Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has said that his administration will continue to advocate ethical and effective leadership in the civil/public service of the state.
The governor stated this on Thursday at the 2024 Theophilus Akinyele Memorial Symposium themed “Reinventing Leadership and Ethics in Public Service,” held at the Theojoy Library, Theo Tower, New Bodija, Ibadan.
According to the governor, most of the challenges being faced by the country were due to the dearth of ethical and effective leadership at the level of civil/public service.
He lauded the late former Head of Service/Secretary to the State Government, Pa Theophilus Akinyele, for his service to the state and the nation, noting that he and his contemporaries, who joined the civil/public service at the time, were the best of the best and they showed dedication to the country.
Governor Makinde added that his decision to prioritise the welfare of workers through the prompt payment of salaries on 25th of every month and other measures had helped in reinventing and creating stability for workers in the state and also led to positive changes in their attitude to work.
He said: “The issue of ethical and effective leadership in the civil/public service is a topical one.”
He added, “During Baba Akinyele’s time, the best of the best joined the Civil Service and they were well paid. They were dedicated until Nigeria happened to us and the country threw away the baby with the bath water.
“Yes, we had issues; oil price crashed and the economy was not going well and we should not have been in that position in the first place.
“Before now, without oil money, they built Cocoa House, the first TV station in Africa and implemented free education.
“Farm settlements were being set up then. We are just trying to fix Fasola and Eruwa Farm Settlements to diversify the economy of Oyo State, but some people had the dream before now because the best of the best were coming to work in the civil service.
“The people that showed dedication to the country were left hanging. As soon as we hit economic turbulence, they were the first to go. So, how do you now convince the people coming behind to show dedication?
“I believe that we need to take a step; over-depending on oil money will not take us beyond what we are seeing right now. So, we need to attract the best of our best to come to the civil service.
“That is why since we came in 2019, we said, look, payment of salary every 25th of the month would be sacrosanct. Part of why we took the decision was to start reinventing things and start creating stability for the public sector workers.
“I must admit that I have noticed a major shift in attitude since I came in. So, I would like to thank the HOS.
“We will continue to remember Baba, because he deposited certain things in some of us and we will continue to exhibit that and push for ethical leadership both at the state and the federal levels.”
The governor also promised to bring Pa Akinyele’s vision for the development and urbanisation of Ajia community in Egbeda Local Government Area of the state to fruition.
He said: “We worked on a particular project together because Baba Akinyele’s passion for the development of Ajia is second to none.
“The Federal Government awarded the contract to dualise the Ibadan-Ife road with a spur to Ajia, but if you go to Abuja to check the document, they have done the road but nobody touched the Ajia end.
“So, both of us thought of what to do and contributed money to fix the road. We needed the approval of the Federal Government, which they failed to give us. But when I became the governor, I awarded it and Baba was there the day we flagged the project off.
“We went to a place in South Africa to see a few places and to give us a vision of how Ajia should look some years to come. I want to assure you that what we saw, that’s how Ajia would look like. That’s a promise from me,” he added.
