Civil servants in Osun on Wednesday, returned to their offices after observing Monday and Tuesday as public holidays for Christmas and Boxing Day celebrations.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that civil servants were seen exchanging pleasantries at the state secretariat Abere and Olorunda Local Secretariat, Osogbo, respectively, when the two places were visited.1
Commercial banks in the state were also opened to customers while commercial activities have fully resumed.
Federal civil servants were equally seen in their offices at the Federal Secretariat in the state.
The turnout of workers in some government establishments was, however, poor as some offices were yet to open, as at the time of filing this report.
Mrs Esther Alade, a staff at the Olorunda LGA, Osogbo, who spoke with NAN, explained that some workers would resume later in the day, as they were returning from where they went to celebrate their Christmas.
Speaking about the Christmas, she said they (workers) were grateful to God for sustaining their lives and making them witness another Christmas, in spite of the high cost of food items.
“This Christmas is not as blissful as it used to be, owing to the fact that things (food items) were extremely expensive, forcing a lot of workers to even shelve the idea of travelling to celebrate the holidays.
“The prices of food items were too high, even to organise Christmas party was a problem for a lot of workers, so a lot had low key celebration at home with their families,” she said
Mr Ayodeji Adeyemo, a federal civil servant, said a lot of workers did not travel to celebrate the Christmas in their hometowns because they did not have money.
“We, however, thank God for the gift of life and hopefully, next year, things will be better.” he said
NAN recalls that the Federal Government had declared Monday Dec. 25 and Tuesday Dec. 26 as public holidays to observe Christmas and Boxing day respectively.
Jan. 1, 2024 was also declared as public holiday for the new year celebration
