The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) recently honored 55 of its staff members for their exceptional performance in various fields of implementing policies and programmes in line with the Federal Civil Services Strategic Implementation Plan (FCSSIP ’25).
The event took place at the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) in Abuja, where the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Abubakar, expressed the government’s desire to deliver vibrant and robust policies to motivate public servants and ensure efficient service delivery to Nigerians.
Abubakar emphasised the importance of the FCSSIP’25, which is built on capacity-building, talent management, performance management, innovation, digitalisation, and enhanced value proposition for public servants. He stated that the ceremony was not just to reward excellence but also to galvanise staff towards high productivity geared towards achieving the Diversification Policy of President Muhammadu Buhari in the agricultural sector.
The minister highlighted that the sector’s significant contributions to the non-oil sector’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) cannot be achieved without the contributions of selfless, committed, innovative and disciplined public servants who have the statutory responsibility of formulating and implementing the ministry’s policies and programmes.
Abubakar revealed that the ministry has developed the Green Alternative through the Agriculture Promotion Policy to ensure wealth creation, poverty reduction, and employment generation for the teeming youths and women to boost the national GDP.
He reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to capacity development and has consciously allocated time and resources to training through regular in-house workshops and external sessions to improve staff’s decision making and customer service standards.
The permanent secretary in the ministry, Dr. Ernest Umakhihe stated in his welcome address that the programme, which had become an annual event, aimed to motivate and incentivise staff for better performance based on the provisions of the Federal Civil Service Strategy Implementation Plan 2021 – 2025 (FCSSIP ‘25). He revealed that the ministry had identified and selected officers who had demonstrated outstanding and sterling performance across Salary Grade Levels during the year under review.
The director of human resource management, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Alade urged staff not to rest on their oars because with the introduction of the New Performance Management System, the process would be more competitive. Also, she appealed to staff to sustain the tempo to enhance the scorecard of the ministry.
The ministerial award in the ministry was presented to director, procurement, Dr. Yakubu Adam; Director, extension services, Engr. Frank Kudla; Director, fisheries and aquaculture, Dr. Imeh Umoh; Director, legal services, Mrs. Kamilalu Kida; Deputy director, finance and account, Mr. Abubakar Adamu; Assistant director, information, Mr. Ezeaja Ikemefuna; Principal photographer, information, Mr. Yuguda Abubakar, among others, according to a statement by the ministry’s director of information, Mohammed Gana.
