The restriction placed on overseas training for civil servants would save the federal government no less than $16 million annually, the Centre for Management Development (CMD) has revealed.
The director-general of the centre, Mr Kabir Kabo Usman, who briefed the media on its activities in Abuja, at the weekend, lauded the restriction which opened a wide opportunity for the centre, saying it can double, if not triple, the number of trained civil servants.
“We spend about $158 million every year to train civil servants overseas; with this circular, the nation will be able to save about $16 million and that will double or triple the number of those that can be trained within the country.”
Usman also called on management development institutions and consultants who have not registered with the government to do so or face sanctions. According to him, only 48 registered institutions and 200 management development consultants across the country are qualified to build man power capacity for Nigeria’s public and private sectors.
“It is only the National Council for Management Development (NCMD) that is authorised to accredit management consultants and management development institutions in Nigeria. Any management consultant or any management training institution that is not accredited by us is operating illegally and by law we can take them to court and they can be sanctioned,” he said.
Usman also said that the centre would soon embark on a nationwide Management Development Institutions (MDI) and consultants tour with a view to giving further accreditation to qualified institutions and individuals while flushing out quacks from the market.
The CMD is a government parastatal, under the Ministry of National Planning, created to provide managerial and technical capacity and training for civil servants since 1973.