By Mohammed Mohammed
In tandem with the ongoing reform in the Service, the Head of the Civil Service of Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan has urged newly elected Permanent Secretaries to make hard-work, excellence, discipline and meritocracy their watch-word in discharging their duties.
Dr. Yemi-Esan gave the charge while declaring open a two-day induction workshop organised for the new Permanent Secretaries on Thursday in Abuja.
She stressed that the level of transparency and scrutiny adopted in their selection process should give an insight to the kind of culture envisaged for the service.
As drivers of the engine room of government, she urged them to bring new ideas into the administrative processes for them to make remarkable impact, adding that as technical personnel, the success or failure of their ministries depend solely on their value addition.
“I implore you to leverage on the pool of knowledge and experiences of your colleague Permanent Secretaries so as to take a well-informed position’’ she stated.
She admonished them to take ownership of all reform programmes of the Federal Government, including the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP 2017-2020) and the succession plan (2021-2025).
Yemi-Esan also advised them not to betray the public trust by not seeing their new positions as an opportunity to amass wealth while urging them to bring ingenuity, fiscal discipline, prudence and accountability to bear in administering public funds and resources.
“You must justify the confidence the executive and other arms of government have in the Federal Civil Service by living above board in carrying out the functions of the Office.’’ She added.
She also encouraged them to make a difference in their MDAs by applying diplomacy and ensure harmonious working relationship in their dealings with Minsters who are the political heads in the MDAs, Directors, Labour Unions and the general public.
The HoS enjoined them to align with the policies and ideological direction of government so as to deepen and fast-tract the gains of democracy.
The workshop was organised to equip the new Permanent Secretaries with the requisite skills, tact and temperament in discharging their functions.