RSG Moulds Sound,Virile Workforce

The secretary to Rivers State Government, Hon Magnus Abe, has reaffirmed the state government commitment to building a better result-oriented civil service system for the state.

Abe gave the assurance at the weekend in Port Harcourt, while receiving the Report of a five-man Committee on the resolution of the industrial action recently embarked upon by the Rivers State branch of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) to press for the implementation of the consolidated Judiciary Salary Structure.

He described civil servants as tools with which government would implement set goals and visions for Rivers people, pointing out that without a functional civil service system, the overall task of governance would be incapacitated.

According to him, the fight to make the Rivers State Cicil service  better is a fight we will not give up on”, stressing that it was with the realisation that making the civil service better must necessarily make the civil servants happier and that part of the key to making a workforce happier was also for them to acknowledge what happiness meant by taking their jobs seriously.     

He recalled that the state government had in October, 2007, set out to resolve fundamental issues bordering on payment of Christmas bonus, consolidated salary package for workers and the provision of capacity and training for staff of ministries and extra-ministerial departments to enable them deliver on their job.

Abe further pointed out that at the time the present Administration came on board, not only did government in agreement with the leadership of the Labour Union accept to pay outstanding Christmas bonuses of 2006 and 2007 together, but increased the figure and paid off every single staff of the State’s Civil Service the sum of forty thousand Naira as a “one-off thing”.

On the consolidated salary package for workers, he noted that government in consultation with labour discovered that the commitment made by the former Administration was unacceptable to the workers and that what was supposedly implemented as 15 percent eventually turned out to be 45 percent increase in every worker’s salary, bringing the total wage bill of the State to over three billion naira.    

Other policy measures he outlined as being in line with nurturing a vibrant civil service included, the implementation of automated salary payment system aimed at prompt payment of workers’ salaries, observance of Due Process and proper documentation in all transactions of government business, as well as the setting up of a committee for regular payment of emoluments due workers on their retirement .

Abe who expressed disappointment that the approach used by some workers to press for their demands did not reflect the deep friendship between government and the workforce, wondered if the leadership of the workers’ Union ever communicated the decisions reached in agreement with them to other civil servants.

He however appealed to Rivers workers to take advantage of the good intentions of government for them and improve on their capacity to excel on the job while their service lasted

The Secretary to the State Government assured that government would carefully study the Committee’s Report and communicate her decisions on the recommendations to the JUSUN and the public at the appropriate time.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Autine Nwakoh, had said that apart from a total of twenty-seven documents received and examined in the course of their assignment, several meetings and consultations were held with stakeholders in the Judiciary, both in and outside the State.

Other members of the Committee were, the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Dame Mina Benebo, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Dr. George Nwaeke, Permanent Secretary, Establishments, Training and Pensions Bureau, Mr. Gift Chima Ake and Director (Administration) Office of the Secretary to the State Governn1ent, Sir Augustus Fubara.