The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack, has linked improved welfare for civil servants to more efficient and responsive public service delivery.

She also indicated that workers who are less burdened by transportation challenges are better positioned to perform their duties.

Walson-Jack spoke yesterday in Abuja at the commissioning of the Renewed Hope Mass Transit Electric Buses introduced for federal civil servants.

She said the initiative should be viewed beyond the provision of transportation, describing it as an intervention aimed at improving productivity, dignity and safety within the Federal Civil Service.

According to her, the daily struggle associated with transportation can leave workers financially, physically and emotionally drained before they even begin their duties.

“A Civil Servant who arrives at work already spent financially, physically, and emotionally cannot give Government the best of themselves; one who arrives with a little more of the day still intact can,” she said.

The HCSF said the intervention was therefore designed to help workers arrive at their duty posts in better condition and, in turn, contribute more effectively to government business.

She, however, challenged beneficiaries to reciprocate the government’s investment by demonstrating greater punctuality, productivity and commitment to duty.

Walson-Jack also urged those responsible for managing the buses to prioritise their maintenance and sustainability, stressing that the initiative should outlive individual office holders.

“I may leave office tomorrow, but these buses and the reform journey of the Federal Civil Service must keep moving. There should be no breakdown on either route,” she said.

She expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, the National Automotive Design and Development Council, the Service Welfare Office and other stakeholders involved in delivering the initiative.

The HCSF said the ultimate objective of welfare interventions in the civil service was to ensure “better, faster and more responsive service delivery” to Nigerians.

She thereafter formally commissioned the Renewed Hope Mass Transit Electric Buses for the Federal Civil Service, describing the intervention as part of broader efforts to improve the working conditions and effectiveness of federal civil servants.