* Grace of God has taken me this far – celebrant
By Nudoiba Ojen
It was a moment for a retired Permanent Secretary in Ekiti State Civil Service, Mr Adedayo Ajobiewe, to look back and praise God for his time at work as colleagues, friends and family members gathered to bid him farewell on retirement.
It was a time of praises for the Omuo Ekiti-born class teacher turned civil servant, who last served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government Affairs at the colourful Signing Out (Pen-Down) Ceremony organized for him in the Ministry.
The Commissioner for LGA, Hon. Folorunso Olabode, congratulated Ajobiewe on his successful bowing out of service, describing him as “a good man, considering the people from within and outside who had come to grace the occasion”.
Olabode stressed that “Mr Ajobiewe is an amiable officer, a good adviser, an embodiment of humility and hard work worthy of emulation”, noting that the celebrant would be the 5th PS that he would work with in the civil service.
He said, “It is a rare privilege and honour to have worked with a dutiful perfect gentle man like him. I appreciate him for services rendered as the Cabinet Secretary between 2019 to 2022 as PS where he had earlier worked as a Director too.
Olabode, who described Ajobiewe as a reliable individual, commended him for his dexterity and efficiency at work and implored everyone to emulate his exemplary leadership in the discharge of their duties.
The commissioner charged staff of the ministry to be diligent and outstanding during their service years to attract commendation while in active service and after retirement.
Responding, Ajobiewe lauded the state government for giving him the enablement to serve meritoriously for 33 years, stressing that his success was due to the grace of God and his numerous past experiences in the course of his public service journey in teaching, Local Government and Civil Services respectively.
He said that seeing different situations in the course of the journey with low and high moments where both situations had shaped him, having worked with different bosses in different capacities, coming across different people in different forms of life as well.
Ajobiewe appreciated the Commissioner for making his 8 months of working with him memorable and worthwhile, saying the fond memories of the short period would linger in his heart for ever.
He called on staff to exhibit good attitudes to work and discharge their duties effectively.
Farewell songs were rendered for him by the Ministry’s choir as several goodwill messages and testimonies were also shared about the celebrant.
According to the citation, Mr Adedayo Ajobiewe, who was born on 4th May, 1964 at Omuo Ekiti, joined the Service as a class teacher at Omuo Community Grammar School, Omuo Ekiti now Kota Ekiti in April 1991 till 1995 before transferring his service to the old Ondo State Local Government Service Commission.
Ajobiewe was admitted as an Administrative Officer in January 1998 and rose through the ranks in various MDAs before he was appointed Permanent Secretary, Cabinet and Special Services Department in 2019 till 2022 when he was posted to State Universal Basic Education Board and later to Ministry of Local Government Affairs on 17th August, 2023 till his retirement on the attainment of the mandatory 60 years of age.
