BY BODE GBADEBO, Abuja
The Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Arc. Ojo Olatunde Amos, has called on National Assembly workers to shun ethnic and religious sentiments and infighting in the discharge of their duties.
The CNA made the call on Tuesday while declaring open the 4th Quarter Training Workshop for staff of the Procurement Department of the National Assembly, in Abuja.
He called on the workers to be disciplined in order to improve the delivery of the legislative mandate of the parliamentary bureaucracy.
Amos said that the Management of the National Assembly would entrench training as part of its programmes to improve the skills of its workforce.
“We must not allow ourselves to be pulled down or controlled by the negative doctrines of ethnicity, religious sentiments, unnecessary parochialism, backbiting and infighting.
“As a product of training and re-training, I believe earnestly on the need for staff to be exposed to different types of training on-the-job, believing that a well-trained individual can never be stagnated, ignorant nor redundant in life.
“The fact of the matter is that as public servants under my watch as the Head Bureaucrat in the National Assembly, count yourselves as candidates for profuse training opportunities.
“As public servants, you need to display absolute and undiluted loyalty and commitment to your schedules in the National Assembly, believing that it is the only panacea that will make all of us succeed individually and collectively.
“We must not forget our oath of allegiance as it has sufficiently been made clear in the Public Service Rules; we must love our jobs as we love ourselves; we must shun late coming, acts of indiscipline, non-challant attitude to our duties.
“As you all know, our brand of public service is much different from the conventional types in the country; as legislative staff, we must always display the highest level of professionalism and excellent ethical competence, in order to be able to deliver on our core statutory mandates in this parliamentary democracy,” Amos said.
He called on the staff to key into what he described as the “extraordinary efforts” being made by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, in “repositioning” the National Assembly.
He urged the staff to also appreciate the unparalleled determination of the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC), led by Engr. Ahmed Kadi Amshi, in rebranding staff and aides of the National Assembly.
He said that the management under his watch, would not relent in pursuing the provision of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) materials and e-Parliament for the benefit of the National Assembly.
“It is a point of note that I inherited an analogue official Report Division where legislators do not have prompt access to Hansards (official records of debates in verbatim form) which is an inestimable tool in parliamentary process and practice.
“lts penitent that there are backlogs of unproduced Hansards dated back January 2020 but under the present management and in line with our e-parliament vision, legislators from next year (2021) will get e-Hansard promptly in line with world best practice.
“This will go a long way in advancing our parliamentary democracy and drawing Nigerians closer to the workings of its representatives in the National Assembly.
“With training and re-training of staff constantly on our minds, let it be on notice that we are not only determined with a vision to build efficient, focused, professional and pragmatic bureaucracy, but our mission is to create a capable, disciplined and proactive workforce, that will leverage on weII-developed human resources and modern technology to render excellent super support services to the legislature,” he added.
On his part, the chairman of the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) Engr. Ahmed Amshi, represented by one of the Commissioners, Hakeem Akamo Olabode, congratulated the participants and urged them to take advantage of the programme meant to better their lot professionally.
