For the civil service to fulfil the sanctity of its role, it is expected to function in accordance to the rule of ethics and professionalism set out for itself. This will enable it to discharge its duties and responsibilities fairly; without fear or favour or recourse to sectional interest. Following its track record, it can be said unmistakably that Ogun State civil service has demonstrated high ethical standards and remains one of the most professional in the country.
In Ogun State, ab initio, the Senator Ibikunle-led administration has always acknowledged the pride of place which the civil service occupies in the scheme of things. When the administration assumed authority in Ogun State a little over six years ago, the idea of building a virile civil service in tandem with the dictates of a modern and digital world had been conceptualised as part of its phiplsophy of “Ogun Standard”- to showcase the ethical quality of the things done by the administration and ensure they are done properly in line with the best international practice and the highest quality standards at reasonable cost. Along the way, the administration has given vent to the realisation of “Ogun Standard” as it relates to every aspect of life in the gateway state, and more specifically, in regard to the civil service. In this light, its policies are geared towards promoting human resource development in the civil service and partnership with the workers in the overall interest of the state.
Being savvy and worker-friendly, the governor of the state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun himself has often acknowledged the professionalism of Ogun state civil service each time he was opportune to meet workers. Only recently, on the occasion of the civil service day Public lecture in the state, which the governor personally attended, he mentioned this as much.
More importantly, Senator Amosun added colour to the civil service day celebration in the disclosure that six months arrears of outstanding cooperative deductions of the state civil servants will be paid out of the latest Paris Club refunds released to the state by the federal government. It would be recalled that another tranche of N243 billion Paris Club refund was recently released to the 36 states of the federation and Abuja principality. The federal government had advised the 36 states to use at least 50 per cent of specific funds released to them for the payment of workers’ emoluments. However, Amosun in his wisdom decided to apportion N4.5 billion of the N5.7 billion funds (about 80 per cent) to cater for the arrears of outstanding cooperative deductions of the state civil servants and local government workers while the sum of N1.1 billion (about 20 per per cent) was channelled to other expenses. He gave further assurances that he would pay the outstanding Leave Allowance of about N1 billion by September, this year.
In December 2016, the state government disbursed total amount of N12.5 billion to offset the pending gratuities, arrears of cooperative deductions and severance allowance of former political office holders. Before then, the sum of N5.5 billion had been employed for the payment of arrears of cooperative deductions of the workers in the state.
The governor has continued to live up to the expectation of making such payments despite the huge monthly wage bill in the region of N9 billion per month consisting of state and local government salaries and allowances as well as subventions to the state’s tertiary institutions. The most striking aspect of the deal is that the huge monthly bill is being paid as at when due, unlike in several other states in the federation where monthly salaries are owed workers. For the records, it would be recollected that the current government in the state inherited a monthly bill of N2.9 billion from the previous regime which has galloped by 300 per cent to N9 billion due to its progressive policies such as the implementation of the minimum wage (pro rata across the board), the conduct of various promotion exercises and employment of more than 10,000 workers into the civil service.
Amosun’s postures have been geared towards ensuring that the administration does not fail in its responsibilities to the workers and the state at large despite the difficulties of the downturn in Nigeria’s economy which started with the dip in oil prices from the second half of 2014 and has only recently shown signs of recovery. Pronto the governor put measures in place to manage the economy of the state more prudently so that the debilitating effects of the dwindling oil receipts would be minimal on the economy of Ogun State.
At the moment, the ship of the state has been stirred away from troubled waters experienced by previous regimes and now in good shape. Amosun has been able to do this by blocking leakages and at the same time expanding the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) base of the state. Figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics show that Ogun State garnered about N72.9 billion as IGR in 2016, the third highest among the 36 states. The IGR plan is tailored to make Ogun State less dependent on the monthly federal allocation by exploiting previously untapped areas of development in the economy.
As Amosun is being given awards from various quarters as the best performing governor and commended for sterling management of economic resources, the workers of the state should also be applauded because it takes two sides to tango. Amosun’s feats while in power could not have been possible without the active cooperation and collaboration of the civil service. Those awards are not surprising because under Amosun, the administration has pursued with vigor its grand objective tagged “Mission to Rebuild Ogun State”, which contains five cardinal programmes thus: Affordable Quality Education; Efficient Health Care Delivery; Increased Agricultural Production and Industralisation; Affordable Housing and Urban Renewal; and Rural and Infrastructural Development and Employment Generation.
The administration should intensify the partnership with workers through cross fertilisation of ideas especially between the state government and the leadership of the labour unions. The workers, on their part, should eschew indiscipline and the temptation of being used by uncharitable elements to cause confusion and disaffection in government. It may be imperative for both sides to organise joint seminars dealing on the theme of understanding between them and de-politicisation of the civil service.
Today, Ogun State civil service can beat the chest as one of the best civil service in the federation and much of the credit will go to the partnership that is being demonstrated under the leadership of Amosun.
Elegbede, a public affairs analyst, sent the piece from woleogunstate@gmail.com
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