Osuyali, DELSACA Boss, Others Praise Mrs. Sifo’s Efforts, Dedication To Service Delivery As She Bows Out Of Delta State Civil Service

By Magnus Emuji

The immediate past Executive Secretary of the Delta State Agency for the Control of AIDS (DELSACA) , Dr. John Osuyali has commended the outgoing Director of Partnership and Policy Coordination in DELSACA, Mrs. Grace Obiageli Sifo for her unwavering commitment to service, describing her as a pillar of DELSACA.

Speaking as the chairman of the retirement/birthday party held in Asaba in honour of the Mrs. Sifo , Dr. Osuyali said that her retirement from the Civil Service had created a vacuum in her office due to her exceptional service delivery.

He stated that the retiree was a team player, who had always displayed accountability and transparency in everything she does, especially in all her official assignments.

Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of DELSACA, Hobson Rudolf said that 60 years of age and retirement from the Delta State Civil Service was worth celebrating, stressing that the efforts of Mrs. Sifo had been very instrumental in virtually all the achievements DELSACA had recorded so far .

In their various goodwill messages, the State Program Manager, Excellence Community Education Welfare Scheme (ECEWS), Mr. Henry Udenenwu, the Delta State Coordinator of NEPWHAN , Mr. Christopher Ogberetinor, their counterpart in charge of the National Youth Network on HIV/AIDS, Delta State Chapter, Mr. Uche Osakwe and the HIV State Coordinator, Delta State Ministry of Health , Dr. Linda Peter-Enyi as well as the celebrant’s younger sister, Nkechi Uzoka asserted that her retirement was a transition to another level, just as they said that her contributions in HIV/AIDS activities in the state was unprecedented.

Udenenwu said that the tenure of Mrs. Sifo as the Director of Partnership and Policy Coordinaton in DELSACA had been truly impactful, not only in strengthening the HIV response in Delta State but also in shaping the work of partner organizations .

The ECEWS Program Manager said that Mrs. Sifo was more than a partner to his organization but also an invaluable ally and a mentor, adding that through her efforts, countless lives had been touched with systems strengthened and hope restored to many .

For their part, Ogberetinor and Osakwe noted that the celebrant had continued to support people living with HIV/AIDS in the state, even as the former recalled that through the guidance of Mrs. Sifo he was able to get his first organization registered.

Earlier, the husband of the celebrant, Pastor Gregory Sifo explained that he was excelling today as the Delta State and the South -South Chairman and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Civil Society Organization in Malaria Control, Immunization and Nutrition (ACOMIN) because of the encouragement and guidance from his wife.

The clergyman said that the celebrant was not just a woman of substance and character but an embodiment of talents, emphasizing that with her retirement, she would have more time to enrich the work of God .

Responding, the visibly elated Mrs. Sifo identified passion, honesty, determination and transparency as some of the core values that every civil servant must possess and strictly adhere to in order to succeed and appreciate everyone that came to honour her, particularly DELSACA.

Mrs. Grace Sifo , however, urged the younger generation of civil servants to shun the quest for making money negatively but evolve ways of adding value to their lives, career and society at large, reminding them that there is always reward for hard work.

Highpoints of the ceremony was the presentation of cash and other gift items to Mrs. Sifo .