By Emma Peter, Abuja
The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA), Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, has described the outgoing Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, as a woman of “unprecedented capacity” whose career in public service has been defined by competence, integrity, resilience and commitment to national development.
Mustapha stated this while speaking with journalists in Abuja at a book launch organised in honour of Walson-Jack, where two books, Beyond the Mandates and I Planted, were unveiled to celebrate her distinguished career and contributions to Nigeria’s public service.
The NBRDA boss said Walson-Jack had consistently demonstrated exceptional capacity throughout her career, rising through the ranks of the civil service and ultimately attaining the position of Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
According to him, Walson-Jack’s journey represents a remarkable example of how professionalism, discipline and dedication to duty can produce lasting impact in public administration.
Mustapha said her career should be viewed not merely as a personal success story but as a testament to the possibilities that exist when public officers approach their responsibilities with a strong sense of national purpose.
He noted that Walson-Jack had distinguished herself by the manner in which she confronted institutional challenges, promoted reforms and remained committed to improving systems even when the circumstances were difficult.
The book review of Beyond the Mandates, delivered by former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Dr. Joe Abah, reinforced the theme of purposeful leadership and institutional transformation. Abah presented the book as a continuation of Walson-Jack’s public-service story, examining how lessons acquired at the subnational level could be applied to the Federal Civil Service.
The reviewer highlighted Walson-Jack’s transition from senior positions in Bayelsa State, including Chief of Staff and Permanent Secretary, to the Federal Civil Service, describing the transition as a difficult bureaucratic experience that exposed weaknesses in administrative processes.
According to Abah, that experience later informed some of Walson-Jack’s reform interests, particularly her advocacy for digital transformation and a paperless Federal Civil Service, including the adoption of the Enterprise Content Management System.
He also emphasised her commitment to integrity, recalling instances in which she resisted pressure to participate in questionable practices and chose to tell the truth even when doing so could have been uncomfortable for the institution she headed.
Abah said one of the central lessons of Beyond the Mandates was that leadership requires taking responsibility for institutional failures rather than shifting blame to subordinates. He noted that Walson-Jack demonstrated this by acknowledging shortcomings under her watch and taking steps to strengthen systems and prevent their recurrence.
The book also examines the importance of institutional memory, continuity and collective responsibility in public-sector reform, highlighting major civil-service initiatives involving competency-based training, leadership development and talent management.
Abah stressed that sustainable institutional reform could not be attributed to one individual, noting that it required collaboration among public servants and continuity of ideas and programmes across administrations.
He described Beyond the Mandates as more than a memoir, saying it provides practical lessons on integrity, accountability, resilience, professional excellence, digital transformation and purposeful leadership.
The book’s foreword was written by Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Walson-Jack’s former law lecturer and Nigeria’s former Vice President, who described her as disciplined, intellectually rigorous, focused and remarkably mature.
The book launch attracted an array of prominent Nigerians, including former President Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan; Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum; Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri; former Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Seriake Dickson; serving and former senators, members of the House of Representatives, senior government officials, traditional rulers and other distinguished leaders.
The gathering provided an opportunity for colleagues, political leaders, public servants and associates to celebrate Walson-Jack’s years of service and reflect on the broader lessons of her career.
For Mustapha, however, the most significant feature of Walson-Jack’s story is the combination of capacity and character that has defined her public service.
He said her career offered an important lesson to younger public servants: that positions of authority should be regarded as mandates to serve, reform institutions and leave them stronger than they were inherited.
Walson-Jack’s career, he added, demonstrates that the most enduring legacy of a public servant is not the office occupied, but the quality of institutions, people and systems left behind.
The event therefore served not only as a celebration of an outgoing Head of the Civil Service but also as a reflection on the values required to build a more efficient, ethical and responsive Nigerian public service.
