By Nume Ekeghe
The Former Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, has advised public servants to be clear about their goals as well as to develop a mindset of being service providers to members of the public.
She said this yesterday, while speaking on, ‘The Morning Show,’ on Arise Television.
In recollecting her time as FIRS chairman, she said under her stewardship, she was able to grow revenue by 25 per cent yearly, which she said was a testament to the agency’s clear goal orientation and service drive.
Speaking on governance in Nigeria and transformation, she said: “There is a tendency for us to think that things begin and end with one administration and we cannot really have progress if that is our understanding.
“In transforming the public service, it is not a one-person race, it is not a one team race it moves from one administration to another and it is important we recognise that.”
She added: “The second thing I would like to mention is the need for strategic thinking and the need for being very clear about your goals. During my tenure in communicating his expectations, it was clear from my principal that he wanted to stabilise Nigeria’s revenues by growing our non-oil revenue base even while growing the oil revenue and by ensuring that we are not overly independent on oil revenue.
“And the second message he had for me as a secondary goal was for me to implement the workings of the study group of the Nigerian tax system which had started under Adamu Ciroma when he was Minister of Finance and also the working of group of the review of the Nigerian tax system which the Minister of Finance at the time Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had set up to review the study group and wanted me to review both reports and implement the salient recommendations there.”
