In a bid to ensure that its staff and workforce are emotionally stable and well-motivated to discharge their functions, the Lagos State Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday organised a three-day retreat with the theme “Leading with Emotional Intelligence for Organisational Success”, for all staff at the Pelican Hotels, Lekki, Lagos.
In his welcome address, the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Prince Anofiu Olanrewaju Elegushi, said the retreat became imperative to ensure that its workforce is motivated and sensitive to its emotional wellbeing.
Elegushi maintained that it is delightful to note that all the middle and senior management staff of the Ministry, after a very busy period of Ramadan and Eid-el-Fitr celebration, gather to strategise and reinvent ways on charting a better course to enhance optimal delivery of service and governance to the good people of Lagos State.
“The retreat would afford every member of staff, irrespective of their status, the opportunity to express their views on ways of improving work ethics or mode of operations that could further enhance the progress of the Ministry and State Government, which ordinarily wouldn’t have been possible in the office”, Elegushi said.
He averred that the retreat could not have come at a better time than this for two good reasons. First, it will serve as an opportunity for every member of staff to relax and refill after a very busy period and secondly, it will be an opportunity for members of staff to learn, unlearn and relearn.
Speaking further, the Commissioner said the choice of the theme for the retreat could not have been ordinary but divine and it is particularly apt for the prevailing situation in Nigeria and Lagos in particular, if sanity has to prevail in social setting and workplaces.
“With the calibre of our guest speaker, Mrs. Titilayo Akisanya, a seasoned administrator and currently the Vice President, Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), participants would be well-equipped knowledge-wise.
I am reliably informed that this is the first time the Ministry and indeed any Ministry in the State is holding a retreat that involves every member of staff on its nominal roll. I must, therefore, single out and salute the courage of the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Adebunmi Adekanye, who has brought her administrative dexterity and ingenuity to fore in planning and actualising this retreat”, Elegushi said.
In her contribution, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mrs. Adebunmi Adekanye, said for the staff to deliver optimally, they have to be emotionally stable and well-motivated.
‘”Let me express appreciation to the Governor Sanwo-Olu-led administration for not leaving any stone unturned in ensuring job satisfaction by motivating its workforce and being sensitive to their emotional wellbeing as witnessed today”, Adekanye said.
She said that with the highly knowledgeable guest speaker and seasoned professionals billed to interact with staff at the retreat, there is no doubt that all the participants are in for a very good time in the next few days.
The Guest Speaker, Mrs. Titilayo Akisanya, enjoined the participants to employ emotional intelligence in their daily dealings and interaction for peace and unity to be restored in the country.
