Task Before The New Rivers HoS

Following the retirement of Mrs Esther Anucha as Head of
Rivers State Civil Service (HoS), Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi last week
swore in a successor in the person of Mr Samuel LongJohn. Until his
appointment, Mr LongJohn was the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Employment
and Empowerment.

Being the longest serving Permanent Secretary in the
service, with a record of proven competences, we have no doubt that Mr LongJohn
deserves the appointment. We therefore feel obligated to join the entire civil
servants in the state to congratulate him on the appointment and wish him a
very successful tenure.

Perhaps we should also note the commendable record of the
immediate past Head of Service, Mrs Esther Anucha, who took the service to a
whole new level in Rivers State. Indeed, her leadership style has come to
expose a lot of possibilities in the service and raised the status of the
ordinary civil servant.

Coming from the above, it goes without saying that a lot
would be expected from the new Head of Service. Indeed, the task before him
becomes even more demanding because of the
various reforms the Rivers  State
Government is bringing into the service with a view to making it more
functional.

On assumption of duty at the State Secretariat Complex last
week, LongJohn promised to stabilize the civil service, through training and
retaining of workers as well as ensure that all civil servants are ICT
compliant, while pledging  to chart a new
course towards ensuring efficient and effective service delivery in tandem with
the administration’s transformation agenda.

We expect that the HoS will embark on massive sensitization
and enlightenment of workers, particularly on the new contributory Pension
Scheme vis-a-vis the safety of the entitlement of civil servants before and
after the introduction of the new scheme.

Also important is the articulation of a process of getting
civil servants to key into the reforms of the administration without causing
harm to neither the age long standards and processes of the civil service nor
the civil servants whose concerns appear to worsen by the year.

As LongJohn settles down, we also expect the immediate
release of the circular for the timely implementation of Grade Level 17 for
directors as approved by the state governor, just as we expect the timely
pursuit and eventual release of cars to directors who are yet to be allotted
official vehicles.

The problem associated with promotion arrears, skipping of
some names on the payroll and difficulty of rectifying such errors as well as
the need for issuance of pay slips need the urgent attention of the new HoS. Civil
Servants should not be given anything in the name of salary and have nothing to
explain it.

On training, the quick completion of the Civil Service
Training Institute in Etche has become more inevitable because of the need to
put in place an effective and routine training and retraining of workers, to
attain the needed goal.

Even more worrisome is the planned implementation of tenures
for Directors and Permanent Secretariats. If the needed human face is not
employed a lot of Directors who may have to leave office suddenly may die of
shock. The service will also suffer some hiccup if not properly phased.

While we commend the state government for approving grade
level 17 for Directors in the state, government should find a place in its plan
to dialogue with the Directors Forum in the state with a view to finding soft
landing for about 200 directors who may just leave the system suddenly.