Friends, Colleagues Hold Retirement Party For DMO Director, Hajia Asmau Mohammed

Hajia Asmau Mohammed, a retiring Debt Management Office (DMO) Director, told no fewer than 200 friends, relatives, co- workers how fulfilled she was to have served in the public sector for the past 35 years.

The pioneer staff of DMO was filled with gratitude as friends and colleagues held a reception in her honour at the Newton Parks Resort, Abuja.

Hajia Mohammed, at the occasion which was filled with laughs and farewell tears, assured former colleagues that her exit from the DMO will not impair her relationship with them.

“It is over the past 17 years that I have cultivated the relationships I have with most of you behind this event today. I can say that there have been too many highlights to enumerate. When I look back at the years past, I feel a sense of fulfillment knowing that we have formed strong bonds that go beyond the 4 walls of the office,” she told friends and DMO staffs at the event.

“My leaving DMO is not by any means a farewell. I will still be a member of the happy family that we have become just as we have some ex-DMO staff amongst us today.

“When I tell people that I’m now retired, there is always some form of surprise from their reaction. However, 35 years of public service have gone by in a flash and I believe it is the right time to retire when I still feel like I’m able to contribute in other ways to the larger society and I still have some energy left in me.

“I vividly remember the start of my career in public service from Ministry of Internal Affairs as Assistant Secretary II on August 9, 1982. It is great to see how DMO has grown from infancy to be so well known across the country.

“Kudos to those who thought I deserved to be celebrated and came up with the idea of hosting this ‘celebration of years of service’. To say that I am overwhelmed by this show of love will be a gross understatement. Each time I think I’ve seen all the great things you do, you come up with more pleasant surprises,” she said.

Asides from the DMO, Hajia Mohammed has served and helped in the growth of key government agencies, to include the Ministry of Finance and the now Ministry of Interior.

The versatile and experienced public servant played key role in negotiating and implementing historic deals that led to Nigeria’s exit from the Paris and London Clubs of Creditors.

She was the National Coordinator of the Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank held in Abuja, May 18-19, 2005, after which she received letters of Commendation from the Secretay-General of the African Development Bank, Cheikh Ibrahima Fall, for organising one of the very best ADB AGM in history, and also got commended for stellar performance in leadership and prudent financial management from the minister of finance at the time, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.