…your service is to God and the people, Obaseki admonishes recruits
By John Ewah and Violet Obamwonyi
The merit-based hiring approach of the current administration in Edo State has brought in over one thousand (1,000) young graduate professionals into the state’s public service; a feat that was hitherto impossible due to nepotism and favouritism by past administrations.
Attracting the best hands into the state’s public service has been one of the focal points of the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration in driving the current reforms in the state’s civil and public service.
This has led to the radical overhaul of the Service with diverse transformation programmes, including the hiring of young graduate professionals into the system, as the administration sees the civil service as the fulcrum of government which needs competent hands in its day to day running of government activities.
As such, the Obaseki administration has been deliberate in its effort to bring young and competent hands into the system without any form of interference or influence from political bigwigs. For the Obaseki administration, it is no longer business as usual as it was in time past. The recruitment process today has followed a consistent and transparent trajectory, which continues to offer equal opportunities to all qualified residents of the state, ensuring only the qualified, irrespective of their affiliations, are recruited.
There has been several batches of such recruitment exercises into the state’s civil and public service. The current batch which was just onboarded on the 26th of January 2023, at the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy (JOOPSA) has a total of 219 recruits.
Declaring the event open, the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki charged the recruits to work smart and shun corruption, bearing in mind that their responsibility is to God and the people.
According to Obaseki: “I want to congratulate you and thank God for your life and pray that as you start a new career today, you will end well. Three things I would want to point out to you today is that because you earned this appointment based on merit, please note that your responsibility is to God and your people. not to any man. So, if anybody wants you to do something that you know is not right, do not do it
“Secondly do not be corrupt. Things are tough, but when you look around you, you would see many other people things are even tougher for. We must think of a way to resolve it together. Thirdly, you have to work smart. The civil service we are handling over to you today is different from what we met. We thank God that you are young people and you belong to a new technology age. So all of our offerings and services we are going to be providing the public in this state, now and in the future, is mostly going to be anchored on technology. And this is because it gives us more transparency, allows us to know what everybody is doing; that is, you see how you are serving the people and get immediate feedback from them”.
In his welcome address, the Edo State Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa Esq., thanked the Governor on behalf of the newly recruited officers. Tagging the Governor ‘champion of the public service’, Okungbowa commended the Governor’s unprecedented manner in which the service has developed and grown under his watch.
Okungbowa noted: “We have seen Governors in Edo State but we have not seen anyone like him. I was appointed in 1999 and immediately after our appointment, on the very first day I had to go to work. I did not even have the benefit of half a day for onboarding. But today we have a set of young men and women in the Service who have been given a 10-day intensive onboarding programme. The Governor needs to be applauded for this.
“It is the first month of the year. Many Governors in Nigeria are just settling down, but Mr. Governor is already employing people into the public service first month of the year. Today Edo State workers are the best paid in the federation. I can go on and on to tell you so many things this administration has done in an unprecedented manner in the whole of the State”.
Speaking on the frequency of promotion of workers in the state’s public service, Okungbowa said: “As we speak, Edo State has no arrears of promotion. The Governor has even called me to ask for the file for 2022 promotion. I was trying to explain to him and put the financial implication into consideration especially in this dwindling economical period, and he categorically told me that those who deserve to be promoted, I should go ahead and promote them”.
Okungbowa also stressed on the need for the newly recruited officers to carry out their duties with utmost commitment, and contribute their quota to the current transformation in the state’s public service, urging them to imbibe the spirit of diligence.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Strategy, Planning, Projects and Performance Management, Mrs. Sarah Adeogun-Ajose also acquainted the officers of the state government’s aspirations and priorities in furtherance of the MEGA Agenda of the Governor, while advising the recruits of the reward for excellence.
The new recruits were full of excitement as they thank the Edo State Government for the opportunity given to them to serve and counted themselves fortunate for coming onboard the service under the tenure of Governor Obaseki. They expressed satisfaction with the merit-based recruitment process, noting that, only that could have brought them on board as they knew no one in government.
