President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has said that his administration would transform the Federal Civil Service into a service par excellence.
The President made this pledge when he spoke through Vice President Arc Mohammed Namadi Sambo at the Send-off Ceremony in honour of two past Heads of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Stephen Oronsaye and Professor Oladapo Afolabi, which held on Friday at the State House, Abuja.
President Jonathan acknowledging that meaningful growth and development of the country has direct bearing with the quality of the Civil Service disclosed that “It is in line with this thinking that I have recently approved the restructuring of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to enable it drive the transformation of the Service. It is envisaged that at the end of the restructuring, the present five (5) office structure would be reduced to three (3) leading to slimmer, more efficient and fit-for-purpose organization devoid of overlaps, duplications and fragmentation, more responsive and better able to provide quality management, direction and guidance to the Federal Civil Service.”
Accordingly, he charged the current leadership of the Service to ensure that the tenets of the restructuring are carried out to the letter.
President Jonathan while noting the significant contributions of the two former top Civil Servants towards repositioning the Civil Service stated that “Any effort that is aimed at celebrating merit especially on delivery of public goods will receive our support because that is one way we can ensure that the citizens who have given us the mandate to rule are not shortchanged.”
He therefore urged the celebrants to share their wealth of experience and guide succeeding leadership of the Civil Service on the best human and material management practices.
In his remark the current Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Isa Bello Sali appreciated the contributions of the duo in their quest to attain excellence in the service. He used the opportunity to reaffirm the commitment of the Civil Service towards the realization of the developmental goals of government.
Responding on behalf of the Celebrities, Mr. Stephen Oronsaye thanked President Jonathan, Vice President Sambo, Head of Service of the Federation as well as Civil Servants across the country for the recognition accorded them .
He, however, challenged the Civil Servants to strive hard in transforming the civil service for greater efficiency and effective service delivery.
He pledged that they would continue to support and advice the government on how best to move the nation forward for the general good of the society.
The event which was attended by serving and retired government functionaries, witnessed the display of various cultural dances and presentation of awards to the celebrants.
