The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (FMWH) has recognized and rewarded 37 members of staff for their outstanding performance in their service delivery in 2020.
They were given the award at a Recognition and Reward Ceremony held in Abuja on Monday.
The staff included Mr. Ibi Manasseh, Director, Highways Planning and Development, Most Outstanding Director Award 2020, Mr. Henry David, Principal Information Officer, Press and Public Relations Unit.
Others are Mr. Solomon Alimi, Chief Administration Officer, Planing Research and Statistics, Best Performing Senior Staff Award 2020, Mrs Rakiya Haruna, Senior Quantity Surveyor, Public Building and Housing Development Department to mention a few.
Speaking at the event, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federal, Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan, commended the staff for displaying a high sense of duty and responsibility worthy of recognition in spite of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Esan, who was represented by Dr Ngozi Onwudiwe, a staff of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, noted the most important resource of any organisation was the human resource.
She insisted that government was no exception as it required a highly professional, competent and result-oriented workforce to effectively discharge its objectives.
“Managing human resource for efficient and effective service delivery requires a whole lot of skills and tools, which though are well known but have not been accorded their right of place in the Public Service.
“It is against this background that the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation developed the Federal Civil Service Strategy and implementation Plan (FCSSIP), 2017 – 2020.
“And its successor plan, FCSSIP 2021-2025 which is all about unleashing of both human and material resources for efficient and effective service delivery for improved productivity.
“Two Critical HR tools that have been identified by FCSSIP for implementation and institutionalisation in the Service are the Performance Management System and the Rewards and Recognition System (R&RS).
“While the Performance Management System tracks the performance of employees consistently and measurably to ensure they work effectively towards achieving the strategic goals of the MDAs.
“The R&RS is a veritable motivational tool to enhance the performance of the workforce and also improve their value proposition. This will ultimately result in increased organizational productivity,’’ she said.
Esan said the R&RS played a fundamental role in achieving the attainment of the objective of FCSSIP 2021-2025 by developing an Efficient, Productive, Incorruptible and citizen-centered (EPIC) culture in the Public Service.
The HOS said motivation, which would engender both collaboration and co-operation from the officers and birth strategic outcomes such as a well-motivated, disciplined, skilled and accountable Public Service.
She congratulated the awardees the awardees and admonished them to continue to be shining stars and examples for other members of staff and continue to maintain the reputation of effective service delivery.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, said the quality of life was dependent on the commitment of the human resource, therefore the human resource requires attention to get the best out of it.
“The human resource requires more attention to get the best out of them and this is part of the reason why we undertake this process in recognition and reward ceremony.
“People who are giving their skill, time, some beyond the call of duty demonstrated the commitment that is an example to others.
“I often told my colleagues when we go to our monthly meetings that perhaps we have not paid enough attention to the capacity, the possibility that lie in the public service.
“I often believe that public and civil service can do anything and everything if they are challenged,” he said.
According to him, 37 men and women recognized and awarded were just a fraction of the total workforce of those that do the jobs.
He said they were the ones managing over 1000 contracts across the country covering 13,000 roads and bridges network delivering housing in 34 states and 77 tertiary road intervention.
One of the awardees interviewed, Mr. Henry David, Press and Public Relations Unit FMWH, awarded the Best Performing Senior Staff 2020, said the award would make people to be more committed to their jobs and duties.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 24 of the 37 staff were of the senior staff category in different professional GB competencies , press, transport, urban and regional planning highway and legal units.
