By Teniola Blessing.
The Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Chief (Mrs) Christianah Monisade Afuye, has maintained that hardwork, loyalty and honesty of the civil servants are pivotal traits needed to actualise the success of the Biodun Oyebanji’s administration.
Mrs Afuye stated that the current government would continually synergise with the civil servants for the implementation of its six-point policy thrust geared towards overhauling the thematic areas of the economy to touch the lives of Ekiti populace positively .
Mrs Afuye spoke in Ado Ekiti, during a training programme organised for the staff of the Deputy Governor’s office titled: ‘Essential Leadership Strategies and Skills for Competent Ekiti State Civil Servants’, delivered by an Associate Professor, Dr. Oke Aruleba.
The Deputy Governor, who agreed that regular trainings for the civil servants is a sine-qua-non to development, urged the bureaucrats to embrace every platform being provided by government to broaden their horizons for effective service delivery.
She applauded the staff and resource person for conceptualising the in-house training, describing this as one of the ways to rejuvenate and fortify the service.
The Deputy Governor, urged the civil servants to perceive themselves as partners and allies in the giant leaps being made by Oyebanji’s government to radicalise Ekiti in terms of developments, and in all facets of the economy.
“I hope our staff will embrace this kind of training that is being offered by our resource person pro bono. They shouldn’t only participate, they should assimilate the knowledge being impacted. I know that with this training, some of us will make amends and be more dedicated to service delivery.
“The Biodun Oyebanji’s government is incurably committed to reward outstanding, hardworking, honest and dedicated civil servants for them to be more zealous and committed to better productivity in the discharge of their duties”, she said.
In his lecture, Dr. Aruleba, urged the civil servants to cultivate the habit of hardwork and self- development, saying; “You can’t keep Ekiti working, when you can’t keep yourself working”.
The academic added that they should act as true agents of change in the system, by eschewing corruption, pull-him-down syndrome, conspiracy and other nefarious activities that can derail government’s progress.
The Don stated; “Change your attitude to work, be productive and be change agents. If you check the present Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, he is working the talk. You have to make yourself work, so that you can make Ekiti work, especially by contributing to the realisation of the 2050 development plan of Ekiti State.
“Your thoughts and outputs must be positive. Your thoughts and outputs shouldn’t be negative. You have to be in the know and in the flow to keep Ekiti working, and you need to be extraordinary to achieve this height”.
The renowned academic added further; “Embrace self development and place high value on yourselves to attract recognition and promotion. Keeping Ekiti working is a task that must be achieved.
“Be determined, purposeful, resolute and focused. Let us think of the future. Dallas is the 23rd largest economy in the world. However, the State is landlocked just like Ekiti, but the geographical entity is not skylocked. Some people built it into one of the largest economies in the global space.
“Value the concepts of integrity, honesty, hardwork, respect, team spirit and be a game changer. Let us have a good attitude about Nigeria and Ekiti. A word of benediction can change everything. Don’t rain curses on your country state and leaders, but pray for them”.
The Permanent Secretary, office of the Deputy Governor, Mr. Abayomi Opeyemi, said the programme was specifically designed for civil servants to be imbued with more knowledge to spur better productivity.
“This is for our staff to acquire up- to- date knowledge and skills. We will liaise with other agencies and cascade to other sections of the civil service. Let us speak good of Ekiti. Let us be loyal to the government and being loyal is not by eye -service , but by our commitments to duties”.
