Fubara: Fixing Rivers Civil Service

In developed climes or nations where leaders know what their statutory or constitutional obligations and responsibilities are, commending leaders for services that are within  the ambit of their statutory duties, may be considered  as sycophantic. However, what seems to be sycophantic is inevitable when incumbent leaders do what their predecessors deliberately refused to do. For instance, it is the statutory duty of Government and other employers of labour to promote eligible workers, pay their  remuneration and other benefits, as and when due. In line with the National Minimum Wage Law. Employers of labour are obligated to pay a minimum wage of N30,000 to their workers. Failure to do it, is violation of the law capable of  breeding industrial disharmony. What some administrations across Nigeria could not do for eight  years for their workers, Governor Fubara achieved it in less than eight months of his administration.
On Monday, February 12, 2024 the Executive Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara directed that Local Government Area workers in Rivers State should be paid N30,000 Minimum Wage and other entitlements immediately. Governor Fubara also directed the immediate payment of N35,000 Wage Award to cushion the pains occasioned by Nigeria’s depressed economy riddled by hyper inflation and unemployment. Also to be implemented immediately is the promotion of workers of the Local Government that have been stagnated for eight years by the previous administrations in the State. It is worthy of note that some local government areas have commenced the processes of promoting workers  on the junior cadre, in line with the directive of the Executive Governor of the State-the “People’s Governor. For its part, the Rivers State Local Government Service Commission has also hit the ground running, assiduously working to ensure that no stone was left unturned in strictly complying to Governor Fubara’s clear instructions.
Already, workers in the senior category are being evaluated through the traditional civil service promotion procedures and are currently undergoing interview that will take them to their appropriate levels after eight years of undeserving stagnation. Some good natured and God-fearing local government area chairmen have also promised workers of implementation of N30,000 minimum wage which they have not earned since the Minimum Wage Law was enacted. It is unbelievable, baffling and incomprehensible that local government areas workers in the 23 local government areas of Rivers State still earn old salary structure  when Edo, Lagos, etc pay above the national minimum wage. It is sad to hear  that five years after the minimum wage became a legal instrument requiring strict  enforcement, the previous administration did not see the need to improve on workers’ welfare.
Why should local government areas workers across the board remain on old salaries in the face of harsh socio-economic realities.  Considering the anomaly and pains workers in the local government areas have suffered over the years, it is no flattery to describe Governor Fubara as a messiah, a “Daniel that has come to judgment”-to right the wrongs, redress deprivation and injustices. Fubara has again proved to workers that he remains their friend,  a trusted ally and a friend indeed. The governor Fubara feels the pinch because he has worn the civil servants’ “shoes”. I wonder how a government elected by the people thus derives its legitimacy of leadership from the people, would deny their rights and treat their welfare with disdain. Development that does not take into consideration human capital development will inevitably translate to an exercise in futility because in the words of the Russian Philosopher, Lao Russell, “In vain you build the city if you don’t first build the man”.
The human a government refused to build on a whim for roads, bridges and other infrastructure, will destroy those infrastructure with impunity. It is pertinent to state that, of all the factors of the value chain of production, the manpower is the most critical one. Every human organisation rises or falls on manpower. If the manpower is not motivated as experienced in the last eight years of previous administration in Rivers State, it will be  abysmally counter-productive. Rather than enhanced productivity, the organisation will suffer major setbacks and failure. Workers are partners with government. No administration which  knows the indispensable roles of workers as catalysts to achieving policies and programmes ever treats them with disdain. Governor Fubara deserves commendation because what his predecessor had refused to do, not because there was no money, but because he did not see it as a priority, Fubara has done it for local government area workers and public servants in the Rivers State employ.
Fubara’s feat is a testimonial of his humane nature, empathy, compassion, good nature and good nurture. I pray that the Governor should be consistent in doing good to the end because the “end crowns the work”. Workers should give back to the Fubara-led Rivers State through their unflinching loyalty, support to his administration, and recommit to increasing their productivity for a greater Rivers State under God.