FG Begins Digitalization of Civil Service Records

The process of digitizing all records has commenced in the Nigeria’s Federal Service with the implementation of an Electronic Document Management System (EMDS) in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji, head of the Civil of the Federation, disclosed this when he led a team comprising Permanent Secretaries, Development Partners and Directors in his Office to the National Records Centre, Karu, FCT, to inspect the on-going rehabilitation of the Centre.

He said, “The records digitization is expected   to lead to increased productivity through faster document exchange between offices and the integration to a workflow system that reduces business processes.

“It is regrettable that the National Records Centre has suffered so much neglect in the past, but with the ongoing rehabilitation efforts, a more strategic and modernized one will emerge.

“The Centre is very critical to our national history and development. Here, we have records that date back to the colonial era and we have the duty to ensure that they are adequately preserved.”

The Head of Service commended the members of the Committee that implemented the rehabilitation of the Centre for doing a good job and said that the next step is to ensure adequate training in modern records management for the Centre’s staff. He urged the development partners to consider capacity building as an area that requires immediate attention.

In April 2013 when the Head of Service visited the Centre, he met a chaotic and disorganized situation where documents relocated from Lagos years back were dumped on the floor. He immediately set up a Technical Implementation Committee for the rehabilitation of the Centre.