By Zainab Zakari Rilwan
In every successful government, it must have highly committed workforce especially during the current Democratic dispensation.
Nigeria had 36 states in the federation including the federal capital territory Abuja as well as 774 local government under the aforementioned 36 states all of which consisted both senior and junior staffers who are managing the administrations and resources development both at federal, states and local governments levels.
It is on record that millions of workforce are serving under the civil service rules and for that purpose, majority of them were solidly defend on what is coming every month from both the federal, states or local government councils payroll as their only means of sourcing income (salary).
The Public Service Rules, 2021 provide the operational framework, the regulatory principles, and a charter of rights, privileges, and duties of all public servants while detailing what sanctions erring conducts could attract.
The Civil Service Rules also govern personnel practices and are binding for state classified employees in all state agencies and departments. These Rules are adopted and amended in open hearings by the State Civil Service Commission. Authority for the Rules is derived from Article X of the Louisiana State Constitution.
With the above development, I want to express my worries on the current retrenched workers in Zamfara state both at state and 14 local government levels were hundreds of them are out of the payroll since the emancipation of the current administration of governor Dauda Lawal of people’s democratic party PDP for the last three months without their salary.
As a female it always touched my heart on how retrenching them put them and their families into serious socioeconomic hardship as majority of them are struggling helterscalter to cater for their families talkless of the issue of insecurity that bedeviled the state for the last one decade.
The recent cause of alarming was the fact that 200 staff who were selected from 14 local government areas to serve at the state civil service after their transfer of service for over 13 month back but yet to start getting their salary while their respective local government have stopped their salary within the period under review.
These affected staff have been seriously in total hardship and the most issue of concerned was the fact that they have passed all the prerequisite needed right from the office of the state head of service and the state civil service commission and were served with computer numbers, DLS and confirmed that they were legitimately in the state civil service but unfortunately based on the information they have, the current administration of governor Dauda Lawal had removed or stop their transfer of service without genuine reasons and their fate went on vain.
Another set of 500 health workers who were recruited by the previous administration of former Governor Bello Matawlle and posted to various health facilities are now facing similar predicament as over four hundred of them spent three months without enjoying their salary, a situation which put them into serious socioeconomic backwardness and total hardship. These health personal have bridged wide gap in the area of shortage of man power in health sector of the state and there is need for the governor Dr. Dauda Lawal to revisit their case and release their salary for the betterment of the state and also to caushioned their hardship for effective healthcare delivery services to teeming populaces in the state.
In a letter dated 7th September, 2023, jointly signed by Lukman Majidadi and Jamilu Haruna Kalale which was served to the governor Dr Dauda Lawal and copied to all relavant authorities in the state, a group of appointees drawn from state civil service forum who applied for leave of absence, secondment or securing political appointments during the immediate past administration of governor Bello Matawlle from 2019 to 2023, the group decried how the present administration of governor Dauda Lawal refused to reinstate them back to their post of office for the past three months in the state.
“Based on the state demographics survey, Zamfara state is the highest with total number of workforce among states like Kano with 44 local government areas, Katsina with 34 local government areas, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kebbi states but not withstanding, the state is among the top state that has high poverty density but blessed with abandoned mineral resources and if it can be properly utilized the state will be the most reacher state not only in the northwest but among the 36 states in the federation”.
However, to my own understanding, the issue of insecurity can only be address if the citizens are living comfortably and in safe condition, there is urgent needs for the state governor Dr Dauda Lawal to look inwards on how to ameliorate the socioeconomic hardship that the affected staff are currently in with a view to address the lingering insecurity terrain in the state.
“I want to suggest the government of Zamfara state under the leadership of Governor Dauda Lawal to maintain the continuity government policy particularly to sustain some of the important sectors of the economy been adopted by his predicessor or previous administrations that could touch the life of the citizens in the state for the growth and development of the state socioeconomic potentials because by scrapping or avoiding some of the state economic sectors just because of the differences in political ideologies will not take the state to the next level but putting it into socioeconomic backwardness”.
Zainab Zakari Rilwan
Department of Mass communication
Ahmadu Bello University Zaria
