Commissioning Of New Civil Service Secretariat Complex Named After Prof. Chike Edozien In Delta State

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SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE COMMISSIONING OF PROF. CHIKE EDOZIEN SECRETARIAT COMPLEX IN ASABA, DELTA STATE ON THE 29^TH OF NOVEMBER, 2021

PROTOCOLS

Your Excellency Governor Okowa, thank you very much for doing me the honour of sharing this historic occasion with you, the government, and the great people of Delta State.

This is historic because the seat of the civil service of any arm of government anywhere in the world is usually one of the major monuments enshrining not just the power, but also the splendour of the authority of government. This imposing complex clearly meets this requirement. In due course, such buildings become historical monuments.

The commissioning of this secretariat is special in at least two different ways. First, the civil service and the people of Delta are today being presented with a state-of-the-art, functional, and befitting secretariat complex after so many years. This in itself is worthy of great celebration and I shall return to that presently.  But the other is that the State is at the same time immortalizing the name of one of Delta State’s and indeed Nigeria’s most illustrious sons. His Royal Majesty Prof . Chike Edozien,  the Asagba of Asaba- Nigeria’s oldest living professor in any discipline and an internationally renowned Professor of Medicine, but more importantly an outstanding bridge-builder and patriot.

As Your Excellency confirms, His Majesty has played and continues to play an important role as a symbol of unity in this State. And that during his thirty-year reign so far, the town of Asaba has changed dramatically becoming the capital of the newly created Delta State in 1991 and has attracted people from far and wide that have come to seek their fortunes here.

His traditional leadership has ensured that the growth and increasing diversity of Asaba have proceeded without tension and antagonism among her people.

Your Excellency, I believe that in naming this building after His Royal Majesty, you are not just celebrating a highly respected and deserving son of Delta State and Nigeria, you are also signaling the sort of excellence in public service that we wish to see incubated within this complex.

But perhaps more importantly, you are saying to a generation, not old enough to be employed in the civil service today, that integrity, diligence, and service to community and country still pay.  It is my hope that this place will, like the eminent personage after whom it is named, be a symbol of unity and distinction.

But there is more for which the governor of Delta State deserves commendation. Despite dwindling revenue receipts and severe resource constraints across all levels of government in our country, you have been able to provide the funding for this project.

Also, your recognition of the critical role of the public sector is notable. Whether we are talking about the need for more internally generated revenues and greater tax efficiency to compensate for resource deficits, or the management of a public health crisis such as a pandemic, or even the drive for more internally generated revenue, it is the capacity of the public sector that is invariably at issue.

Consequently, the civil service is the very tip of the spear of governance. Optimal public service delivery requires an efficient civil service.

Such a public service requires training, and capacity building but also workspaces that are well equipped, conducive, and inspirational. We have heard already how inspired the public servants today are and they are even spending long hours in the office. This is very commendable indeed.

Public servants require environments that bring out the best in them. This secretariat complex will provide such an environment.

Let me conclude by congratulating the Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, on the completion of this very important project which is yet another demonstration of what you’ve shown over the years that with visionary leadership, State Governments can do incredible things indeed. This one is surely one of your worthwhile legacies. Well done indeed.

God bless Delta State.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Congratulations everyone.