Posted by Olasunkanmi Akoni on
Recently, civil servants in Lagos State celebrated the 2006 edition of the Public Service Week by organising a week long programme.....
Recently, civil servants in Lagos State celebrated the 2006 edition of the Public Service Week by organising a week long programme of activities and capped it up with an elaborate closing ceremony held at the State Auditorium, Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja. Various items were offered for grabs; the star prize was a brand new Toyota Corolla car worth N3.5 million in a raffle draw put together by the Office of the Head of Service (HOS).
If anyone had told Mr. Semiudeen Orimadegun Kasali, a junior lawyer in the state ministry of justice, that fortune was lurking around for him when he purchased two tickets for the draw, he would probably have behaved liked the Biblical 'doubting Thomas." But alas!, when his name was mentioned as the winner of the star prize, he was nowhere to be found.
The celebration also saw the state government rewarding its senior and junior staff who have been outstanding in the performance of their duties
Out of the 49 agencies that made entries for the distinguished staff award, the list was shorlisted to six from which Mr. Fatai Rafiu Olawale, a principal fire superintendent II GL 10 with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Culture, emerged top in the senior category above Mrs. Folayemi Akinsanmi, a director in educational district VI, who came second and Mrs. Omolara Erogbogbo, also a director in the Public Service Office, who came third.
In the junior category, Mrs. Bintu Shomade, a senior clerical officer on Grade Level 06 with Lands Bureau came first ahead of Mrs. Helen Daniels, a senior cleaner from Civil Service Pensions Office, who came second and Mr. Christopher Femi Yusuf, a clerical assistant in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, who came third.
Both the best senior and junior staff were given a cash prize of N50,000 each and certificate in recognition of their outstanding contribution to service delivery in the state. Similarly, the other five most outstanding staff in both the senior and junior categories were also given certificates of service.
Kasali, the Igbogbo, Ikorodu-born lawyer, was on secondment to the state physical planning authority (LASPHYDA) when his name was announced as the winner of the draw. One of his tickets with number 046581 was picked in a lucky dip presided over by the deputy governor, Otunba Olufemi Pedro.
Kasali, who later spoke to Sunday Vanguard, had this to say: ' Only Kasali was written on the ticket without any initial. I bought only two. The other ticket was still with the lady that bought it for me.
'People approached me and my feeling was that it was a public service arrangement, I just said, let me try, but the truth is that I never thought of ever winning anything.
'Well, I don't know why those who bought the ticket omitted my initials. They could have been in a hurry too, but it was not deliberate, they could not get my oracle number," he said before the keys of the vehicle were handed over to him at the loading bay for the public staff buses.
According to him, the news of his emergence as the star prize winner which reached him penultimate weekend was taken with a pinch of the salt. His words: 'Somebody called me on Saturday. I thought it was a joke. I kept the information to myself, I didn't disclose it to anybody, believing that until I get to the office on Monday, I would be able to confirm and then from there release the information.
'On getting to the office this morning (Monday), and after confirming the ticket number, people were saying I should go straight to the Office of the Head of Service (HOS). It now dawned on me that well, maybe what they were saying was true. It was when I met the HOS, Yakub Balogun and he asked for the ticket and I showed him and it tallied with the stump that I finally believed that it was not a dream.
'I have just done my baby's naming. I went through stressful preparations, so I was tired and was trying to recuperate. I came to the office briefly on Friday, and the GM of LASPHYDA gave me an assignment. I was doing the follow-up when the people assembled for the draw. It was not deliberate that I was not around," he said.
His feeling was that the raffle idea was just a public service arrangement.
'I just said, let me try, but the truth is that I never thought of winning anything. My oracle number was never included".
The lucky winner, who joined the service in 2000, was mobilising fund to buy a car before luck smiled on him, though he is privileged to be allocated an official car.
'I have an official car given to me by the Ministry of Physical Planning that I have been managing. I had the intention of buying my own after mobilising enough fund, but God has now intervened with this year's public service week. I believe that that money being raised could be channelled towards other projects'' he stated.
He dedicated the car to God and his new baby, even as he thanked the Almighty for using him to blaze the trail.
'I just want to thank God that I am setting a precedent, that God is using me to set a precedent and I want to use the opportunity to thank Governor Bola Tinubu for giving me the opportunity to serve my state. I also thank the HOS for putting in place this kind of arrangement which is a way of motivating staff. Definitely, I will continue to give my best to the service of the state," he stated.
Other prizes given out to civil servants included return tickets to Johannesburg, for the second, third and fourth runners-up, a flat television screen for the fifth, a motorcycle for the six, 6x6 Vitafoam for the seventh, a 14-inch television for the eighth, comfort chair for the nineth, floormat for the 10th, Radio/CD for the 11th, DVD player for the 12th, pressing iron for the 13th and several other consolation prizes.
Pedro, who made the presentation to the first six winners, described the event as the climax of the 2006 edition of the civil service week, adding that the public presentation was a proof that the raffle draw was not a fluke.
Taiwo Sobande of the ministry of information, who emerged the first runner-up, won for himself and his spouse a return ticket to South Africa and $1000 as the basic travel allowance (BTA).
Sobande bought the ticket that earned him the trip, like Kasali, he never expected that anything could come out of it.
Commenting on the introduction of the initiative to the public service week celebration, Tinubu, who spoke through his deputy at the occasion, commended the head of service and the organizing committee of the 2006 public service week celebration for the initiative which he said was in line with the objective of the public service day celebration and would help in spurring workers towards greater productivity.