By Chukwuka Ugokwe :
The Director of Information, Ministry of Information, Mr. Tony Nweke has taken a glorious bow out of the State Civil Service with a call on workers to always put in their best while in service in order to leave a lasting legacy that they could be remembered for after retirement.
Mr. Nweke who retired with remarkable working experiences spanning across 35 years in the State Civil Service, identified his stint as the Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry from Feb. 2021 to April 2022 as very momentous in his career.
“It was a period I supervised all the submissions of the Ministry and Parastatals under it in the 2022 budget.’’
He added, “still on high points of my career was the fact of being entrusted with the responsibility of planning the takeoff of a news bulletin ‘the Anambra Service News’ covering activities of various government ministries and agencies.
“I was Editor for seven years; 2006 to 2013; copies of each edition were distributed to ministries Liaison office at Abuja and subsequently copies were sent to other State’s Liaison Offices’’.
Speaking while officially handing over to his successor, Mr. Emma Ikegwuani, in his office, he commended staffers of the department for their roles in realizing the targets of the state government but quickly called for more efforts.
He acknowledged the high level of cooperation and support he received from the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Paul Nwosu as well as the past commissioners and management staff of the Ministry.
While thanking God for seeing him through his years of service from Nov. 1987, crisscrossing Ihembosi and Enugu Central Library, Anambra State Liaison Office, Kaduna, Ministry of Health and Office of the Head of Service, he asked workers to always continue to show dedication to duty, transparency and respect for due process.
Mr. Nweke who described his service as eventful, urged his successor to consolidate on the gains so far made in establishing enabling structures to move the department to the next level.
On life after retirement, he said, “I am leaving with a kind disposition and satisfied with the period God has given me. I thank God I still have the strength to explore other opportunities and I thank the Civil Service Commission for giving me the opportunity to serve.’’
Responding, Mr. Emma Ikegwuani, who took over from him extolled Mr. Nweke for working so hard, leading to a lot of successes in the department even as he pledged to sustain the tempo already put in place.
He described Nweke as a humble leader, a team player and a great mind who has given all his experiences to the growth of the civil service and wished him well in his future goals.
Until his retirement from active service, Mr Nweke served important Committees such as Joint Public Service Negotiating Council representing the Ministry of Information.
He was also a Member of the State Steering Committee for Financial Inclusion to represent the ministry since 2017 in the Central Bank of Nigeria Programme.
