My refusal to compromise led to my early retirement at 48, says Oyegun
Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, at the weekend, described as terrible, the welfare of public workers in the state before his administration repositioned the workforce to be number one in the country. 
   
Obaseki said this at the inauguration of the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy (JOOPSA), in Benin City, in honour of the former governor, John Odigie Oyegun, who, yesterday, marked his 84th birthday anniversary. 
   
Lamenting how bad things were in the state civil service prior to his administration, the governor said: “Welfare of workers was terrible, and I wondered why the civil servants allowed their situation to deteriorate to such an extent.
   
“There was nothing like performance management. Nothing was done strategically, and criteria for promotion were never merit-based. You must belong to society to be considered. Training and capacity development were relegated.”

The governor expressed appreciation to all guests present, stating: “Thank you all for attending this formal inauguration of the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy JOOPSA, which is an institution built to transform public and civil service delivery, bridging the knowledge gap of our public servants.
   
Obaseki said his administration has instituted several policies to transform the public service, ensuring it delivers effective and efficient service to the people of Edo.
   
The governor added: “The ability of a government to execute its policies is largely dependent on the quality and ability of its public servants. That is why transformation of the public service, from the beginning of our administration, has been a priority.
    
“It was clear that it would be impossible to deliver on the mandate of our administration without a strong and effective public and civil service. Unfortunately, the public service we met was very weak in several areas. 
   
“Its processes and procedures have become vague, because they were manual. Therefore, the civil service was sluggish and prone to corruption. 
   
“It is now important to change the narrative if we are to succeed in repositioning Edo for sustainable socio-economic growth.”
   
He noted that, in the last six years, his administration has taken a holistic approach to revamp the public and civil service in the state to enable it function effectively and efficiently.
Meanwhile, Oyegun has disclosed that his refusal to compromise as Permanent Secretary in the Federal Civil Service during the military regime led to his early retirement at 48.
   
Oyegun made the disclosure, at the weekend, in Benin, in his remarks at the formal commissioning of JOOPSA.
   
The celebrant, who commended the governor for his developmental strides in the state, as well as transformation of the civil/public service, called on civil servants to be committed, dedicated and upright in their service to the state as they will get their reward for it.