Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof.
Yemi Osinbajo on Monday inaugurated the Prof.
Chike Edozien Secretariat and the 8.
5 megawatts Independent Power Plant in Asaba, Delta State.
The secretariat is named after the traditional ruler of Asaba and internationally recognized Professor of Medicine, Prof.
Chike Edozien.
Sitting on 45,000 square meters of land in the heart of Asaba, the Chike Edozien Secretariat would house the 27 ministries in Delta State, their commissioners, permanent secretaries as well as all staff of the ministries.
The secretariat is designed around five clusters with multiple floors and has nine seminars and conference rooms.
Other facilities at the secretariat include a well-furnished clinic, a crèche, one banking hall, three restaurants and a parking lot for about 1,000 cars.
Vice President said that the inauguration of the Chike Edozien Secretariat was “Historic because the seat of the civil service of any of government anywhere in the world is usually one of the monuments enshrining, not just the power, but also the splendour and authority of government.
”
According to the Vice President of Osinbajo, the event is special in two ways.
“First the civil service and the people of Delta State are today being presented with a state of the art, functional and befitting secretariat complex after many years.
This in itself is worthy of celebration.
“The other is that the state is at the same time immortalizing the name of one of Delta State’s and indeed Nigeria’s most illustrious sons, His Royal Majesty, Prof.
Chike Edozien, the Asagba of Asaba, Nigeria’s oldest living professor in any discipline and an internationally renowned professor of medicine, but more importantly an outstanding bridge builder and patriot.
“His majesty has played and continued to play an important role as a symbol of unity in the state and during his 30-year reign so far, the city of Asaba has changed dramatically becoming the capital of the newly-created Delta State in 1991 and has attracted people from far and wide that have come to seek their fortunes here.
“His traditional leadership has ensured that the growth and increasing diversity of Asaba have proceeded without tension and antagonism among all the people who live here.
”
Osinbajo noted that naming the secretariat after the 97-year monarch was not just to celebrate the highly celebrated professor of medicine, but also to signal the sort of excellence in public that is hoped to be incubated in the building.
Vice President Osinbajo expressed hope that the secretariat would be a symbol of unity and distinction in keeping with the name of the eminent professor, after whom the building was named.
He said the building would speak to generations to come “That integrity, diligence and service to country and community still pay.
”
Optimal Service Delivery
Vice President Osinbajo stated that optimal service delivery requires an efficient public service.
“Such public service requires training, capacity building but also work spaces that are well-equipped, conducive and inspirational.
“Public servants require environments that bring out the best in them and this secretariat complex will provide such an environment.
”
Commending Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for completing the project, the vice president said that it showed that with visionary leadership, a state governor can do incredible things.
He noted that Governor Okowa was able to provide funding for the secretariat “despite dwindling revenue receipts and severe resource constraints across all levels of government in our country.
“Also your recognition of the critical role of the public sector is notable; whether we are talking of the need for more internally generated revenue and greater tax efficiency, the compensation for resource deficit or the management of a public health crisis such as the pandemic or even the drive or even the drive for more internally-generated revenue, it is the capacity of the public sector that is invariably at issue.
”
In his remarks, Governor Okowa said that the Chike Edozien Secretariat would enable Delta State to save millions of naira that the government was spending on rents annually.
“Co-ordination and synergy among ministries, departments and agencies would be enhanced, leading to higher morale, better time management, efficiency and greater productivity,” Okowa stated.
Earlier on Monday, Prof.
Osinbajo inaugurated the Asaba Independent Power Plant built to enhance power supply in the state.
He described the 8.
5megawatts plant, with 25 kilometres of transmission lines as a major breakthrough for the power sector in Nigeria.
PIAK
Delta State: VP Osinbajo inaugurates Prof.
Edozien Secretariat
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