ASCON Restates Commitment to Human Capital Development

Funmi Ogundare

The Director General, Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), Badagry, Mrs. Funke Femi Adepoju, yesterday, stated that the institution has launched a nationwide skills-gap survey, trained 578 public servants from across the country, and sealed high-profile partnerships aimed at reshaping Nigeria’s public service for the future.

Speaking at a ceremony marking her first 100 days in office, Adepoju described the results as proof of ASCON’s renewed commitment to elevating public service performance through human capital development, aligning with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda for a transformed, efficient, and citizen-focused public service.

Speaking on the theme,’ Elevating Public Service Performance through Human Capital Development’ she revealed that ASCON’s new state compact survey, covering all 36 states, has provided a snapshot of skills and institutional weaknesses in the public service.

” This is already shaping a major curriculum overhaul to include emerging competencies such as climate governance, gender responsiveness, behavioural insights, and digital interventions alongside existing programmes in leadership, ethics, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, and administrative competence,” the DG said.

Adepoju noted that collaboration with subnational governments has been rekindled, with Lagos State returning to ASCON after years of absence, and fresh engagements underway with Borno, Delta, Taraba, Adamawa, and multiple federal parastatals.

She also announced two new Memorandums of Understanding ( MoU) with the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, to enhance digital capabilities, and with the Nigerian Institute of Management to strengthen academic and professional linkages.

On the global front, she noted that ASCON is partnering with institutions in South Africa, the United States, and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), which will provide governance tools, technical support, and a robust monitoring and evaluation framework.

Adepoju has also been nominated as a visiting scholar at Oxford University, making her the only Nigerian selected for the programme, a move she said would connect ASCON to global knowledge frontiers.

she stated that the next 180 days will focus on consolidating gains, embedding Artificial Intelligence into governance training, mainstreaming climate change and gender considerations, and extending ASCON’s reach to every state.

“With the commitment of our team, partners, and the federal government, ASCON stands today not as a past glory, but as a present and future force in Nigeria’s governance landscape,” Adepoju stressed.

In his remarks, Lagos State Head of Service, Mr. Olabode Agoro, described Adepoju’s achievements from refurbishing ASCON’s campus facilities and reactivating its signature hotel to solarising critical infrastructure and repositioning its health centre as strategic steps that have re-energised the institution and restored institutional pride.

Agoro, who noted that Adepoju was head-hunted from the Lagos State Civil Service, said her appointment was a recognition of both her personal capabilities and the depth of talent within Lagos’ public service.

“She arrived carrying the Lagos ethos , clarity of purpose, a results-driven approach, and the belief that public institutions can be both efficient and excellent,” he said.

He emphasised ASCON’s nationwide survey of capacity-building needs as a key example of the DG’s data-driven leadership, ensuring that the college’s programmes remain relevant and targeted.

Agoro also commended her renewed partnerships with local and international organisations, describing reform as a contact sport requiring both diplomacy and decisiveness.

“What Mrs. Adepoju has achieved in 100 days tells a larger story that our institutions can be modernised, our training re-imagined, and our human capital prepared for the challenges of a rapidly changing governance landscape,” Agoro said.