The Lagos State Government says it has trained 23,000 public servants and implemented a new minimum wage of N85,000 as part of sweeping reforms to strengthen the public service.
Afolabi Ayantayo, Commissioner for Establishments and Training, disclosed this at the 2025 ministerial briefing to mark the second anniversary of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second term in office.
Ayantayo said the government also focused its interventions on three key areas, including human capital development, industrial harmony, and public service reforms. According to him, between May 2022 and December 2024, no fewer than 23,420 civil servants participated in over 185 targeted training programmes aimed at improving efficiency, leadership capacity, and digital competence within the public sector.
Highlighting efforts to enhance workforce capacity, the Commissioner disclosed that more than 8,000 officers were granted study leave, 564 attended professional conferences, and 25 were selected for the AIG Public Leadership Programme at the University of Oxford.
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He also revealed that 50 officers were onboarded under the newly introduced Public-Private Sector Exchange Programme to promote knowledge transfer and collaboration between public institutions and private sector organisations.
Ayantayo said the Sanwo-Olu’s administration took bold steps to improve the financial well-being of civil servants. He cited the wage award of N35,000 in January 2024, which raised the minimum wage to N71,750, and the subsequent review in October 2024 that brought the figure to N85,000, with implementation commencing in November 2024.
The commissioner also said that a series of financial interventions in the health sector were introduced, including the payment of medical residency training funds, rural allowances for primary health workers, and the implementation of revised CONMESS and CONHESS salary structures.
He further disclosed that the government had approved a comprehensive redundancy package for 391 disengaged employees of the Lagos State Water Corporation as part of a major restructuring initiative.
Ayantayo described the reforms as evidence of Governor Sanwo-Olu’s resolve to reposition the state’s public service as an institution of excellence. “We are building not just a capable workforce, but a forward-looking, ethical, and performance-driven system that delivers results for all Lagosians,” he said.
