By Sufuyan Ojeifo
In the life of any career, some moments define the road ahead. For Nigeria’s procurement professionals, that moment has arrived with the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) programme. Backed by the World Bank and led in the procurement space by the Bureau of Public Procurement, this is the biggest, most focused capacity-building initiative the procurement sector has ever seen.
To be clear, SPESSE is not simply another training programme. It is a national reform engine with a very personal impact. Civil servants who complete the certification will not only be better equipped to deliver value for money in public projects, but they will also gain access to a new and prestigious procurement cadre in the civil service.
An important point that must be stressed here is that only certified professionals will be eligible for promotion to this cadre. That means your career growth, your eligibility for higher responsibility, and your standing in the service could very soon depend on whether or not you hold this certification.
The question is not whether the certification will become a requirement. That decision has already been made. The question is whether you will take the opportunity now, while the training is still free, or wait until it comes at a cost.
Once the free window closes, the same course that is now fully funded under the SPESSE programme will require personal or agency budgets to access. Acting now means investing nothing but your time and attention to secure a certification that could define your professional future.
It goes without saying that this is also about performance. SPESSE was designed to address critical skills gaps identified in the procurement system. A baseline survey found that over 70 per cent of procurement officers lacked competence in e-procurement tools.
Moreover, nearly half of all awarded contracts failed to meet competitive bidding requirements. And less than a fifth of MDAs carried out environmental impact assessments before awarding major contracts. SPESSE tackles these gaps head-on with a curriculum anchored in practical, real-world needs.
Training is delivered through six Centres of Excellence at the University of Lagos, University of Benin, Ahmadu Bello University, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, the University of Agriculture in Makurdi, and the Federal University of Technology, Owerri.
To make things easier for anyone who wishes to enrol, the programmes are built for flexibility. There are short courses for officers already in service, master’s degrees in procurement science for those who want to go deeper, and executive programmes tailored for senior decision-makers. Modules cover contract management using AI-driven simulations, environmental and social standards based on World Bank case studies, and procurement data analytics with hands-on work in the National Open Contracting Portal.
For civil servants, the benefits are immediate and long-term; immediate, because you will be better prepared to manage contracts, ensure compliance, and deliver transparent, accountable results. Long-term, because your certification becomes a passport to career advancement in a service that is raising the bar for professional standards.
SPESSE is not just about ticking a training box. It is about being part of a new culture in public procurement, one where competence is non-negotiable and excellence is rewarded. The reforms we talk about in meetings and read about in memos need people to carry them out. Those people must be trained, certified, and ready to perform. This is your chance to be one of them.
Registration is open. The training is free for now. The value is permanent. The choice is yours. It is advised that you make the choice now.
● Sufuyan Ojeifo, MNGE, ANIPR, is a communication consultant at the BPP.
