Press Releases

Fashola Swears In Ogunlewe As New Head Of Service

May 24, 2010 - Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Monday swore in a new Head of Service, Prince Adesegun Ogunlewe, with a charge to him to toe the line of his predecessors who have helped to restore the glory of the State Public Service.

Prince Ogunlewe, who was, until his present appointment, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Establishment and Training, becomes the 16th Head of Service of Lagos State since the creation of the State in 1967.

In his address at the short ceremony at the Chambers of the State Executive Council at the Lagos House, Ikeja, Governor Fashola expressed delight that the choice of Prince Ogunlewe was from a crop of very efficient and dedicated men and women in the State's Public Service who are equally competent to serve in the same capacity.

Recalling his address at the Send-Forth (Pens-Down) Ceremony for the retired Head of Service, Alhaji Yakub Balogun, Governor Fashola declared, "I dwelt on the progress we have made since 1999 and one of such progress highlights is that each time there is a vacancy to be filled in the Public Service, it creates a problem of choice as we have more than one choice".

"It is a welcome problem", the Governor said, pointing out that it demonstrates that the Service is manned by competent, efficient and dedicated career Civil Servants who are capable of holding any leadership position in the Service at any time.

Governor Fashola praised the integrity of the other contending members of the Body of Permanent Secretaries who, according to him, did not do anything to influence his choice of the new Head of Service. "I had cause to occasionally meet some of them to discuss other pressing matters of State and to their credit; they never in any way tried to influence the process of the appointment. Our discussions were extremely professional", he said.

"I am extremely proud to be a leader of a Government that has such men and women of high integrity who believe in the institution that they have built and are confident in the ability that it will work for them. This is the institution of the Public Service that our new Head of Service now inherits", the Governor said.

Congratulating the new Head of Service "for the monumental privileges that this office offers" and expressing best wishes for the enormous responsibilities that the office also places on him , Governor Fashola prayed that God would support him to uphold the legacies which his predecessors have left in the Service.

In his acceptance speech, Prince Ogunlewe promised "to provide the kind of leadership that would sustain the seamless symbiotic relationship among the key players in the Public Sector Governance in line with acceptable standards and international best practices".

"I know this appointment places on my shoulders a lot of responsibilities coupled with expectations from the teeming population of the State, the membership of the State Civil Service and even other sectors from outside the State. I, therefore, wish to re-state my unalloyed loyalty and give a statement of assurance that I will not misplace the confidence reposed in me by this appointment", Prince Ogunlewe said.

Thanking the Governor for re-affirming the confidence which his predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, placed on him when the former Governor appointed him a Permanent Secretary in 2001, the new Head of Service declared, "With this appointment as the Head of Service, I am humbled by the belief in my competence, integrity, commitment, dedication and loyalty; apparently not only by your Excellency, but also members of your team, that is the State Executive Council, who must have, in one way or the other, helped in arriving at this ultimate choice from the crop of equally competent and prima facie qualified members of the Body of Permanent Secretaries in the State".

"With all sense of responsibility, I want to emphatically state that as a career officer, my actions would be guided by scientific reasoning that would be devoid of biases and politics in order to arrive at logical conclusions", the new Head of Service pledged adding that it is only by so doing "that we can have accelerated Policy and Programme development to meet up with the 21st Century challenges".

Prince Ogunlewe expressed gratitude to all who helped in one way or the other to advance his career in the Public Service, including his wife and children, "for their understanding and sacrifice in the past years, particularly because of the demands of my official assignments", and all those who have served the State in the past, "particularly career officers who sowed the most productive part of their lives in the service of the State".

He particularly expressed gratitude to his immediate predecessor, Alhaji Yakub Balogun, "for the various service-oriented welfare programmes which he championed while in office", adding, "By the grace of God and the benevolence of the present administration, Public Officers should expect more".

To his former colleagues in the Body of Permanent Secretaries, Prince Ogunlewe expressed gratitude "for the camaraderie extended on my appointment", adding, "Let me assure you that I remain part of the bond and will count on you in surmounting the tasks and challenges ahead of us".

Also present at the occasion were the members of the State Executive Council, wife of the new Head of Service, former Heads of Service of the State including Alhaji Rafiu Tinubu, relations and friends of the new Head of Service.