that any country or organisation that does not take cognisance of its value system will have a stunted development.
His words: “We really need to look at our value construct concept as a nation and expunge the ones that put us in precarious situations and hold dear to the ones that make us develop as a nation”.
He, therefore, advocated for a collective agreement as a necessity for national development, stating that it is important for the collectives to agree because, without an agreement, trust cannot be built. This, he noted, is essential for national development as a country and called for the strengthening of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in bringing to fore the value constructs of the country that stimulate development.
The Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat in his contribution clamoured for Senior Public Officers to engage with their members of staff on a formal and semi-formal basis to enhance cohesion and make the Civil Service more efficient.
He commended the Ministry of Establishments, Training and Pensions for the webinar series, stating that the platform will enable participants to acquire more knowledge for improved service delivery.
The Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola noted that the topic of the webinar series was apt as it created opportunities for Public Servants to express their minds and thoughts on national discourse that engenders development.
He expressed satisfaction that the webinar series is growing in leaps and bounds while imparting knowledge to the staff of the Lagos State Public Service.
The Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Mrs. Ajibola Ponnle thanked the members of the State Executive Council in attendance for their various contributions to the webinar series as well as the 298 participants who joined the session.
Ponnle, however, enjoined participants to make judicious use of the lessons learnt about national values and contribute their quota towards national development.
Packaged by Blessing Donatus
