By Olufunke Akinwumi
For Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, a greater chunk of who is who in the Service and her teeming admirers, it was a day that will never be forgotten in a hurry and indeed a glorious night full of pomp and pageantry when the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM), the apex regulatory body for Human Resource Management practice in Nigeria, honoured her with a well-deserved iconic award.
In her usual down-to-earth humbleness and candour, Dr. Yemi-Esan visibly elated said she was overwhelmed and short of words to express her appreciation ‘‘I give God all the glory. It’s God that has helped me so far while receiving the award from the Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige.
She proceeded immediately to dedicate the award to the Permanent Secretaries in her office and the entire staff of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
The award ceremony was part of the Institute’s 2020 Fellows Awards and Human Resources professionals who have carved a niche for themselves in Nigeria’s public service sector and corporate world in service delivery.
The ceremony attracted the crème de la crème of various top-notch organizations and corporate players involved in the drive for human resources development in the country, culminating in eighteen deserving seasoned Human Resources Professional members of the Institute who were also conferred with the Institute’s highest professional grade – Fellows award at the ceremony held in Abuja.
However, the high point of the ceremony was when the erudite Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan was presented with the CIPMHR icon award was presented by its President, Mr. Wale Adediran.
Resplendent with an expressive excitement, Adediran, acknowledged HoS dogged feat recognition of in revolutionizing the public service by introducing and driving HR standardised processes that are aligned with global benchmark and best practices.
The President said Yemi-Esan is a definition of Nigeria’s quintessential ‘Chief Human Resources Officer of the Federation’ because of the passion that she has brought to her calling.
This though is not without a reason as according to the CIPM boss, since assuming the mantle of leadership as Head of Service, Yemi-Esan has embarked on a ‘New Civil Service’ agenda that emphasized capacity
building, a new Performance Management System (PMS), digitization of service for optimal delivery, innovation service, focus on welfare of civil servants, data analytics and culture transformation.
Adediran commended the Head of Service for enabling the Charted Institute, in cohorts with her office to deliver series of performance management workshops involving two thousand officers.
He concluded ‘‘This highlight is just a little bit of the great feats of our very own Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, we know for a fact that she is not done yet…there is much more greatness and impact to come’’.
The Vice-President of the Institute, Mrs. Titi Akinsanya, who also delivered a heart-moving citation regaled the audience with the story of how the Head of Service once stayed in the office beyond 9 p.m. At the time, Mrs. Akinsanya was serving in the office reviewing the transformation process in the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.
Olufunke Taiwo Akinwumi is a Strategic Communication Officer, in the Office of the Head of Service.
