Aiyedatiwa inaugurates N20m retired Head of Service, permanent secretaries’ secretariat, pledges continued support

The Ondo State Governor, Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has described the association of retired top government officials in the state as a deep repository of public service knowledge and experience which government will continue to tap from.

The governor made the description while inaugurating the newly reconstructed secretariat of the Association of Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries at Alagbaka in Akure, the state capital.

The governor was represented at the event by the state Head of Service(HoS), Mr Bayo Philip, according to a statement by Sina Adeyeye, Director of Media, office of HoS.

Aiyedatiwa said that the outstanding legacies of the seasoned administrators would always be remembered and built upon by his administration to move the public service to an enviable heights.

While promising that the association would be accorded a prime place under his administration, the governor said government would continue to rely on the wealth of experience of the senior citizens whenever the need arises.

His words, “government recognizes your association as a deep repository of public service knowledge, of how governance should run and a reference point of timeless bureaucratic wisdom.

“Government will give all the patronage required for this association to move forward. With you, Ondo State can move faster and farther at lesser cost,” he added.

The governor assured the gathering that the process of reactivating the trademark of integrity, probity, accountability and resourcefulness left by the retired officers in the state bureaucracy had began through various reforms programmes embarked upon by the government.

Earlier in his welcome address, the President of the association and former Secretary to the State Government and Head of Service, Prince Fioye Bajowa, called for support for the completion of outstanding projects to make the secretariat complex more befitting.

He thanked the government for giving the association the building to serve as its secretariat with a plea for more assistance to actualise other pending projects within the complex.

The event also featured fund raising for the outstanding projects under the chairmanship of Sanator Jide Ipinsagba as Chief Launcher as well as a lecture delivered by Prof. David Adeyemo.