Federal Capital Territory (FCT), minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, has said the FCT Administration will continue to tap from the experience and expertise of retired management staff of the FCTA, for the growth and advancement of the territory.
Wike, who made the commitment over the weekend at a dinner in honour of 74 retired Directors of the FCTA and the Federal Capital Development Authority, said he is optimistic that the wealth of experience of the retirees will be of great value to the administration.
Represented at the event by the acting Permanent Secretary, FCTA, Mr Udom Atang, the minister pointed out that the batch of retirees were among the earliest staff of the FCTA, and therefore played crucial roles in building Abuja from scratch to its present state.
He assured that the FCTA would reach out to them during in-house training to coach and mentor young ones because of their institutional knowledge and experience, adding that, “nobody can do it better than those who have been here before.”
The minister also restated the commitment of the FCTA under the renewed Hope Agenda of the current administration towards the wellbeing of FCT Staff, saying it is a new dawn for them.
On her part, the acting Director Reform Coordination and Service Improvement, Dr Jumai Ahmadu, applauded the retirees for dedicating a significant portion of their lives to public service.
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Ahmadu in her welcome address noted that, “throughout their tenure, these directors have exhibited exemplary leadership, dedication, and professionalism, serving as beacons of integrity and steadfast commitment to the welfare and progress of the FCTA.
“Their unwavering dedication has contributed to the advancement of our administrative processes, the implementation of crucial policies, and the successful execution of numerous projects that have transformed the landscape of the Federal Capital Territory.”
Some of the retirees who spoke to newsmen on the sideline of the event, encouraged those still in service to build on the successes of the retired management staff for accelerated growth and development of the territory.
A former Executive Secretary of the FCTA Primary Healthcare Board, Dr. Matthew Ashikeni, charged those still in service to focus more on adding value to the system, rather than what they can gain from the system.
Ashikeni, who retired as Director of Special Duties at the FCT Health Secretariat also tasked the government to invest more in primary health care so as to attain Universal Health Coverage.
He said; “Preventive healthcare in Nigeria is still rudimentary. If you look at primary health care services, it needs a lot of improvement. So that people can access quality health care close to where they live and where they work. And that requires a lot of investment. So I would love the see the Nigerian government investing more in primary health care. If we are talking about Universal Health Coverage, everybody everywhere, regardless of their age, gender, social status, should be able to access quality healthcare anywhere they are without suffering financial catastrophe.
“My prayer and hope is that if we invest more, we would be able to build that level of care to a level where it will be able to serve it purpose. At the same time, we need to keep our health workers back home. Many of our health workers are migrating outside the country. In a situation were you don’t even have enough and the little you have are migrating out, you can foresee catastrophe at the end of the day.
“So Government must do everything it can to keep our health workforce at home. Improve the work conditions and make sure that the system works. And It takes very little to work, once we have the political will, things will work.
The 74 retirees bowed out of service in the third and fourth quarter of 2023 after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 60, while some of them did after attaining 35 years of service as stipulated by law.
