The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) has honoured 60 of its staff with award of outstanding performance during the 2nd edition of the best staff award ceremony in Abuja
The awardees include 29 on director cadres and 31 other staff who were deemed to have distinguished themselves in their various departments and sections.
Addressing the awardees on Friday in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Muhammed Umar, said the awardess should allow the award to spur them to aspire for the federal government’s productivity award saying the ministry is committed to skills developments and has consciously allocated time and resources to improve employees capacity.
Umar said, “One major challenge facing Nigeria today is the urgent need to build a resilient and dynamic economy that is well placed to harness the country’s abundant resource endowment. Government alone cannot achieve this without the major contributions and selfless efforts from the Nigeria Civil Servants who are also the integral part of the executive. Hence today ceremony is special and apt, especially now that Nigeria is exploring other non-oil frontiers in its resolve to diversify the country’s economy and harvest the gains arising there from.
“It is gratifying to note that the Ministry in its bid to reposition the sector has developed the Green Alternative: Agricultural Promotion Policy for Wealth Creation, Poverty reduction, employment generation, particularly for our teeming youth and women and boost our National Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In achieving this objectives, we must act diligently in order to reasonably progress in this regard and position FMARD more than even before to deliver on its mandate of optimising agriculture and integrating rural development for the transformation of the Nigerian economy. To this end it is imperative for us to work collectively towards making the service function better in order to guarantee a sustainable socio-economic development in Nigeria,” he said.
Also the Director General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Dr. Dasuki said the award is motivational as it helps to reinforce the dignity of labour, while it addressed issues surrounding the strengthening of institutions towards effective and efficient service delivery.
He said recognition of excellence is an antidote to unproductivity and also serves as an incentive to propel hard work.
“A reward and recognition system in the Civil Service is a veritable motivational tool to enhance the performance of the workforce. Unfortunately, effort in this direction has either been neglected or largely uncoordinated and for the most part implemented as standalone strategy, without achieving the desire impact,” he said.
The National Coordinator of SERVICOM, Mrs Nnenna Akajemeli, commended the management of the ministry for the gesture saying the level of productivity in the ministry is the most fundamental and crucial determinant of ensuring the delivery of quality service to the public.
“This award ceremony is a way of encouraging staff to put in their best in service delivery, boost their morale and in turn improve efficiency in the ministry.
“I and indeed all Nigerians want a FMARD that is efficient, effective, equitable and open to engagement, with rye citizen always.
“Developing a Customer Service Excellence standard can offer the FMARD a practical tool for driving food production in Nigeria,” she said.
