A former Secondary School Principal of Western Boys High School, Benin City, Edo State, Mr. U.X. Orhue, was among the eighteen new Permanent Secretaries sworn in by Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, on Tuesday.
Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony, Oshiomhole said the new Permanent Secretaries were appointed purely on merit, adding: “Our campaign against godfatherism means even in the civil service, appointment should not be based on who you know, but what you know.
“This morning, I have had the honour of swearing-in a teacher as Perm Sec. The import of this is to send a clear message that the fact of your being in the classroom does not make you less important. You represent a constituency that is central to the development of our state.
“The second person I want to mention is our brother who had an accident in the recent past and now he is battling between the wheel chair and crutches. Yes, that the accident has affected his physical structure but not his brain and it won’t affect his ability to discharge his duties effectively. And as you can see, the accident has not stopped us from swearing him in.”
Dispelling rumours of possible retirement of workers from the service, Oshiomhole said: “Nobody will be retired. On the contrary, we have a lot of vacancies in the service. Civil servants and teachers are assets and not liability. They are instruments of growth. We have not carried out any retrenchment and we will not.”
The governor, who urged the new Permanent Secretaries to be diligent in discharging their duties, said: “In discharging your responsibility, you should be firm, just, you protect government secret to the extent that they are classified as secret and that you will put your job before any other consideration. I believe you are capable of doing all of these.
“This government is founded on one principle, that every human being is capable of doing good and evil and I assume that every human being would rather good than do evil.
“I believe In hard work, I have a deep heart and deep commitment to the development of our state and I ask you to join me in this commitment.”