Civil service formulates, implements government policies- Retired Kwara Permanent Secretary

Civil service formulates, implements government policies- Retired Kwara Permanent Secretary

By Mahmood Olayinka Alaya

In this exclusive interview in Ilorin, a retired female Permanent Secretary in Kwara State Civil Service, Mrs Bosede Ikeoluwa Orunmuyi, spoke on the importance of civil service in the formulation and implementation of government policies.

Q- Can we meet you?

I am Mrs Bosede Ikeoluwa Orunmuyi. I am a retired Permanent Secretary in Kwara State. I am the founder and the first Chairman of the Association of Retired Kwara State Permanent Secretaries.

Q- In the last couple of years that you have chaired the association, how has been the experience?

It has been very interesting. We have been able to attain a lot of strides. We formed committees. We were able to rent the place we are using as our Secretariat. We were able to embark on a lot of projects including the purchase of a vehicle.

First of all, I think should start with the aims of this association. This is a National association that was formed basically to take care of the welfare of Permanent Secretaries in Nigeria. So, I started the state branch, and that is why you will notice that most of our activities are geared towards taking care of members of the association. That is the first aim of setting up this association.

The second aim is that you find out that we are the repository of knowledge of Kwara State (civil) service. I worked for 35 years. I worked in more than half of the ministries in Kwara State. When you talk about electrification, anything I will tell you. When you talk about water resources, I started borehole drilling in Kwara State.

So, I am a generalist, and I have worked in several ministries in the course of my 35 years. So, you find out that if you just become, may be the Governor of Kwara State in the next four years, where do you start from? Do you even know how many ministries we have. If you want to merge, do you know the policies supporting merging of Ministries. So, any knowledge you are looking for in the service, we possess it.

I retired about nine years ago. We have Chief Oyeyipo, he was the first Head of Service (in Kwara State). I think he retired in the 70s. We have Baba Aderibigbe, the first Secretary to the State Government. So, what do you want to know about Kwara State that such people cannot tell you. We know the way forward.

Sometimes, you will be embarking on a project, half way, you retire. They don’t know how to go about it. So, we are here as an association. You can approach us if you need any advice on government.. in fact, we formulated and implemented government policies. So, we know where the right boxes are so that you put the right/round triangle or circle there.

So, basically, we are also to advice governments on some of their policies. We wrote some papers for government. There is always a quarrel between Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries. You can become a Commissioner tomorrow, I can be your Permanent Secretary. I am the Accounting Officer. Do you know me as an accounting officer? Before you know it, a quarrel will start. If you are a new Commissioner, you listen to what your Permanent Secretary is saying. Permanent Secretaries follow letters.

We have civil and public service rules and all those things. We are trained in all these things because there must be continuity in governance. And basically, we do all the work. But we need Commissioners so that they will talk on policy thrust of the government.

This government may say I’m giving everybody free education. So, the Commissioner is there to ensure that the party’s manifesto is followed to the letter. But those who will implement it are the civil servants. So, there has to be a good working relationship between the two of them.

But with our experience in service, we know it was a problem. And we know it has always been a problem. So, we have papers and we can advice government on any issue. In other states, when they have problem with a particular project, they go to our association and everything will be resolved.

Q- Is leadership position of this association tenured?

Yes, it is.

Q- How many years do you have to serve in a particular leadership capacity?

This new executive is expected to spend for years. I spent more than that because I was the founder. So, I was running it alone. For one year, I was able to gather all of them. But the state government supported us then. I could remember the first two meetings. I personally financed it. And when the state government had to give us support, they gave us the Banquet Hall for free of charge with all the facilities. When I made sure that more than half of us were present then, I called for an election. So, when we did the election, I was elected as Chairman.

I established the association in 2017. By 2019, I became the Chairman. So, you can see that I ran it for about two years and I really did it well. So, it attracted other members from far and wide.

Q- With the change of baton now, has the new leadership taken over?

No. They will take over after I inaugurate them.

Q- Is it after the expiration of your own tenure?

It has expired already.

Q- When would that be?

It would take place in the next few days.

Q- Was the process of choosing new leaders transparent enough?

We went through the normal electoral process. One, we elected an electoral committee. From there, they call for nominations but we didn’t do screening. After calling for nominations, which took a very long time, we now gave them time to campaign. After the campaign, we decided to do elections. But we had sole candidates in most of the positions. And some were very controversial like in any other system.

It wasn’t a seamless exercise like the one that brought us in. We have some people complaining that you are not putting in my people. But we called for nomination, they did not collect any form. So, how do I now come to your house and ask you to collect form. So, we have such complaints. We are a small Nigeria.

Q- You said the exercise was not that seamless. Which of the positions were contested?

All the positions were contested. Our constitution says that if the Chairman is a man, then the Vice Chairman must be a woman. So, when I was Chairman, my vice happened to be a man.

Q- Can you avail us the names of officers that emerged in the contest?

Alhaji Ayo Fagbemi is the newly elected Chairman and Mrs Kikelomo Amosa is the Vice Chairman. I want to limit myself to these two persons.

Q- What is your advice to the incoming leadership?

My advice to them is that they should be fair. They should practice justice, fairness and equity. They should consolidate on the gains of the past. We have really laid down a very good foundation. In fact, in Nigeria, we (in Kwara) are one of the leading associations of Retired Permanent Secretaries. We have our own constitution. Even the National Association is trying to use our constitution as a template with due respect.

This annual General Meeting, we are about the first State to practice it in Nigeria. You know that people from Kwara State are really highly seasoned. I could remember when I was given a federal government appointment. Kwara had to be exceptional. They were saying that why is it that you are always going for the best. I worked in the Presidency just for awhile. I was seconded there. And thereafter I wanted to come back to the state and they said no. They wanted me to transfer my service to federal, and they refused to sign me out. And that time, I had put in about 28 years and I didn’t want to loose that.

So, I had to stay back because I knew I was going to be the next Permanent Secretary. So, we thank God for that experience.

Q- On May 29, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq will be inaugurated for another term in office. How do you think your association can be useful to the present administration in having a solid civil service?

Any sitting Governor is the patron of our association. So, we are there. Whatever you want, you can see that we are all elderly people. If you approach us for advice, we will give it. If we see that something is necessary and it will move the state forward, we will advice the Governor if he is willing. He remains the head of government in Kwara State. We can’t force anything on him.

END.