The effort by the Enugu State Government to drive productivity among Local Government Council employees in the state appears to be paying off, as the state’s Monitoring Team on Work Attendance witnessed impressive attendance when it paid unannounced visits to the council headquarters of Igboeze North, Igboeze South, Udenu, and Nsukka Local Government Areas (LGAs) on Monday.
The leader of the Team and Head of Service, Mr. Kenneth Ugwu, said it was an indication that the effort to re-orient civil servants in the state on the path of productivity was yielding fruits, especially after the team’s recent surprise monitoring visit to Ezeagu Local Government headquarters where it directed the querying of over 164 absentee Council staff.
Mr. Ugwu, who was accompanied by other members of the Monitoring Team, including the Principal Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Ken Chukwuegbo; Chairman, Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, Comrade Ezekiel Omeh; and the Chairman, Trade Union Congress (TUC), Enugu State chapter, Comrade Ben Asogwa, reiterated that the days of negligence of duty, lateness and willful absence from work were over.
While addressing workers at their respective council headquarters, the Head of Service emphasised the commitment of the Governor Peter Mbah Administration to grow the state’s economy from $4.4bn to $30bn and also continually bettering the welfare of workers, however, reminded workers that both could only be achieved through increased productivity.
“That is why the current administration is ramping up the verification of council workers and also introducing the electronic and biometric clocking in or attendance technology so that we are sure that we have only real and active workers on our payroll. We cannot continue to allow those we do not know, who do not come to work, who are probably living outside Enugu State and Nigeria and those who have chosen not to be productive to continue to drain our resources. More so when they will become the pensioners of tomorrow to continue to reap from where they did not sow,” Ugwu stated.
On his part, the Enugu TUC Chairman, Comrade Asogwa, urged workers to support the development effort of the Mbah administration and its commitment to workers welfare, including the continued payment of cash awards aside their salaries by giving their best in their respective duty posts.
Speaking during one of the Team’s interactive sessions with workers at the various council headquarters, the Head of Personnel Management in Igboeze South, Gloria Ozioko, assured that the government would witness a major improvement in the drive and productivity of workers in the state.
She said, “The Dr. Peter Mbah Administration has continued to show workers good faith and it is only godly and responsible of us to ensure that the local government system contributes immensely to the success of his administration.”