In the history of mankind I do not think there is anywhere the dignity and savor of the civil service has been dragged into the mud like Kogi State. The scale of disregard and disrespect is unparalleled and unprecedented in the history of mankind.
It is indeed a big shame that Nigeria has gotten to a point where her leaders do not value or know the significance of the civil service.
The civil service is not just an institution. Socio-politically, the civil service is at the core of elitism in the society. Economically, the civil service represents the middle class and commercially, the civil service represents the consumer class of the society.
If this trend continues, if we do not apply political craftsmanship, administrative dexterity, financial adroitness, surely Kogi state will become a classic case study of a ruined civil service!
In the case of Kogi state, there are some who argue that the population of Kogi state is 3.5million and the civil servants are about 100,000 – therefore, why spend so much on the few (N2.7billion or thereabout). Such argument is not only wrong but also myopic.
Looking at the Kogi State’s demography, people within the ages of 1 and 29 are about 2.5million, which accounts for 71% of the population. The 2.5million people are largely dependents and most of them are not children of political office holders or elected officials rather they are children and relatives of the civil servants and business people relating with them, as a matter of fact, when you factor in unemployment the dependents on the civil servants might be close to 3,000,000. Therefore, paying salaries goes beyond just 100,000 persons, it is about the welfare of about 3,000,000 people in a population of 3,500,000!
For most of them in government, we don’t know where they are coming from but for us, we are what we are because our parents are civil servants and all that we are today is possible because our parents were civil servants. My father was a civil servant- a first class engineer per excellence! I am deeply proud of him. Wole Soyinka was once a civil servant , Dr Beko Kuti was once a civil servant, Allison Ayida was a civil servant, Chief Jerome Udoji was a civil servant. The civil service has actually produced some of the best and greatest mind in this country.
I am sure even Buhari, the current president, would not have lived long to become the president of this country if his salary and pension was always hanging.
The civil service deserves a little bit of respect from the state government!
As an experienced legislature and politician within the state, and someone that has actively lived in the state in the last seven years, I know too well that the government is more of a problem than the civil service itself. In recent times, the state government has not displayed intensive ability, competence, skill and style – rather, the government enlarges the crisis.
Now to the civil servants themselves!
In the history of Nigeria, Kogi state civil service is the most disunited and they are until this very moment. What a shame that they cannot come together to fight for their common interest, hence the government continue to take advantage of them.
Secondly, the leadership of the labour unions and associations lack any form of intellectual sagacity, ideology and courage. They are empty just like the state government that is bullying them! At the individual level, the civil servants lacks the most basic exposure and mental agility to stand for their rights.
Even the blind can see that there is rot, fraud and mediocrity in the civil service. The civil service is long due for modernization and best practices.
One will wonder how actually efficient, effective and useful are the civil servants to the state. Are they actually moving the state forward or they are a burden to the system?
The screening which the state government organized would have settled the matter once and for all but the whole process has been unpopular, unprofessional and crude – it is about the most shoddy screening ever in the history of civil service in the whole wide world!
In the end the screening is more of damage than a solution!
… to be continued.
– Hon. Adeyemi Bidemi
Provost Institute of Disabled Persons (iDP)
Minority Whip 2011-2015, Kogi State House of Assembly (Yagba West Constituency)
Founder, African Reading Project
Member Kwame Nkrumah Research Institute.
Postscript:
The future of civil service in Kogi State
I shall be discussing;
a. How to end all the crisis associated with the infamous screening in less than 30 days
b. How the state can successfully begin to pay salaries between 21st and 25th of every month
c. How to expose the civil servants to best practices
d. How to change the state from being a civil servant state
e. The future of civil service generally
