Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Folasade Yemi-Esan, has said Nigeria has the best civil service in the world.

Ms Yemi-Esan stated this on Saturday in Abuja during a sporting event organised for workers as part of activities to mark the 2024 Civil Service Week.

According to her, Nigerian civil servants are hard working, intelligent, adding that, “they can look after their own health for greater productivity in the course of discharging their duties.

“You know I am always proud of civil and public servants because Nigeria has the best civil service in the world and I can say that confidently anywhere.”

She expressed satisfaction with the high turnout of the civil servants from various ministries, departments and agencies at the events.

“I recall three or four years ago, we only used to have a handful of civil servants and today, the numbers that are here have increased tremendously. Thank you for a very good turnout today, you know these sporting activities, you don’t have to take it for granted because if we are not healthy, we can’t give the country the best that we have. And please this exercise is very important for us to be productive and to give our very best, our body system must be healthy enough. Apart from today’s sporting exercise, always ensure to visit our wellness centre to exercise. I am sure a lot of civil servants don’t even know where the centre is. Some people are taking advantage of the centre, some are not,” she said.

Ms Yemi-Esan said the government invested a lot of resources at the wellness centre towards ensuring healthy civil servants with sound mind to offer their best.

Also speaking, Minister of Sport Development, John Enoh, lauded Ms Yemi-Esan for sustaining the initiative since assuming office, especially during the annual civil service week.

According to Mr Enoh, the required results are always achievable with an active administrator put in place whether elective or appointive office, adding that the HoS has made a remarkable legacy in the sector.

“When you have an active administrator in an office, whether the officer is elected, appointed, you would see the required results. In the course of my journey here, I was just reflecting and I imagined the great initiative that started these programmes on physical fitness, the programme on exercises for the public servants. And I think that the head of service has done a great job for everyone who is here, and I would like to commend her for such initiative. And I thank the head of service for succeeding this tradition. Looking at the kind of excitement that I find, it appears that there are some of you that wish that this took place every day just to keep you physically fit,”  Mr Enoh said.

The initiative, she said, was an added advantage to keep civil servants alert mentally for productivity, stressing that, “its sustainability is necessary and vital.”

Earlier, Permanent Secretary, Service Policy and Strategies Office, Office of HOCSF, Deborah Bako, said the inclusion of sport activities as part of events to mark civil service week was imperative to acquire mental ability.

Also, Sport Manager, Ministry of Education, Aliyu Tajudeen, said that involving civil servants in sporting activities was highly recommended to promote productivity.

Highlights of the event include athletics such as running, football, aerobatics and cycling among others.

(NAN)