By Emmanuella Oghenetega
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Didi Esther Walson-Jack, has charged newly appointed Permanent Secretaries to provide purposeful leadership and accelerate ongoing reforms in the Federal Civil Service.
She made this statement at the 2-day Induction Programme held in Abuja.
The HCSF, in her keynote address stated that the newly appointed leaders assumed office at a pivotal moment and are entrusted with the strategic responsibility of steering the machinery of government to achieve the nation’s goals.
She congratulated the five (5) new Permanent Secretaries, whose appointments she described as a testament to merit, competence, and years of distinguished service. The appointees will oversee critical Service-wide Offices that form the backbone of governance coordination.
The HCSF underscored the urgency of achieving a fully paperless Federal Civil Service, describing digitalisation as a bedrock of transparency and modern governance, and therefore urged the new leaders to lead the transition with firmness and by example.
Mrs. Walson-Jack further charged the Permanent Secretaries to fully embody core personal and service values in their leadership declaring that their mandate is both expansive and profound. “You are custodians of institutional memory, architects of system stability, catalysts of reform, and guardians of ethical Public Service values,” Mrs. Walson-Jack stated.
She admonished them to uphold the highest ethical standards, champion digital transformation, and deliver results that positively touch the lives of citizens.
Earlier, the former Permanent Secretary, Career Management Office, Mrs. Fatima Mahmood, welcomed the appointees, stating that the Service is counting on their leadership to accelerate digitalisation and entrench lasting reforms.
She said the induction programme marked a defining leadership transition in their distinguished public service career and a formal commencement of a critical phase of national responsibility, one that demands clarity, courage, discipline, and a deep commitment to the ideals of the Federal Civil Service.
The new Permanent Secretaries and their offices are: Alh. Abdulkarim Ozi Ibrahim, Dr. John Chidiebere Ezeamama, Dr. Abdul Sule Usman Garba, Dr. Ishiyaku Musa Mohammed, Dr. Ukaire Binyerem Chigbowu.
The intensive 2-day programme featured engagements with resource persons, including leading policy experts and seasoned administrators who provided the new Permanent Secretaries with critical insights, practical tools, and strategic frameworks essential for excelling in their roles as leaders of policy formulation and drivers of the nation’s key reform initiatives.
