Send-off: Honours to Souaibou Bagoura
On Friday afternoon, 19 July 2024, the new pensioner was honoured by the Director General at a ceremony held in his honour at the Head Office.
For his 34 and a half years of loyal service to the NSIF, Souaibou Bagoura was given a colourful farewell ceremony presided over by the Director General in person. Souaibou Bagoura arrived in the conference room at precisely 4pm. At his side, the top manager reiterated the support he had received throughout his career. As he entered the room, emotions ran high: a long round of applause from the Monday meeting members and other managers from central and decentralised structures accompanied him to his seat. He thought he had sat there for the last time on Monday of the same week, when he had been given the privilege of chairing the Monday meeting.
At the beginning of the ceremony, Denis Masango Mebune, the Technical Adviser in charge of technical matters, gave a testimonial in which he described his exceptional career in terms of development and improvement, but above all his impact on the productivity of the staff under his responsibility in the various positions he has held. The outgoing Technical Director concluded by paying tribute to the NSIF in general and to the Director General: "I cannot find the words to express my gratitude. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Director General for his confidence in my humble self. During my career, I have had to serve three Directors General. The current one came in with reforms and a special allure. Rigour, discipline, team spirit, promoting results and performance. I'm happy to have earned his trust. I've benefited greatly from his guidance, and I've made an effort to pass it on to my collaborators".
A speech full of gratitude, but also motivated by the will to see his younger cadets keep NSIF on its pedestal among the national companies, and that requires a job well done: "to my young colleagues, we must pull ourselves together. We are all aware of the rigour with which the Director General approaches our various responsibilities. He regularly reminds us of this. We must be proud to repay him for all the attention he pays to us. Chiefs of Centre must take more responsibility and always ensure that the information they give to their superiors is clear, true and effective. You are the Director General's representatives in the structures, so be aware of this heavy responsibility. Finally, I would like to ask everyone to carry out a self-assessment and to take advantage of any shortcomings or malfunctions to establish a good work organisation and a good mechanism for monitoring tasks in order to achieve objectives. Work in the interest of the company and maintain its exemplary image". Those were words full of wisdom reflective of the man’s personality.
The opporunity was given afterwards to the most authoritative voice, that of the Director General Noël Alain Olivier MEKULU MVONDO AKAME, to say goodbye to the one who was his collaborator : "I would say with regard to Mr. Souaibou, in a very solemn manner that a great pillar of the NSIF is leaving. When you have been a member of the NSIF, you remain one. It was not always easy to trust my intuition, but I do not regret having placed my confidence in him in the various functions he occupied. I have never had doubts with him. When I discussed zith him some times ago, it was difficult for me to accept that he is going to retirement, and yet I have been reminded about it everyday. This moment has arrived. It is true that he has to go, but there are some to whom we are more attached because they contibute in a very decisive way to the achieved performances. Mr. Souaibou is one of those who have always provided answers to the questions of the DG in a technical manner and I think that he would be happy to have a worthy successor. With time, we will know if he will be able to carry out his missions with the same seriousness".
After solemnly receiving the recognition certificate from the NSIF with a bouquet of flowers and a gift from the Monday meeting, Bagoura Souaibou received a surprise birthday cake, warmly brought by the Project Manager, Hortense Assim. At this occasion, Souaibou made a wish to always know the NSIF standing and pround to carry the ideals that propelled this company to a respectable position at the national level. With his two children, he was entitled to a ‘standig ovation’ from the entire audience.
Great things for great men !
