The Lagos State Head of Service, HOS, Mrs. Folasade Adesoye, has raised the alarm over high rate of mental health challenges among civil servants in the state which she puts at over 100, 000.

Adesoye, stated this, yesterday, at her Valedictory and Pull-Out ceremony, after 35 years in service, held at Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Ikeja. According to her, the challenge should be treated as a matter of urgency by the government.

“I wish to note the increasing incidence of mental health challenges within the public service and necessity to address the issue as a matter of urgency. I wish to encourage a health sector stakeholders’ forum to facilitate a holistic discussion of issues affecting the sector in general with a view to developing a new road map.

“It is also important that the momentum of ongoing reforms of public service processes and procedures be sustained and aggressively cascaded to the Unified Local Government Service in order to maximize its benefits,” she added.

Mental health challenges are handlable, treatable – Campbell, filmmaker Adesoye also lamented paucity of funds, urging the state government to ensure adequate funding and effective staffing of the State’s Office of City Resilience considering its critical role in Lagos State’s long term environmental sustainability.

She therefore, urged civil servants to brace up for the challenges of the future public service, saying that one did not need a crystal ball to know that in the foreseeable future, the public service would be innovative and technology-driven.

“It would be one in which skills, knowledge, creativity, talent, competence and performance would be the primary determinant of relevance, promotion and advancement. “Therefore, regardless of institutionalized staff motivation and/or performance reward system, I encourage you to find time to develop yourselves.”

•Sourced from a Vanguard report