Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has lampooned some state governors for encouraging criminals because of elections.
He charged them to emulate their Edo State counterpart, Godwin Obaseki, who is promoting and encouraging the best brains through his automatic employment of first-class graduates of state origin from any of the country’s universities.
He expressed his displeasure with the governors’ tactics at the official commissioning of the Edo State Civil Service Secretariat Complex in Benin City.
Jonathan said Obaseki’s automatic employment slots cut across political divides and that other governors can do well by emulating such an act of leadership.
He said, “Let me also join the Head of Service, the young First Class graduate you employed. We thank you. When the Head of Service mentioned that in his speech, I was quite pleased. If you go to some states, governors are busy encouraging criminals because of politics, people who rig elections for them, carry ballot boxes, knives and cutlasses to pursue people, but you are encouraging the brains.
“The brains don’t come from one political party. The brains come from all political parties. The brains come from those who are supporting all candidates. So you are not supporting these brains because you want to win the election but because you want to build a state, and for you to build a state, you have to build the people”, Jonathan said.
He also commended the state governor for improving the welfare and providing a conducive working environment for the civil servants in the state.
He also joined the civil servants in thanking Obaseki for improving the welfare of workers and paying them living wage.
He revealed that when he read in the newspapers that Governor Obaseki was going to be paying N70,000 minimum wage he was worried. “This is my good friend; I hope he can pay,” he said.
He described Obaseki as a visionary leader, saying, “To be a leader, especially a political leader, you want to be a local government chairman, you want to be a governor of a state, you want to be the president of a country, you must be somebody who has a vision and not just I want to be this, and when you get to the office, you don’t know what to do with the office.”
“If you have a vision, no matter the challenges, you must find a way to do what you need to do and that is why you are the governor, that is why you are the council chairman,” Jonathan added.
Oghiadomhe, Jonathan’s former chief of staff, commended Obaseki for his achievements and prayed that God would give his successor the ability to build on his legacies.
Obaseki said the Civil Service Secretariat Complex was the first place he visited when he assumed office as the state governor.
He said that the complex was in a very sorry state, and he promised to revamp it and make it conducive for workers to carry out their day-to-day work, believing that a conducive working environment can always lead to a very productive workforce that can boost productivity.
Also, the state head of service, Mr Anthony Okungbowa, thanked Obaseki for revolutionizing and digitalizing the state civil service.
He said the governor has provided a conducive environment for the state workers to complete their daily assignments effectively.
Mr Okungbowa said that the state is the only one paying its workers the highest minimum wage when other states are making excuses and can’t raise their own to that amount.
Okungbowa added that the state is the only one offering automatic employment to first-class graduates of Edo origin from any of the country’s universities.
