From Francis Nansak ,Lafia
Nowadays, informative news stories about progress or developmental strides made by government administrators, such as presidents, state governors and the local government council chairmen, are less frequently seen in the pages of newspapers or online media platforms.
Therefore, It is against this background that The Authority Newspaper takes a look at the progress made by the Nasarawa State governor, Engineer Abdullahi Sule, since assumed office.
First to recalled, was a speech he delivered on 29th of May 2019, where he promised to overhaul the structure of Nasarawa state civil service, with a view to make it productive, for the purpose of wealth creation for the state.
This he began by setting up a high powered strategic economic advisory team made up of successful private sector driven experts, led by Prof Konyisola Ajayi(SAN). And swiftly charged the team with the burden of advising the government on steps to be taken that will culminate to harnessing the natural and human endowment in Nasarawa state.
Today Nasarawa state civil servants, has moved from analog to digital and have made lots of progress. And the new norm has started yielding the desired target as the state internally generated revenue reached #1 billion before COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, according to the government.
Civil servants against the analog way of transmitting vital documents and business information, were introduced to E-government system of operation,where a consultant was contracted to undertake training of heads of departments across the MDAs of the state.
Governor, Abdullahi Sule’ being an engineer with a rich working experience from international organizations, home and abroad, and as a top management officer(MD) Dangote Sugar, before he was elected governor of Nasarawa state in 2019, has shown that the civil service is indeed the engine room of the government in policy and programme implementations .
In translating policies to action and reality, he announced a staff sustainable reward system for civil servants, where those who excel in the discharge of their responsibility will be promoted and and mouth watering better packages. He also added that training and retraining of civil servants would be accorded high priority for efficient and effective service delivery.
At this juncture it is pertinent to said that Governor sule, in his careful and meticulous principles and in pattering with organise labour who he considered as parners in progress has worked hard to ensure harmony between government and the civil servants (labour unions) in the state, unlike in the past, where threats of industrial action were frequent.
On how was he managed some of the nagging agitations coming from the state workforce, Governor Abdullahi Sule’ again knowing that the success of his administration can not be completed without the contribution of the civil servants, inaugurated again a 12 man committee led by a cognate civil servant, who retired as permanent secretary in the person of Mr Silas Dachor.
He charged the committee to determine the numbers of government ministries, departments and agencies, and advice his government on how to stream line the State MDAs, and adoption of policies that will positively and optimally be the ladder for service delivery in the state.
One may asked, has the new modus-operandi introduced by the Governor found it footings in bettering the civil service in the state? A lot of the civil servants who spoke to The Authority, said: “Workers salaries have remained a constant concern of the governor, however, he ensures that workers’ salaries are paid.
” Currently, there is a revolving loan for civil servants which serves as a morale booster for workers,overhead cost is at it best sustain-to provide an enabling environment,so the governor is putting his best effort to reinvigorate the service” A top government official said.
Furthermore, Nasarawa State Government has introduced a health insurance scheme, however in a statement jointly signed by the chairmen of NLC and TUC, Comrade Yusuf Sarki and Shawulu B Tammah, respectively in February 2020, the duo advised that the health insurance scheme, while it is a welcome development, government should not immediately begin the deduction until there is an increase in the income of potential contributors through the implementation of the minimum wage, promotion and annual increment for workers.
Concerning the local government administration, Governor Sule’s administration since the autonmy granted to the local government has demonstrated that abiding by the roles of law is key in the advancement of any government. Pensioners are not left out, as they, at various level are duly paid their entitlement, as the government recently dolled out N300million for the payment of pensioners gratuities.
Joyed by the development, the ALGON chairman, Nasarawa state who is also the executive chairman ,Lafia local government, Alhaji Aminu Muazu Maifata, stated that the act was a milestone on the administration of Governor A.A Sule’.
He added that the local government council’s contributed their part to ensure that the gratuities were paid and that they will continue to contribute towards the payment on a monthly basis henceforth.
