Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo has urged the Federal Government to make pensioners’ welfare a priority, saying that the practice of delaying their pensions for years must be stopped.
Dankwambo, who spoke yesterday at a reception held in his honour by the Head of Service of the Federation, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi, said that it had become pertinent if there must be a sustained civil service that would continue to be the toast of the nation.
Others who honoured included the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms. Amal Pepple and the immediate past Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed.
Thanking the Head of Service for the gesture extended to them, Dankwambo said that his experience in the civil service provided him the opportunity and strength to prepare for the governance of Gombe State.
He challenged the civil service to remain professional in the discharge of its duties and noting that it remained the only way through which the federal government’s transformation agenda could be achieved.
Welcoming guests earlier, Prof Afolabi, extolled the virtues of the three honourees and said that their stay in office marked a watershed in the nation’s history as they introduced several policies and schemes that helped to strengthen and professionalise the Federal civil service.
Afolabi, said that they trio were a source of inspiration to civil servants not only at the federal level but across the country, and added that their footsteps were worthy of emulation.
He called on others to follow their footprints as through that, the civil service would continue to be the mechanism for the realisation of the Nigerian dream.
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