By Emmanuel Obisue
As the 2025 Civil Service Week ended at the weekend, Federal Government rewarded 18 outstanding civil servants across Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, with mouthwatering gifts.
Nigerian Pilot reports that at the 2025 Federal Civil Service Rewards and Recognition Awards Ceremony held at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja on Saturday, Engr. Bahijjatu Hadiza of the Ministry of Environment came tops under the Presidential Distinguished Civil Servant Award Category. Her take-home was a brand new SUV JAC4, 2024 Model, a brand new laptop, a foreign short course and a Masters Class programme.
Under the Presidential Civil Service Merit Award Category, Chukwudi Ekwenugo of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy bagged a brand new SUV Changan C515, a laptop, N500,000 cash, and a foreign short course privilege. From the Ministry of Housing & Urban Development, Oluwabamidele Kogbe was gifted a newly built two bedroom flat, a laptop, N250,000 cash, and a sponsored Masters Class programme, under the Head of Service EPIC Award Category.
While 15 others got other gifts, the event marked the climax of the week-long Civil Service Week celebration, which brought together top government officials, development partners, and civil servants from African countries, the UK and US.
In her remarks, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, described the honourees as “quiet reformers” who have consistently demonstrated excellence, integrity, and dedication in service to the nation.
“They show up on time, meet deadlines, write policies, fix systems, and still manage to maintain a smile,” Walson-Jack said. “Tonight, we pause to acknowledge the busyness and say: we see you. We thank you. We honour you,” she stated.
She noted that the awards ceremony is now a fixture on the civil service calendar and serves as a tangible way of celebrating public servants whose daily work often goes unnoticed.
President Bola Tinubu, represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, commended the dedication and resilience of Nigeria’s civil servants, describing them as the backbone of governance and national development.
Akume assured that the Tinubu administration remains fully committed to creating an enabling environment for the public service to thrive through reforms that promote merit, accountability and innovation.
