Truancy, nonchalant attitude of Federal Ministry of Transport workers baffles Amaechi

The Honourable Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi was, on Wednesday, baffled and shocked at the level of truancy and nonchalant attitude of workers of the Federal Ministry of Transportation (FMOT).

Amechi, on Wednesday, paid an unexpected visit to all the offices in the nine-storey building housing the ministry.

According to a statement issued by the media team of the Honourable Minister of Transportation on Thursday, the Minister’s shock visit was to ascertain the level of commitment by the staff of the Federal Ministry of Transportation.

According to the statement, “Amaechi was seen earlier today (Wednesday) at about 3 pm going round the offices one after the other, interacting closely with few of the staff on their duty posts in the nine-story building housing the ministry.

“The Minister observed that at the time of his visit, most of the offices were already deserted by workers before the official closing time of 4 pm even though the very few present were either listening to music on their phones or outrightly dormant.

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“The Minister frowned at the nonchalant attitude and act of truancy displayed by some of the workers towards their jobs for which they are being paid for by the Federal Government.

“Amaechi also noted with dismay, how most of the offices were unkept, promising to meet with the Permanent Secretary and leaders of the Civil Service Union of the ministry over the issues in ensuring that workers who do not add value to governance were redeployed immediately.

“At the 9th floor, he observed a dilapidated area of the building which poses threats to staff safety and directed that it be fixed without further delay in order to encourage staff to give their best for effective work delivery.”

Chairman, Joint Union Negotiation Council (JUNC), of the ministry, Engr. Kolawolu Femi, who accompanied the minister on the tour described the minister’s visit to the offices as a timely and welcome development.

He said the act would no doubt, encourage and boost staff morale in the discharge of their official assignments.

Responding to the issue of absenteeism by workers, Engr.Kolawolu said, “The reason why most staff are not in their offices is because there is an ongoing training programme for the staff and most of us are participating in the programme and some other staff are observing their annual leave.”

The Union leader also used the opportunity to appeal to the minister to address the issue of insufficient office spaces for staff so as to curb the issue of overcrowding in some of the offices.

It would be recalled that two days after his reappointment as minister of transportation, Amaechi had a parley with staff and management of the ministry in which issues of lateness, absenteeism, truancy and workers welfare, in general, were adequately addressed.