Sir Edwin Ogidi-Gbegbaje
The Permanent Secretary, Protocol, Delta State Government House, Sir Edwin Ogidi-Gbegbaje clocked 57 last November 23, 2021, he organised a low-key shindig with friends and family in attendance. He spoke with Vanguard about his life and career.
Read on
In the beginning:
I come from the larger Gbegbaje family in Ekpan, Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State. We have quite several branches of the genealogical tree. We have the Abesan. The patriarch of the family is Chief Gbegbaje Dasone.
We have Oloyo Gbegbaje and Ogidi Gbegbaje. My parents were civil servants like myself. My mum was a social welfare officer who rose through the ranks.
During the late Ambrose Ali administration in Bendel State, she was appointed permanent secretary. My father was a medical doctor.
He was the first radiologist in the defunct Bendel State and second in the country. My father was the chief consultant radiologist in Bendel State. I also have an uncle, Mr. K Gbegbaje who was a permanent secretary.
When he retired, he became the Chairman of Bendel State Civil Service Commission. I have an uncle who was the first Accountant-General of Kwara State. He was in the northern civil service in the 60s.
He later became Chairman of National Oil. I am from a family of bureaucrats. I attended Emotan Primary School in Benin.
I proceeded to Edo College. When I left Edo College, I had the desire to leave Benin. Even when I was admitted into UNIBEN to study Economics and Statistics, I wasn’t enthusiastic.
So, I got admission to study Political Science in Jos in 1981. Prof Emovon from UNIBEN was the Vice-Chancellor in Jos at the time. As I was entering, Jos ceased being a campus of the University of Ibadan. I was there from 1981 -1985. I graduated before my 21st birthday.
Dad
Unfortunately, I lost my dad as I was entering the university in 1981. When I was just getting into my third year, I lost my mum.
It wasn’t easy being the eldest among my siblings. In fact, I was encouraged to come for Christmas holiday in Benin without knowing that the evening of my arrival in Benin was the period of my mum’s service of songs.
I didn’t have an inkling that such a thing had happened. I didn’t even hear that she was ill. I was shocked when I saw canopies in my compound at Ovie Whiskey Avenue close to Ekhewan Campus. A prominent Jos-based businessman from Ughelli encouraged me to visit home for Christmas.
I graduated in 1985 and taught at a secondary school in Iko-Eket, Cross River State. Just as I was finishing, there were some advertisements for jobs. I didn’t see the one for NNPC early enough.
Towards the end of 1988, my uncle who was the Chairman of Bendel State Civil Service Commission, said since I couldn’t get a private sector job, I should participate in extended interviews, especially since I had sat for ASCON examination.
He advised me to start a career in the civil service. By the end of 1988, letters of appointment were out. I wasn’t conscious of the fact that the person who resumes first becomes the senior in service. I didn’t resume early.
My uncle said I was supposed to have resumed instead of waiting to resume in the New Year. A few of my friends who were conscious of it had resumed and they became my seniors in service. I resumed on January 3, 1989.
That was how my career started. We were supposed to come in as administrative officers Grade 7, but at that time there was a decree. So, by the time we came in, we were designated as personnel officers. We were regarded as the special class.
State creation
Upon the creation of Delta State on August 27, 1991, we all had to move to Asaba. In fact, the movement was swift.
We were all not fully prepared for the swift movement. There was a surge of human beings into Asaba with the state creation.
A lot of us couldn’t get accommodation in Asaba when we came. In fact, I stayed in Ibusa for nine years. It was when I met my wife that we moved to Asaba. A lot of my colleagues were sleeping in the offices then.
To what extent did coming from a family of bureaucrats contribute to making you the person you are today?
It contributed a great deal because coming from such a background meant that I must succeed. Commitment, public service, diligence to duty, working for the good of man and society were common characteristics in my family.
I grew up seeing my parents working selflessly. My mother, because of the nature of her job, woke up at 5 am daily to prepare us for school.
