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By Beifoh Osewele
The cheers were loud and the joy palpable as dignitaries, colleagues, family and friends gathered for her inauguration as Delta State Head of Service (HOS). The warmth in the hall spoke of the confidence and expectations surrounding her appointment, a moment of fulfilment for a woman who had spent more than three decades working her way through the civil service.
“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings,” says Proverbs 22:29. For Dr. Charity Igho Babigha-Ehimen, those words recall the years of hard work, study and growing responsibility that brought her to the highest career office in the state civil service.
Governor Sheriff Oborevwori acknowledged that preparation when he swore her in at Government House, Asaba, on October 29, recalling her rise through the ranks to director and her appointment as permanent secretary in 2019. Alongside the congratulations, however, came a clear charge about what he expected of her.
“Your responsibility is not just to supervise the service, but to help our people work better and serve the public with pride.”
The governor urged her to lead with fairness, humility and integrity, strengthen discipline and accountability and make the civil service more responsive to the needs of Deltans. His message set the tone for an assignment in which her ability to lead people will matter as much as her knowledge of government procedures.
Babigha-Ehimen succeeds Dr. Mininim Oseji as Delta’s 13th HOS, becoming the third woman to occupy the office, after Grace Ekpiwhre and Oseji. She takes charge of a service whose work touches almost every aspect of life in the state, from the handling of routine enquiries to the implementation of major government programmes.
In her response, she pledged to discharge her duties with dedication, fairness and integrity, outlining a four-point action plan covering human capital development and digitalisation, workers’ welfare, internal collaboration and teamwork with permanent secretaries and heads of departments. She also committed herself to supporting the administration’s MORE Agenda.
Three days later, the celebration shifted from Government House to church. At a special thanksgiving service on Sunday, November 1, at the Foursquare Gospel Church, by Temple Clinic Road, off Anwai Road, Asaba, she was joined by worshippers including colleagues, friends and family members, in thanking God for her elevation.
Beside her was her husband, Evangelist Andrew Ehijele Ehimen, retired employee of Shell Petroleum Development Company, who had also accompanied her to the inauguration. His presence at both ceremonies brought the family into the story of her achievement: he stood with her as she took the oath of office and again as she gave thanks, sharing the happiness of the moment and the solemnity of the responsibility she had accepted.
Faith has a place in Babigha-Ehimen’s life beyond such occasions. In 2014, she obtained a Diploma in Christian Missions from Life Theological Seminary, Ikorodu, and she has been involved in part-time theological teaching, marriage counselling and youth counselling.
That work calls for patience, discretion and a willingness to listen, qualities she should find useful in an office where workers will bring concerns about their careers, welfare and working conditions. They will expect decisions, but they will also want to know that their concerns have been heard and treated fairly.
Born in Burutu on May 7, 1967 to frontline educationist, Pa Stephen Macaulay Babigha of Odorubu, Patani Local Government Area, her education has continued through much of her working life.
She obtained her first degree from Bendel State University, now Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, in 1988, followed by a master’s degree in Forest Resource Management from the University of Ibadan in 1997. She subsequently earned a doctorate from Delta State University, Abraka.
Her career records two notable firsts. She became Delta State’s first female forestry officer in 1993 and later its first female Director of Forestry, serving in that capacity between 2012 and 2019.
Following her appointment as permanent secretary in 2019, she served in the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Renewal before her deployment to the Office of the Head of Service in June 2026. She therefore comes to the leadership of the service with experience at several levels and some familiarity with the office she now occupies.
Over those years, she has received instructions, carried out assignments, supervised staff and taken decisions for which others depended on her judgement. That progression should help her understand both the expectations of senior officials and the difficulties faced by the workers they lead.
Her academic training adds to that practical experience, providing a basis for examining problems carefully and weighing the choices before her. The task ahead will require such judgement, particularly where the need for change meets established ways of doing things.
Working with permanent secretaries and other senior officials, her responsibilities include helping to coordinate administration across ministries, departments and agencies, upholding professional standards and ensuring that government decisions are carried through. Much will depend on how well those offices work together and how clearly officers understand their responsibilities.
For workers, her leadership will be felt in access to training, personnel decisions and the handling of grievances. For members of the public, it will be evident in the time it takes to get official business done, the courtesy they receive and whether an enquiry or application receives the attention it deserves.
Her emphasis on staff development and digitalisation speaks to some of these needs. Training should equip officers for their assignments, while better use of technology can make information easier to retrieve and reduce avoidable delays. Her commitment to collaboration will also be tested by assignments that require several departments to act together.
Workers’ welfare will remain an important part of her engagement with both employees and the political leadership. At the inauguration, Oborevwori cited regular salary payments, training and the 13th-month salary among his administration’s interventions, while announcing approval for 12 additional duplexes for permanent secretaries and a clubhouse for civil servants.
Such support comes with expectations of diligence and accountability. Babigha-Ehimen will have to encourage staff, listen to their concerns and insist on standards, including when doing so requires difficult decisions.
The wider purpose is to help deliver the MORE Agenda: Meaningful Development, Opportunities for All, Realistic Reforms, and Enhanced Peace and Security. Its success depends in part on civil servants who can take approved policies through the necessary administrative steps and ensure that programmes reach the people for whom they are intended.
Shakespeare’s words in The Two Gentlemen of Verona offer a fitting reflection on the preparation she brings: “Experience is by industry achieved, / And perfected by the swift course of time.”
Her years of service, sustained learning and growing responsibility give weight to the confidence that she is a round peg in a round hole.
The goodwill was there for all to see at her inauguration.
