Encomium
WHO is Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) going to appoint as the new Head of Service (HOS) of Lagos, when the incumbent, Mr. Adesegun Olusola Ogunlewe statutorily retires on October 16, 2013, the day he will turn 60?
Statutorily too, the next Head of Service (HOS), should be the most senior permanent secretary in the service. But if the feelers we are getting are anything to go by, Governor Fashola is said to be favourably disposed to appointing a Head of Service that will at least leave with him in 2015.
He does not want to be burdened with the responsibility of appointing two Heads of Service before his tenure expires in May 2015.
ENCOMIUM Weekly gathered that about eight most senior permanent secretaries in the service are discreetly lobbying to be appointed the next Head of Service. We also gathered that other civil servants in the director cadre are clamouring that Lagos State government should follow the footsteps of the Federal Civil Service by making sure that no permanent secretary serves more than eight years.
That is, any permanent secretary, who has been in that position for eight years and above should be retired. This, according to them will create opportunity for many civil servants to reach the pinnacle of their career.
ENCOMIUM Weekly, however, takes a cursory look at the 10 most senior permanent secretaries vis-à-vis their chances of being appointed the next Head of Service (HOS).
MRS. JOSEPHINE OLUSEYI WILLIAMS (permanent secretary in the Ministry of Finance). She is the most senior permanent secretary, and therefore, the most likely to be appointed as the next HOS to replace the incumbent.
She has been a permanent secretary since 2001 and has been in the Ministry of Finance since 2006. Going by her CV, sourced from a book entitled, Fashola and His Winning Team published in 2009, she joined Lagos State Service in 1985 from Federal Civil Service which she joined in 1977. Although her date of birth was not stated in the book, she is assumed to be either 58 or 59 now.
It is believed that if she is appointed the next HOS, she may not be there for more than one and a half years before she retires.
MR. OLALEKAN ADELEKE OGUNBANWO (permanent secretary in the Lagos State Television). He has been permanent secretary since February 2005, in the same station. He joined the service in 1980. He is 51. If he is appointed the next HOS, he will be there for the next two years when he would have been 35 in service and 53 years old.
Mr. Ogunbanwo, many argued, has never served in any other ministry or agency than the radio and television.
MR. TASIR OLAWALE RAJI (permanent secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry). He became a permanent secretary in 2003, just barely 10 years when he joined the services as Director, Commercial Services at Lagos State Agricultural Development Authority, Oko-Oba, Agege. If he is appointed the next HOS, he will be there till December 12, 2015, when he statutorily retires at the age of 60.
ENGR. MUYIDEEN ABAYOMI AKINSANYA (permanent secretary in the Office of Drainage Services). He has been permanent secretary since December 2003. The 58 year-old engineer joined the Lagos State Civil Service in April, 1986 as a Senior Executive Engineer. If he is appointed the next HOS, he will retire on January 19, 2015, when he will be 60.
MR. SAMUEL OYEBOLA AKAPO (permanent secretary in Liaison Office, Abuja). He became permanent secretary in 2005. If he is appointed the next HOS, he will retire next year by virtue of the fact that he would have been 35 years in service because he joined the service in 1979.
MRS. RISIKAT TITILAYO AKIYODE (permanent secretary in the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation). She became a permanent secretary in 2005. If she is appointed the next HOS, she will be retiring July 2014, when she would have spent 35 years in service.
MRS. FOLASHADE SHERIFAT JAJI (permanent secretary in the Ministry of Establishment and Training). She has been there since 2005. She joined the Lagos State Civil Service in 1980. If she is appointed the next HOS, she will only serve for two years, as she will be 35 years in service in 2015.
MR. MUBASHIRU ADEKUNLE AJANAKU (permanent secretary in the Office of the Deputy Governor). He became a permanent secretary in 2005 and has been in that office since then. He joined the Lagos State Civil Service in 1983. He is 56 this year and 30 years in service. If he is appointed the HOS, he will be there till 2017 when he will be 60.
ENGR. PAUL OMOTAYO BAMGBOSE-MARTINS (permanent secretary in the Ministry of Works). He became permanent secretary in February 2005. He is 56 and joined the service in 1983. If he is appointed the new HOS, he will be there till June 3, 2017, when he will statutorily retire at the age of 60.
DR. RUFIAT OLUFUNMILAYO OLATUNJI (permanent secretary in the Health Service Commission). She has been permanent secretary since 2005 in the same Health Service Commission. By January 24, 2014, she will be 60 though she joined the service in 1984. Which means if she is appointed the HOS next month, she will retire by next year January.
THE OUTGOING HEAD OF SERVICE
The outgoing Head of Service, Mr. Adesegun Olusola Ogunlewe, was born on October 16, 1953. He is from the Fadugba-Ogunlewe royal family of Igbogbo in Ikorodu Division of Lagos State. He graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, in 1978. He joined the Lagos State Civil Service in 1979 and rose to become a permanent secretary on February 2, 2001. He became Head of Service in 2009, when the incumbent then, Mr. Yakubu Abiodun Balogun resigned two years to his retirement to contest for House of Representatives ticket of Lagos Island.
– TOLANI ABATTI
