The Highs Of Governor Sule’s Civil Service Reform

In his inaugural speech on May 29, 2019, Governor Abdullahi Alhaji Sule of Nasarawa State pledged to ensure commitment in all areas of governance.

Though coming from the private sector, Governor Sule knew the importance of the civil service as the engine room of government that implements policies and programmes of government.

His concern for the service is captured in his inaugural speech when he declared, “we would put a robust staff scheme for civil servants and a sustainable reward system for those who excel in service. In addition, training and re-training of civil servants would be accorded high priority for efficient service delivery, government views labor as partners in progress and will ensure harmonious government relation”

Therefore, on assumption of office as the fourth civilian governor of the state, a timetable was drawn for ministerial briefing, which started on 13 June 2019, an exercise in which government ministries, departments and agencies briefed the governor on their challenges and prospects.

Essentially, the brief gave the governor an insight of the situation on ground in the service. With the knowledge of the situation in the civil service, the governor went into action and set up a 12 member High Powered Committee chaired by a retired permanent secretary in the state civil service, Mr. Silas Jarumi Dachor, who advised the government on civil service restructuring.
Implementing the report of the committee, Governor Sule’s administration trimmed the number of ministries in the state from 17 down to 13 and merged some agencies and commissions, and said the action was to avoid duplication of functions and channel saved resources realized to other areas of development.

Plausibly, the Governor Sule administration cleared the backlog of promotions of civil servants in the state and local governments. These staff have an unimplemented promotion backlog dating back to August 2021, while another round of promotions are in process.
To prepare them for the much touted e-governance drive, Civil servants in the state have undergone three months of computer training and were given laptops on loan basis. This has made them key to e-governance introduced by the state government.
The motivational approach by the government is yielding good results and bringing the best out of the civil servants. Payment of workers’ salaries has been prompt, for example state civil servants received December 2022 salaries on 16thof the month, giving them enough time to prepare for Christmas/new year 2023 Celebrations.
With the appointment of the new acting Head of Service, Abigail Nasu Waya, signing of time books when workers report to office is strictly adhered to. All these policies are geared towards injecting passion for hard work, punctuality and honesty in the service.
The recent appointment of the first female acting head of service who has been identified with honesty, hard work and concern for fellow workers has added value to the service.
Under Governor Sule’s administration, free hands were given to the Tertiary Institutions in the state namely; Isah Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic Lafia, College of Agriculture Science and Technology Lafia, College of Education Akwanga and the College Health Technology Keffi, to employ more staff.
Confirmations of casual staff in various ministries, departments, agencies and commissions, who have worked for close to ten (10) years have been done and appointment letters issued to them. Also on assumption of office, Governor Sule confirmed the appointment of almost 3,000 teachers who are today gainfully employed with job security.
As stated during his second phase of campaign to Loko/Udege development areas, plans are under way to recruit one thousand teachers (1,000) into the service of Nasarawa State. Already the portal has been opened for interested qualified persons to begin the process.
It will be recalled that in his inaugural speech, Governor Sule said “Good governance is the mainstay and defining essence of democratic government. It is through the process of governance that state resources, both human and materials are harnessed and driven to actualize the policies and programmes of government and, indeed, aspirations of the general citizenry.
“We will, therefore uphold the principles of good governance as a cardinal objective of this administration. We will establish systems, processes and institutions that will enhance transparency, probity and accountability in the management of state resource in line with international best practices”
It is to the credit of Governor Sule that the state civil service has continued to witness harmony consequent upon which since his assumption of office, civil servants in the state have not gone on strike.
Only recently, an obviously impressed Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress in the state, Comrade Yusuf Sarki Iya described the labour/government relationship as cordial.
“When you have a government that prioritises not just the welfare of workers but training and retraining, that has continued to remain faithful to all its commitment as far as relating with the workforce is concerned, why won’t there be cordial working relationship”, Comrade Iya noted.
In 2021, the Governor won the Zik leadership award for his sterling leadership in the state. Good enough, he has continued to justify the Zik award as the state, for the past three (3) years and ten months, has remained relatively peaceful with the Civil service for instance, playing its fundamental role of implementing government programmes and policies because the workforce is guaranteed of its welfare. Indeed governor Sule’s reforms in the state civil service have brought about efficient service delivery