It is an obvious fact that
any human action, whether with good intention or otherwise, must be confronted with one form of criticism or the other. This is so because man is an embodiment of criticisms.
It is therefore not surprising that the on-going biometric exercise for civil servants in Rivers State has continued to elicit mixed reactions among the state workforce.
Some said the exercise was a witch-hunt, while others applauded it. The critics of the exercise were of the view that previous governments had carried out similar exercise and that a repeat of it by the present government looks curious, perhaps to weed out innocent civil servants and pave way for political jobbers or supporters of Governor Wike.
However, from the way and manner the exercise is being conducted and the revelations coming out, one is persuaded to support the government’s decision to halt the payment of workers’ salaries from April.
The state governor had declared that any civil servant who does not undergo the biometric exercise would not be paid and that such a person would be viewed as a ghost worker, which is the target of the exercise.
It is not a hidden fact that a lot of dirty deals had been going on in the civil service with perpetrators feeding fat on government money to the detriments of their fellow workers. Their fraudulent practices of swindling government of tax payers’ money through ghost names is a cause for worry and necessitates the on-going  biometric exercise in the state.
It is painful to hear that some top civil servants have allegedly constituted themselves into a cabal in the system, devising various ways of swindling government of millions of naira. This practice has led to a bloated wage bill in the state.  Recently, Governor Wike disclosed that the wage bill which used to stand at about N5 billion per month rose to more than N7 billion as discovered by his administration. Obviously, this amount cannot be sustained by the monthly federal allocation to the state, that is currently around N3 billion as against N17 billion prior to the present administration.
Although, previous governments had embarked on similar biometric exercises in the state, it appears this current one is more thorough with the aid of modern technology. The demand for Bank Verification Number (BVN) and other requirements listed for presentation by workers makes the conduct of the exercise very authentic and reliable than the past processes done with analogue system.
The globe has gone digital and this now makes it easier to address the issue of ghost workers, which is as old as the civil service in Nigeria. It makes for easier storage of workers data and also detect any form of fraudulent practice.
Honestly, the exercise is quite commendable and desirable, especially now that the country is passing through the difficulties of global economic downturn. It is hoped that at the end of the exercise, the state will have a reliable database of its workforce for future utility.
But the questions agitating the minds of Rivers people are; at the end of the exercise, what next? What will happen to the perpetrators of the fraudulent act? Will they be made to face the appropriate sanctions?
It is expected that drastic measures would be meted out to those found wanting so as to serve as deterrent to others, as well as to forestall future occurrence.
While the efforts of the state government on fishing out ghost workers in the state civil service are commendable, it is also important that the government acknowledges the hardship workers are going through for the past two months, and therefore facilitate the biometric exercise.
I strongly believe that, the exercise, though has led to delay in salary payment, it will help provide lasting solution to the issue of ghost workers. So, workers must see it as a positive step towards checking corruption in the civil service, as well as facilitating regular payment of workers’ salaries.

Shedie Okpara