Obaseki and His Uncommon Flair For Strong Institutions

As I tried to recall any leader in history who has shown so much concern for our institutions in Edo, my mind easily brought back some lines from Henry Barlow's poem, a satirical irony, "Building The Nation". 
And I quote..... 

"Today I did my share in building the nation. I drove the Permanent Secretary to an Important urgent function...."
...Off quote.

My interest is to use these abstracted lines as a metaphor to underscore commitment to duty.

Governor Godwin Obaseki's show of deep concern for the revival, re-engineering and repositioning of institutions that will outlive political innuendos is an act of nation building and has taken the front burner, perhaps for the umpteenth time.

Follow my prop, and you will recall that on assumption of office on Monday, 14th November, 2016, at about 8am, Mr Obaseki was conducted round his office and introduced to his staff by the number one Permanent Secretary and Head of Service, Mrs Idahor Gladys.

Next was a tour by Mr Obaseki round Government House, Palm House, Secretariat and Civil Service Commission Buildings to have a first hand assessment at the work environments of Edo workers. That is history today as massive renovations and reconstructions at Government House, Block C and Civil Service buildings as well as High Court Complex B are by-product of those visits.

You will also recall that on 12th July, Mr Godwin sworn in 13 new Permanent Secretaries who were carefully selected following a competitive examination. This was a clear deviation from the old order and the enthronement of meritocracy in service.

On Monday, 18th December 2017, 2 PS' retired and surprisingly, Mr Governor through his SSG took time out of very busy schedules to bid them farewell and thank them for their immense contribution to Edo State.

“On behalf of the State Government and the good people of the state, I thank the retiring permanent secretaries for their dedication to duty, commitment, zeal and contributions in promoting the development of the state,” he said.

He said, “without the civil servants, it would be nearly impossible for the state government to carryout policy reforms nor drive economic growth in the state.”

Barr S. O. Uhunmwangho, PS, Office of The Head of Service, one of the 12 sworn in and E. T. Idahosa, PS, Central Administration were presented with retirement gifts from the Governor.

In his belief that Edo State must play its leading and envious role in quality human resource and capacity development for Civil Service and civil servants as it was during the colonial and post independence periods, Mr Godwin Obaseki established a state-of-the-art Training Center in Government House to serve as a hub for capacity building.

The duo who were presented by the HOS expressed gratitude to the governor for the opportunity given to them to serve the state and contribute their quota to the development of the state.