My father, because of the nature of his job also got up quite early. We got used to seeing them working so hard for the public good. I got inspired. I did not necessarily at the time, thought I would also become a public servant because I was also looking at opportunities in the private sector.
Looking back, I sometimes ask myself where I could have been if I were in the private sector.
I just keep thanking my God for listening to my uncle’s advice that I should join public service. I don’t think I have any regret joining public service. My parents left footprints and I think I have also done my beat by not rubbishing their legacies.
I became a permanent secretary when I was on Level 15. I was just 46 at the time. Rising through the ranks, some may have been lucky to have godfathers but I didn’t have. I just kept working, believing the best would come. I am thanking God that I got to the peak of my career before retirement, which would happen in January 2024.
At the time you opted for the civil service the system wasn’t as bad as it is now, but it was less attractive for those desirous of financial success. Irrespective of that, you stayed put. What encouraged you to remain?
When the type of job I was looking for in the private sector wasn’t forthcoming, I had cause to come to Benin to see my mother’s friend, Dr. Mrs. Ugwei. She and her husband were permanent secretaries in the Bendel State Civil Service. I remember her telling me to take up an appointment as a teacher.
She said when there is an opening I could do a transfer of service in the civil service. But I told her that since I had already taken the ASCON examination, I would rather wait until there is an opening in the civil service.
I actually got fascinated by the kind of work my uncle who was a permanent secretary was doing. He distinguished himself and was well known as a hardworking, meticulous and conscientious man in everything he did. He helped a lot when my parents died. He helped in running my parents’ estate. I saw in him, a diligent public servant and
I said to myself that I would work the way my uncle worked while in service. The record my parents left during their time in service also inspired me. I felt that since the private sector job wasn’t there, I just had to join the public service and contribute to the growth of my state.
At 45 you were already a permanent secretary. How did it happen?
I met so many people who inspired me in service including the late Tony Obuh. When we entered the service, there was a period of orientation. After that period, you will now be posted to your area of work.
In my case, I was posted to the Administrative Office of the Governor’s Office. Because of my uncle’s experience in service, he insisted I should not just be thinking of going to where I would make money. He said I should focus on learning the job. He said I must learn how to write properly. He added that money can come later.
We were deployed to the administrative department. Osarodion, Sam Diete Ake, who is Permanent Secretary, Office of the Secretary to the State Government, I and others were at the administrative department.
We had weekly meetings where we took minutes that are developed in 24 hours. And they were always ready for the next meeting. We were lucky to have come across many good officers. There was one Igbinovia, Mr. Osagie, Tony Obuh, Ben Igho, who retired as Permanent Secretary, J.C Morka, who just retired as Permanent Secretary, Office of the Secretary to Government and others.
They were sound officers who shaped us. In the first few weeks, when we got to the office, they didn’t give us serious tasks. They just asked us to go through some closed volume files to see how minutes were written. I remember that one Mr. Osagie gave me something to write. After I had written it, he said “young man, the way you write in school is different from the way you write in service.’’ He said I could do better but should go through the files properly. That was the kind of training we had. Shortly after we resumed, we were sent on a speech writer’s course at the Communication Arts Department of the University of Ibadan.
The aim was to sharpen our skills. At the time, there were no speechwriters coming from outside. Admin officers were the ones writing speeches of the governor in the office of the Secretary to Government.
Those weekly meetings did a lot in shaping us. We learned how to write in the civil service language. Because we were in that department, the promotion and confirmation examination which was supposed to be done in two years, we did it in six months. Most of us got distinction.
We were examined in Common Law, Logic and others. In six months, we had passed the confirmation examination and were ready to move to the next level, which was level 9. I also met a young man, Mr Peter Onwusanya, who was good at accounting. At the time, he was a clerical officer but he later developed himself. By the time he resigned from service, he contested and became Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly.
