Civil service deserves best brains, says Fashola

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Friday called for a return to the good old days when the best brains in terms of manpower output from Nigerian higher institutions are recruited for the civil service.

Governor Fashola who spoke when he received the Head of Service of the Federation, Ms I. Ama Pepple on a courtesy visit to the Lagos House, Alausa added that it is very ironic that the best brains are no longer being attracted to the civil service .

He reiterated that it is only when the best materials are recruited and put at the helm of public service that informed advice can be given to political leaders.

He added that the public service should not be the place for second best materials but only the best as represented by people like Ms Pepple should be good for the Nigerian public service.

He advised all public servants to be courageous to always advise political leaders truthfully as they only represent birds of passage that are armed with a vision of what they intend to achieve in office.

Governor Fashola also called for the elimination of the fear of the future among public servants as an antidote to the problem of abuse of office by public servants.

He said this can be achieved through a simplification of the process of administration of gratuity and pension of retired officers in such a way that it is made less cumbersome for a retiree to get his pension immediately after retirement.

He reiterated that it could be morale dampening for a retired officer who has used the better part of his life in serving the state to retire and be subjected to rigorous hurdles such as having to produce his letter of first appointment before his pensions could be processed.

The Governor commended the groundbreaking initiative of Ms Pepple for going round the federation, saying with the exercise, she is feeling the pulse of the nation instead of staying in Abuja and using that as a yardstick for the whole federation.

He reminded that Nigeria is a federation under which the needs of one component state would be different from the other such that it should not be a one size fits all arrangement, saying the Federal Government should benefit from the present exercise.

He advised that such visit should be done in advance in future so that it can form the bedrock of decisions that would be taken by political leaders.

He charged that the state and Federal authorities should seek means to resolve the issue of pensions which has remained an albatross between both parties, adding that if resolved it would break the barrier of mistrust.

He advised that both parties should always interrelate always because disagreements if allowed to fester does no one no good, saying when "when we interrelate, we help our people and our country".

He described the HOS of the Federation as a woman who signposts the leadership role that women are more urgently and rapidly taking.

Earlier, the HOS of the Federation, Ms I. Ama Pepple had congratulated the Governor on his achievements since assuming office, admitting that she has noticed a very clean city of Lagos while visiting federal establishments in the state.

She promised to take up the issue of refund of pension contributions by the state to the federal coffers after being fully briefed on the issue.

Ms Pepple who said she was in Lagos to see federal establishments thanked the Governor for providing over 40 buses to convey workers to and fro the office on a daily basis.

She commended the Governor for also providing good accommodation to civil servants and making arrangement for mortgage loans for civil servants to own the houses, saying this would motivate the workers to put in more efforts.