Working together for the progress of the state

Speech by His Excellency, Alhaji (Dr.) Abdullahi Adamu, (Sarkin Yakin Keffi) Executive Governor of Nasarawa State at the Occasion of the Swearing-in of Newly Appointed Permanent Secretaries into the State Public Service, Lafia, Tuesday, April 12, 2005

The dream of every entrant into the civil service is to rise to the peak of his chosen career. In the past few years that God has placed us at the helm of affairs in the state, we have tried to encourage hard working civil servants who deserve to be promoted to the peak of their profession to fulfill their dreams. A few days ago, in our determined effort to encourage deserving civil servants and to fill existing vacancies in the public service, we appointed nine new permanent secretaries. In considering those to be appointed into the office of permanent secretary, government was mindful of many factors including the need to ensure continuity, equity and resourcefulness. It is therefore my pleasure to congratulate all of you who have just been sworn-in as Permanent Secretaries in the state civil service.

When we came on board in 1999, we resolved to bequeath a public service that is responsive to the challenges of a new century. We had the privilege of guiding the public service from the 20th century to the 21st century. The change over from one century to another also meant that the public service should be re-oriented to face new challenges proactively. We are not in any doubt that with the introduction of the new concept of electronic government, popularly refered to as e-government, the nature, quality and speed of service required of the civil servant in the 21st century is different from that of the preceding century. Therefore we must change the content, structure and quality of service to respond to the new challenges. However, change must be handled in such a way that it does not alienate some people as human resource is still an important component of service delivery.

Conscious of these developments therefore, we commenced a process of service re-orientation early in the life of this administration. Between November and December 1999, we organized in collaboration with the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria, a training workshop for officers on grade levels 14 and above. That workshop was meant to prepare directorate level officers for the new challenges of work in a democratic setting. Since then, we have held various workshops and refresher courses for our public servants, as well as sponsored many on in-service training to various institutions of learning within and outside the shores of Nigeria. Government believes that training must be a continuous process and is resolved to ensure that its workforce is encouraged to excel by being exposed to new ideas and knowledge.

When we took over the mantle of leadership in the state in 1999, we inherited a backlog of unpaid leave transport grants and other allowances. Through deliberate measures, we have fully offset the backlog and are currently providing N20 million Naira every month to pay civil servants their leave transport grants and other allowances as they become due.

In addition to this, we introduced a motor vehicle and motorcycle revolving loan scheme for civil servants for which government has so far committed the sum of N16 million Naira. Furthermore, in collaboration with the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Nigeria Union of Teachers, government is guaranteeing a motorcycle loan scheme on hire-purchase for interested civil servants and primary school teachers across the state. Already a substantial number of the 10,000 units of motorcycles expected for the scheme have arrived the state.

While we were investing in human capital, we also made provision to place adequate infrastructure at the disposal of the workforce. We constructed new buildings to accommodate our ministries and restored the payment of subventions to all ministries and agencies. We provided vehicles for as many government departments as we possibly could in the face of limited resources and ensured that no member of the workforce was idle due to lack of working tools. For the first time in the history of the state, we directed that civil servants must be given the opportunity to fulfill their professional calling by engaging them in various projects through direct labour.

Let me therefore use this opportunity to thank the entire civil service for the support they have given us over the past five years of this administration. Whereas at the take off point of this administration in 1999 the civil service we inherited was apathetic, measures we have introduced thus far have yielded mutual confidence between the bureaucracy and the political leadership. Therefore, while we may not say it has been a smooth sail, we can look back with relish and say that it has been a worthwhile journey together. It is my sincere hope that together, we shall get to the promised land with the Nasarawa state project.

We like to especially thank those members of the public service who have worked with us and have now retired, or are due to retire in the next few months. We thank them for the enormous contributions they have made to the development of the public service in particular and that of Nasarawa state in general. The civil service is the engine house of democratic service to our people. The achievements of this administration must also be seen as the achievements of the civil service. The civil service has shown tremendous partnership with us in the service of our people. We thank all civil servants and we hope that we will all be further determined to continue serving our people in the years ahead.

