Edo State Government has commenced training of civil and public servants on Salary Grade Levels 14 and above, on the implementation of the Making Edo Great Again (MEGA) manifesto, the blueprint that will drive development in Governor Godwin Obaseki’s second term.
Addressing participants at the flag-off of the training at the John Odigie-Oyegun Civil Service Academy, Obaseki reiterated his administration’s commitment to building a highly professional pool of civil servants with zero tolerance for corruption as the administration consolidates on the developmental strides recorded in the last four years.
“My administration will have zero tolerance for corruption and anyone found to be corrupt will not only be dismissed from service but will also go to jail for corruption. You will not be a millionaire when you work in the public service, you must not be rich but not poor either, but will live a decent life, you and your family,” the governor said.
He assured Edo people that his administration will not build a vindictive civil service but rather the value will be that of fairness, noting that his administration will build a highly performing civil service.
“We will work to create a workforce for the future as the rules must be mordernised and traditional barriers broken. We have decided to meet with our civil servants on levels 14 and above, to discuss the MEGA Agenda with them, explaining the role we desire them to play.
“Specifically, we want them to work on end-of-term reports for each Ministry Department and Agency (MDA) in the last four years and raise issues of concern and see how to integrate those issues into the plan of the future,” Obaseki said.
He noted that many things have gone wrong with the civil service that can’t be fixed in four years, but assured “we must start from somewhere and make it better. In the civil service there is too much waste and duplication and something needs to be done. What we have done in the last four years can’t be compared to what I will do in the next four years to set the state on the path of greatness.”
According to him: “Technology will bring transparency into the system. Workers should be trained to deliver efficiently as we are rethinking governance as any government that can’t create wealth is a failure. In my last 12 years in government I have seen a whole lot of confusion and we need to rethink governance again to ensure optimal performance. The future is about technology, we succeeded in our election because our people are one of the most exposed in terms of using Information and Communication Technology (ICT).”
He added: “Data is important in governance as we need to use technology to enhance data gathering and processing which will enable us plan as a government. We can’t run government without data as it facilitates decision making. To Make Edo Great Again we need a public service driven by data.”
In his remark, the State Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa Esq., urged the participants to support the governor’s policies to ensure that the state achieves success in the next four years.
“We will join you, support you to build Edo and ensure it attains a great height,” Okungbowa assured.
