The State House on Monday recognised and rewarded 38 State House staff from various departments for their hard work and dedication to duty.
The awards, divided into senior and junior staff categories, were presented by the Permanent Secretary of the State House, Olufunso Adebiyi, and saw a Clerical Officer in the Transport Department, Innocent Ekhobhiye, winning the Vice President’s productivity award of N1m.
38 awardees received their certificates and a wrapped gift from the State House and each picked a wrapped note from a basket. The staff member who picked the note with “yes” won the N1m prize money.
Other awardees were Rosemary Ezeugoh and Mr Waheed Shobande of the Media and Publicity department.
The State House Director of Information, Mr. Abiodun Oladunjoye, announced this in a statement signed titled ‘State House Productivity reward: clerical officer wins N1m VPs award, State House gets three permanent secretaries-designate.’
On the Productivity/Recognition/Staff Reward Ceremony, the Permanent Secretary reiterated the commitment of the State House Management to acknowledge and reward staff members who demonstrate hard work, dedication to duty and value addition in service delivery.
He stated that the reward system was a means of encouragement and motivation for other staff to strive for excellence.
Adebiyi pledged continuous training and retraining of staff, adding that under the State House digitalisation programme all members of staff would receive necessary training to enhance service delivery.
“We have already trained no fewer than 500 staff on the digitalisation programme, and in the coming days, every staff from grade level 8 and above will receive further training in groups of 50.
“We just completed our manpower defence at the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and it went excellently well.
“Better training and better allowances are coming your way. However, better services are required from you,” he said.
Adebiyi also appealed to the staff to take their health very seriously as their productivity depended heavily on that.
“The State House Medical Centre is highly rated among healthcare facilities of MDAs in the country.
“Please, let us take care of our health. Why must we go through avoidable health challenges?
“Let us avail ourselves of the health facilities available to us, and they are available,” the Permanent Secretary counselled staff.
Deputy Chief of Staff, Senator Ibrahim Hadejia, congratulated the award recipients and expressed State House Management’s appreciation for the invaluable contributions of every staff member.
He explained that the financial reward from the Office of the Vice President was meant to further encourage staff to add value to their job schedules.
“It is very wonderful to meet the men and women who form the backroom and operations of State House. Most times it is only the political appointees that are visible, but those who do the heavy lifting behind the scenes are not known and recognised.
“I thank the Permanent Secretary for creating this opportunity for staff to be recognised, and I trust this is something that we can do from time to time to keep up your spirits, and keep you motivated.
“We absolutely appreciate the work you are doing in State House” he said.
The Permanent Secretary also announced eight newly-appointed Permanent Secretaries in the Federal Civil Service by President Bola Tinubu. Three are from the State House Clinic.
The newly appointed Permanent Secretaries from the State House are: Dr Obi Vitalis, Dr Keshinro Ismaila and Dr. Emanso Okop.
He noted this appointment is testament to the high level of commitment and dedication of the State House staff.