Governor Alex Otti presenting a souvenir (portrait) to the Ex-Head of Service, Dr. Ngozi Queen Obioma, with her husband, Ambassador Obioma Onwneme, watching with keen interest
We will keep honouring excellence, says Otti as he fetes ex-Abia Head of Service
Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has assured that his administration would keep to its promise of honouring those who rendered excellent service to the state.
Dr. Otti stated this during a send-off party organized in honour of the retired immediate-past Abia State Head of Service, Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Queen Obioma, for her meritorious service to the State.
Speaking at the event, Governor Otti said he was proud of Dr. Obioma, adding that she was worthy of being celebrated.
According to the Governor, his administration would keep honouring those who have performed well.
“We will keep honouring those who have performed. If she didn’t do well, I wouldn’t come here tonight and probably this place wouldn’t be open this evening.
“And because she has done well, it is something for all of us to emulate. If you do well, we will honour you, if you don’t do well, we may not say so but you would see our action,” Gov. Otti said.
The Governor, who commended the retired Head of Service for her immense contributions to the development of the State, narrated the story of how she was appointed a Permanent Secretary before becoming the Head of Service.
“I said, anybody that wants to be a Permanent Secretary should apply. The minimum standard is to be a Director. We got 424 applications and we said the next thing would be to put them through a test. 61 passed, but we were looking for about 23 or 24.
“It was an interesting journey, I never knew her from Adam, I never knew her name. I’ve told this story severally and I will not get tired of telling the story.
“We did an oral interview and after the oral interview, we took average scores and somebody scored 85 percent. And I said, that person that scored 85 percent will be the number one Permanent Secretary and behold it was Dr. Queen Ngozi Obioma.
“That process is a blind process. I don’t care whether you are a woman or a man or whether you are from Abia or from Kafachan,” he declared.
The Governor stressed the need for the people to begin to think differently and promote competence, capacity to perform and merit over mediocrity in appointment and public service.
He emphasized that, that was what Abia was known for and said that Abia has had mediocres in the past, maintaining that promoting mediocrity was no longer going to be the lot of Abia.
“I want us to begin to think differently to achieve performance, delivery, skills, and competence. That’s what Abia is. Forget about what has happened in the past when we had mediocres.
“Some of them are lurking around the corner. They don’t even understand that the train has left the station. They are saying ‘Oh! the man wants to join APC, he wants to join PDP’, by tomorrow I’m sure they would say I want to join APGA.
“But these are not what we are known for. We are known as competent people. Our people are resilient people, that’s why what you do, if you don’t fix Aba , this state is gone
“So, we must continue to work in this direction; where people see merit over mediocrity,” the Governor said.
In their goodwill messages, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Uzor Nwachukwu, the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Pastor Caleb Ajagba and some Permanent Secretaries, including Uche Ukpabi Ukeje and Magdalen Onwa eulogized Mrs. Queen Obioma .
They described her as an exceptional woman who assisted the Governor in implementing polices and vision of his administration; and congratulated her on her retirement.
Responding, the celebrant, Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Queen Obioma, said that she was humbled by the honour done her by Governor Otti, saying that she was fulfilled as a distinguished retiree.
She expressed gratitude to the Governor for entrusting her with the responsibility of galvanizing the workforce, and dedicated the honour done her to her husband, Ambassador Obioma Onwuneme, and her children.
The Deputy Governor, Engr. Ikechukwu Emetu, members of the State Executive Council, the Abia Head of Service, Mr. Benson Ojeikere and Permanent Secretaries, other government officials, as well as the husband of the celebrant, were present at the event
