The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, has highlighted the vital role of the Civil Service, declaring that nothing can be achieved without efficient civil service in the country.
He spoke at his ministry in Abuja on Tuesday when State Heads of Civil Service from the 36 states and the FCT came to his ministry on study tour.
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The tour was part of the activities marking the 2025 Civil Service Week that started in Abuja since Friday 20th June 2025.
The Minister noted that since assuming office in August 2023, he has found a Civil Service in the ministry that is ready to work once there is a directive.
According to him, even if someone has the best of intention in terms of vision, without having machinery of implementation, it will end up being flawed.
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To this end, Dr Alake said there must be symbolic relationship between political authority and the Civil Service for efficient implementation of policies.
Over the years, he said that he has also found through hypothetical studies that part of the problem has been the style of leadership.
He commended the Performance Management System (PMS), already in place in the ministry, as a critical reform under the Federal Civil Service Strategy.
The Minister said “The most important thing is the integration of ideas and translation of visions into reality, and without an efficient civil service structure, you can’t achieve anything.
“I cannot really imagine a leader at any level that will not want to succeed as we have leadership in the political structure, you have leadership in the civil service structure, and you have leadership at all levels, all strata of society.
“So there is no leader in my own estimation, that will not want to succeed. So the submission of all of this is we are all, individually and collectively, leaders at our own various spheres of operation.” he added
Reeling out some of the achievements that has been recorded in the ministry since he took over and introduced 7-point Agenda, he said they included the setting up security structure in the mining sector, putting in place policies discouraging illegal mining, and encouraging inflow of direct foreign investment into the sector.
Welcoming the state Heads of Civil Service to the Ministry, he stressed that the Civil Service in Nigeria has nowhere else to go than up
“Together, we are going to achieve more successes for our nation.” he concluded
Welcoming the visiting state Heads of Civil Service to the Ministry, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, said that the compass for the Federal Civil servants is the strategic plan terminating this year, which has six pillars.
One of the pillars, he said, is the performance management system, of which the Ministry of Solid Minerals has been one of the leading ministries in ensuring that the vision is achieved.
“It is not by chance that we are all gathered here. The head of the Civil Service Federation have, over the last few years, put in place very strategic and visionary policies, programs and actions that are meant to reposition the service in particular.”
Apart from showcasing what the Ministry is doing regard performance management system, the Permanent Secretary said the Ministry will also share its insight into what the leadership has been able to accomplish including digital transformation of the Ministry.
“We are aware that Mr President has placed the emphasis on us to be one of the leading ministers that will help the country achieve its $1 trillion targets in terms of GDP by the year 2030.” he said
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack, thanked the Ministry for information garnered from the study tour to the Ministry.
The HCSF, represented by the Permanent Secretary of Service Welfare Office, Mrs. Patience Oyekunle, said “The Reporter of the Ministry, we thank you very much, on behalf of everybody here.
“Some of us just came with the mindset of PMS, and you have done more than PMS.
“In addition to PMS, we now have a very good understanding of Solid Minerals Development.” she added
During the visit, the state Heads of Civil Service also watched presentation by the Technical Assistant to the Permanent Secretary, on Performance Management System as practiced within the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.
State Heads of Civil Service that visited the Ministry included those that came from Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo Ekiti, Taraba, Benue.
Others are Gombe, Lagos, Plateau, Ondo, Osun, Niger, Kogi, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa states.
Also at the meeting are the Permanent Secretary, Steel Development Ministry, Dr. Chris Osa Isokpunwu, and Directors and other top government officials of the Solid Minerals Development Ministry.