Activities marking the Year 2023 Lagos State Public Service Week came to the highest point on Wednesday, with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu rewarding 10 outstanding civil servants with grand prizes at the end of the weeklong event.
The prize winners – five each in both junior and senior cadres – were picked by a raffle draw openly held at a special luncheon organised at the Marriott Hotel, Ikeja GRA.
A total of 156 outstanding officers, adjudged to have fulfilled the requirements for the Public Service Award, were recommended for recognition out of which 10 public officers emerged as winners. The nominations cut across the mainstream service, 89 MDAs, and Local Government Service.
An office cleaner and two clerical staff in Grade Levels 2, 4 and 5 were among the five finalists in the junior cadre who won the Governor’s N5 million cash prize.
Five other winners in the senior cadre went home with a brand new Geely Mikano saloon car.
Introduced 22 years ago, the Public Service Week was the fourth edition to be held under the Sanwo-Olu administration.
The Governor said his administration sustained the tradition of marking public service week in fulfillment of his promise to reward and celebrate excellent performance, stressing that the awards served as motivation and encouragement for the employees in the State’s workforce to continue putting in their best efforts in the service of Lagosians.
Sanwo-Olu said the recognition underscored staff’s commitment in ensuring the successful implementation of his Government’s policies and programmes, which, he said, were aimed at elevating the living conditions of the people, while creating a conducive environment for investment, job and wealth creation.
He said: “I am delighted to acknowledge the high level of dedication, commitment and professionalism that the workforce in the Lagos State Public Service has continued to demonstrate and which have been a major factor in our achievements. Our civil servants have continuously lived up to the reputation and expectation of the quality of human resource required by a modern, vibrant, progressive and cosmopolitan city such as Lagos.
“This luncheon is a special recognition undertaken by our administration to acknowledge the contributions of civil servants in ensuring the successful implementation of our policies and programmes, which are aimed at elevating the living conditions of our people and also creating a conducive environment for investment, job and wealth creation.
“We have always shown commitment towards improving and prioritising the welfare of our workforce for increased productivity. We remain committed to this ideal, especially in the face of the current economic hardship being experienced as a result of the difficult but inevitable measures being implemented by the Federal Government to reposition our economy on a path of sustainable growth and development.”
Sanwo-Olu assured the State’s employees that the palliative measures rolled out by his Government towards cushioning the current hardship would not be discontinued until stability returned to the economy.
The Governor promised that the interventions being implemented to reduce the hardship would make workers’ living conditions better, urging the civil servants to continue to give in their best to the service of the State.
He congratulated the prize recipients for their loyalty and dedication to work, noting that the reward was to motivate them for more work.
“Our administration will continue to rely on the dedication, commitment and loyalty of the State workforce to deliver on our mandate which is to significantly surpass our achievements in our first tenure,” Sanwo-Olu said.
Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, noted that the Public Service Week was a special occasion that offered workers in all cadres a privilege to wine and dine with the Governor.
The Week, Muri-Okunola said, featured various outreach programmes, including free blood pressure test and free screening for life-threatening diseases, such as cervical, breast and prostate cancer, diabetes and hepatitis.
There was also special Jumat and Inter-Denominational Thanksgiving Services, Walk for Fitness, visitation to charity organisations, Long Service Merit Award and a show tagged “Alausa Got Talent Series V”.
The HOS said: “I use this occasion to re-assure Mr. Governor of the continued total commitment and dedication of the entire Lagos State Public Service to effective and timely service delivery and efficient implementation of policies and programmes of the Government towards the realisation of the ‘THEMES Plus’ Agenda and collective dream of a Greater Lagos Rising.”