Your narrative is at variance with the popular perception that civil servants, apart from people at the top cadre, are mostly redundant…
That is not true. The perception could be because of some who perhaps play truancy. In the service, if you are not careful and you think your preoccupation is just to make money, you would find yourself always wanting to go to areas where you can make money.
But if you are a serious-minded person who wants to get to the peak of your career, you obviously would not want to be counted among those who are going to places where they would only make money. That perception could also have arisen with the kind of attitude you find in some civil servants. Some of them think that before your file is treated, you must part with something. But that is only a small percentage of civil servants.
Were you at any time ambitious to get to where you are now?
The driving force was that if Mr. A could be a permanent secretary, I can also be a permanent secretary. I told myself that I just needed to work hard to achieve that. Since I joined the service, I have been fortunate to work in busy offices. I hardly have what I could say where leave periods.
There is always something to do. At the administrative department, we were doing so many things that kept us busy. We were also doing establishment work, which was about career progression of officers in the Governor’s Office.
I actually never wanted a situation where I would be found where I would not be found to be working. In my 33 years in service, I have never been in an office where I won’t be busy. From the admin office, I was moved to the Office of the Secretary to State Government.
In such an office, you can’t be a lazy person. For example, when Ibori became governor, we were still using electric typewriters. We remained in the office for a long time when we were preparing his budget office. We stayed in the office until the next day working on the speech because the governor returned it after each correction.
Were you at any time in your career involved in policy formulation?
That is essentially what the Office to the Secretary to Government does. It is the clearing house of government. Policy matters are generated there, passed on to the governor for approval, and go to the respective Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs.
I was in that office for more than 13 years. I left the admin department in 1997. I didn’t leave the SSG’s office until 2010 when I was appointed Permanent Secretary. As soon as I was appointed, about six commissioners wanted me to work with them.
The then governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, said no. He said they can’t be dragging for an officer. When Uduaghan was coming in as SSG, Ereru who was handing over to him told him Obuh and I were people who could help him succeed in that position. Uduaghan told the commissioners to discover some officers and groom them just as we were discovered and groomed.
I was sent to Special Project Office as Permanent Secretary, Special Project, Government House. I was there for four months. As soon as Dr. Oritsejafor retired as Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Energy, I was moved to that position. When Macaulay was appointed as SSG, he pleaded with the governor that he needed me as Permanent Secretary in his office. When Okowa was elected, I was redeployed to Government House as Permanent Secretary.
You have worked so hard in key departments in Delta State Civil Service and would be retiring in January 2024. What comes next after retirement?
I have been asked such a question in the past and I didn’t shy away from it. I would not be doing any good to myself nor would I be doing any good to my community and the nation if I fail to serve after my retirement.
I think I would still be useful to my state and the nation. Retiring doesn’t mean one is tired. I must keep myself busy. I have had 33 years of diligent service and I am proud of it. I don’t think I am the kind of person who would just sit at home from dawn to dusk expecting my pension. Man is a political animal.
You have to get involved not minding what people say. By casting your vote, you are part of the political process. That you decided as a civil servant or an ordinary citizen to vote for a candidate, you are part of the process. If my people call me, I will heed their call and represent them at any level they may wish.
You are so much involved in philanthropy and faith-based activities…
I grew up in a family where my father, who was a medical doctor, was a traditionalist. My mother was a staunch catholic.
My father, not minding that he was a medical doctor, believed in African medicine for good reasons. He saw nothing bad in anyone believing in African medicine. He wasn’t a regular churchgoer but he believed in God and encouraged us to go to church.
My father attended the African Church at Arosa. When he died, his final rites were performed at the African Church, Igbesan Street, off Akpakpava Road, Benin-City. My mother insisted and encouraged us to have the fear of God.
My father believed in treating people fairly. Just like my mum, my father offered assistance to those he hardly knew.
I found myself in a family that willingly did good without strings attached. We didn’t learn to do good with the expectation of returns.
I offer help as much as I can without reservations. That Mr. A doesn’t speak to Mr. B doesn’t stop you from helping Mr.B
