Sunday Ehigiator
Major General Julius Ehioze Osifo has assumed workplace as Chairman of the Military Pensions Board (MPB), pledging to make sure immediate, seamless and fewer bureaucratic cost of pensions, gratuities, arrears and demise advantages to retired and discharged navy personnel and households of deceased service members.
Osifo made the pledge yesterday throughout the Board’s handing-over and taking-over ceremony, assuring navy retirees and households of fallen personnel that their welfare can be a precedence underneath his management.
He mentioned his administration would give attention to making certain that eligible beneficiaries obtain their entitlements promptly whereas sustaining safeguards towards funds to unauthorised individuals.
“My mission statement will be anchored on leading a Board that will prioritize all ways and means to ensure payments are prompt, accessed with seamless ease, less cumbersome, less beaucratic but with an overriding commitment to ensuring only the rightful recipients get their due entitlements.”
He added that “under my watch as Chairman, MPB our veterans and family members of deceased personnel will have cause to smile.”
The new chairman recognized the deployment of trendy expertise, proactive identification of beneficiaries in collaboration with the navy providers, immediate processing of advantages and stronger engagement with stakeholders as key methods for reaching the aims.
He additionally pledged to enhance the capability of Board personnel via sensible, results-oriented coaching whereas upholding excessive moral {and professional} requirements.
Osifo mentioned his imaginative and prescient was to strengthen the establishment’s technical capability to enhance pension administration and repair supply.
“My desired end state is to reposition the MPB to be technically proficient towards the optimization of my vision of prompt and seamless payments to veterans and families of fallen heroes,” he acknowledged.
On workers welfare, the chairman mentioned he would offer a good and supportive working setting to allow navy and civilian personnel to develop their abilities and contribute meaningfully to the Board’s mandate.
“While I demand your commitment and dedication to duty, I assure you that as your commander, l will be fair and equitable to all. I will provide a level playing field and strive to create an environment for all to enhance their capacity and fully develop their potentials,” he mentioned.
Osifo brings expertise in navy finance, administration and strategic management to the place. Before his appointment, he served as Director-General of the Nigerian Army Finance Corporation.
He beforehand served as Deputy Director of Accounts on the Military Pensions Board in 2018, giving him prior expertise within the establishment.
His navy profession additionally consists of appointments as Registrar, Deputy Commandant and Commandant of the Nigerian Army School of Finance and Administration, as properly as Director of Finance on the Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre, Oshodi.
He was additionally the pioneer Chief J8 of Joint Task Force Operation HADIN KAI in Maiduguri. Between 2012 and 2015, Osifo served as Deputy Defence Attaché on the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington, DC, the place he contributed to efforts to strengthen defence relations between Nigeria and the United States.
Academically, he holds a bachelor’s diploma in Economics, a grasp’s diploma in Economics from the University of Jos and a PhD in Finance.
His doctoral analysis examined defence budgeting and navy operational capability in Africa, with proof from Nigeria.
He additionally attended Senior Executive Course 39 on the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, and has undertaken analysis on defence finance and terrorism, presenting his work at worldwide boards.
In addition, Osifo serves as an adjunct professor on the University of Ibadan’s Institute of Peace, Security and Humanitarian Studies, the place he teaches battle administration, safety and defence finance, and budgeting. He can also be a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management.
Acknowledging the work of his predecessors, the chairman pledged to construct on their achievements and referred to as on officers, troopers and civilian workers of the Board to work collectively in direction of fulfilling its mandate.
He described the duty of repositioning the establishment as a collective accountability, stating, “All hands must be on deck for the actualization of my vision.”
Osifo additionally expressed appreciation to the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, for the boldness reposed in him, as properly as the Chief of Defence Staff and the Minister of Defence for supporting his appointment.
He pledged to justify the boldness positioned in him, saying, “I pledge to perform my duties with utmost dedication and commitment and to Service.”
The Military Pensions Board is accountable for administering pension advantages to eligible retired and discharged Armed Forces personnel and the households of deceased navy personnel.