Having said this however, we must point out that there still remains a lot of room for improvement in the public service. The response rate to challenging situations can still be improved upon. The bureaucracy needs to be reoriented to make it more responsive to the needs of our people for quick and efficient service delivery.

In congratulating the new Permanent Secretaries, we also find this occasion an auspicious time to comment on a few policy issues as it pertains to the public service. It is no longer news that the Peoples Democratic Party administrations at all tiers of government are resolved to wage a full scale battle against corruption and this war has started to yield dividends around the country. The President Obasanjo led Federal Government has shown adequate leadership in this battle and our administration is fully in support of measures taken in this respect to stamp out corruption from the system. To succeed all tiers of government must support the federal government. In Nasarawa state. we want to sound it loud and clear, and to everybody’s ears, that we will eliminate corruption from the public service. Let nobody be in any doubt about our resolve and determination to ensure that we run a corrupt free public service. Nobody will be spared if found wanting in our determined effort to offer transparent service to our people. All reported cases of corruption will be thoroughly investigated and any persons found guilty will be subjected to the full course of the law. It may interest our new Permanent Secretaries (and all other Permanent Secretaries for that matter) to know that as accounting officers, they will be held directly responsible for any act of fraud perpetuated in their ministries or agencies.

To give further zest to our determined effort to fight corruption, we are currently undertaking a full scale assessment of the accounts of all government establishments. Any establishment and its officers who are discovered to have become a drain to public funds will be summarily dealt with. You may wish to recall that early in the life of this administration, in 1999, we discovered a large scale fraud in the state primary education board which was perpetuated by the then education secretaries. Government decisively investigated the fraud and punished all the culprits according to the law. The recent apprehension and trial of a crime syndicate in the state Board of Internal Revenue is another case in point. We will not rest on our oars until all bad eggs in the civil service are made to face the wrath of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Our determined effort at fighting corruption is also exemplified by the recent establishment of a due process office in the executive governor’s office. The first set of officers who will work in this office have just returned from Abuja where they attended a federal government organized workshop and are set to begin work. Henceforth, all requests for capital project execution will have to go through the due process office and receive due process certification before being considered by the executive council. There will be no exemption to this rule. All ministries and agencies of government are directed to take note.

In our bid to make some government agencies responsive and accountable to the public, government is considering withdrawing subvention to some of its parastatals from the 2006 fiscal year. While a final decision has not been taken on this subject, the parastatals which may have their subventions withdrawn next year may include the following:

• Nasarawa Transport Corporation

• Nasarawa Water Board

• Nasarawa Broadcasting Service

• Nasarawa Investment Company

• Board of Internal Revenue

• Nasarawa Produce Marketing Board, and

• Karu Area Planning and Development Authority

These establishments are hereby advised to commence an immediate process of revenue generation in preparation for full scale commercialization. Funds saved from this policy will be channeled towards offering further social services to our people. We therefore call for the understanding of the general public regarding this policy.

At this juncture, permit me to formally welcome on board the newly appointed Permanent Secretaries into the policy making class of the public service. Your appointments were done strictly on merit having reviewed your track record of achievements in the service. From now on, you will be looked upon to provide exemplary leadership to those who work under you. You must cap our confidence in you by being shining examples of honesty, integrity and resourcefulness. I must advice you to introduce new ideas of service delivery in the public service. You must not let the people of Nasarawa state down by being indolent in your places of primary assignment. As accounting officers, we will hold you personally responsible for any act of misconduct in your various establishments.

Distinguished invited guests, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the government and good people of Nasarawa state, I congratulate our newly appointed Permanent Secretaries. I wish them well in their service to the people of Nasarawa State.

Thank you and may God continue to bless our efforts.