Chime Warns Law Officers On Productivity

Legal officers and other staff of the Enugu State Ministry of Justice have been warned to go about their duties in a manner that would ensure the highest possible level of productivity and service delivery in their respective offices.

The State Governor, Barrister Sullivan I. Chime, who gave the warning last Thursday while declaring open a two-day retreat for Law Officers in the State Ministry of Justice at Nike Lake Resort Hotel, Enugu, noted that the warning had become necessary because the establishment and sustenance of a reliable and credible judicial system and the qualitative administration of justice were some of the most important and sensitive responsibilities of government.

According to him, it was for this reason as well as the impact their duties have on the preservation of law and order in the society that legal officers and other staff of the Ministry of Justice must not only be men and women of high intellectual and professional capacity but those who must approach their duties with great sense of commitment and dedication.

Governor Chime who was represented by his Deputy Sunday Onyebuchi, also reminded the workers of the administration’s policy of zero tolerance for laxity and corruption and advised them to view the Ministry of Justice as their own and consequently develop a more sincere and purposeful attitude towards their work.

He, however, commended the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Anthony Ani and his staff for their vision and wisdom in organising the retreat, adding that the positive results to be obtained from it would benefit the entire state.

While using the occasion to affirm the determination of his administration to support and sustain the continuous training of workers in the state to ensure maximum productivity, governor Chime said that such programmes were normally designed to equip them with the ethical, intellectual and professional tools that would enable them perform their duties with due diligence and unreserved commitment. Earlier in his address, the state Chief Judge, Justice

Innocent Umezulike, noted that the functions of legal officers in the Ministry of Justice either at the state or federal levels were wide and almost uncertain.

He added that legal officers attend to all the legal issues and problems of all Ministries and Departments of government.

According to the Chief Judge, the Attorney General is also the chief law officer and the chief legal adviser to all the ministries of the state and legislature.

He stressed that with such enormous functions, the law officers in the Ministry of Justice cannot afford to be lazy and or negligent in their work.

The Chief Judge, therefore, advised that the training programme should be made regular, suggested that a reward system for dedicated and resourceful law officers in the Ministry of Justice be established.

According to him, the reward may come by way of harmonization of their salaries with those of Magistrates or appointing the law officers who have shown distinction as judges or judicial officers.