The Ogun State Head of Service, Mr. Olanrewaju Saka, has been called upon to continue to uphold the tenets and qualities of the State Civil/Public Service as handed over by forebears in order to have sustained and enhanced service delivery.

The call was made by the President, Association of Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries, Ogun State Chapter, the Very Revd. Adenrele Oduwaiye, when he led the newly sworn-in executive members of the Association to the Office of the Head of Service.

According to him, the enviable position the State Civil Service had attained amongst the comity of States must be retained so that the labour of the doyens of Public Service such as Late Chief Simeon Adebo, Late Chief. Odumosu and Late Chief A.A.K Degun, amongst others would not go to waste.

He said the welfare, training and retraining as well as provision of relevant modern technologies must be vigorously pursued in order to keep up the standard of performance in the Civil/Public Service. Revd. 

Oduwaiye, reiterated that mentorship, guidance and professional development of serving Permanent Secretaries, welfare of the Civil/Public Servants must be given priority attention, while administrative preparedness and management of political transition as well as inter-agency collaboration and coordination should  not be neglected.

He affirmed the sterling qualities inherent in the Head of Service as reflected in his deep concern for the elderly, sincere attention  to workers' welfare, commended him for his calm and humane disposition, with a charge for him to keep up the good qualities.

The President requested that all outstanding issues including restoration of full pension parity payment to all members, payment of balance of gratuities to some of the members, amongst others be looked into.

 Responding, the Head of Service, Mr. Olanrewaju Saka, appreciated the Body of experts and professionals who had made the Civil/Public Service proud by embedding institutional memories that would forever be cherished.

Referring to the Body as his backbone, the Head of Service assured that the cordial relationship already established would be maintained, while he would also keep enjoying their mentorship and leadership roles.

On the issues of outstanding pensions and gratuities raised, the Head of Service said the State Government had not relented and appreciated the Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, for his magnanimity at ensuring that backlogs to the tune of 10 years out of 12 years were offset, which earned the State an award recently as 'The Best Most Improved State in Pensions Administration'.

He assured that with their guidance and mentorship, the ball would not drop in his hands, as institutional memories would be etched in the history of the State.

Adding their voices, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mrs. Lydia Fajounbo and her counterpart from the Civil Service Commission, Mr. Jola Oyeneye, appreciated the forebears for their constant checks and mentorship, as the wisdom of elders could not be undermined.

They commended them for the wealth of experience they were always  dishing out to the work force  via training and retraining and solicited for more support, collaboration and mentorship.