By Nofisat Marindoti
Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has urged civil servants in the state to give back to the society through their service, the measure of the salary they earn.
Aregbesola gave this charge while speaking at a book launch titled, “The Civil Service as a Cornerstone of Development in the State of Osun: The First 25 Years”.
In his speech titled: “A Toast To The Silent Guarantors Of Government” Ogbeni described the salary a civil servant earns as payment for the service which must be rendered.
He urged the civil servants to justify the salary they earn by striving to ensure that their immediate environment feel the impact of their service in all aspects of life.
According to him, “The civil service is the engine room of the government, the bureaucracy is essential for government to run and that is non-negotiable. However, what is debatable is the efficiency or otherwise of the bureaucracy. The salary a civil servant earns is the payment for the service that must be rendered to the people, a failure to do this is a sin to man and God.
“The civil service must rebuild itself to create a more descent and more humane society that will benefit all through the implementation of government policies that will better the lives of the people.
“The time has come when the civil service must take the issue of productivity very seriously, if we observe very well, efficiency is lacking and something must be urgently done about it.
“We should begin to see government as an enterprise in which results must be measurable to earnings for the benefit of all, the government and the civil service must work together to advance the interest of the people”. Aregbesola added.
In his speech, the guest speaker at the event who is a public administration expert, Prof. Ladipo Adamolekun, explained that the growth of the society can only be realised through a first class civil service that is non-partisan.
Adamolekun who is also a lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, while highlighting ways to make the civil service a strong cornerstone of development, said the service needs to be rebuilt, transformed and made to truly work as a first class institution.
“The civil service is responsible for the transformation of laudable government policies into action that are beneficial to the common people on the street.
“The civil service needs to be computer literate to move the society forward, I am happy that the Osun governor is already securing the future of Osun civil service in this regard. The introduction of “Opon Imo” to schools in Osun means that the future civil servants in Osun will definitely be computer literate”.Adamolekun added.