By Eseoghene Emuke
The Delta State chapter of the Association of Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries (ASORHOPS) has urged Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to consider establishment of a Civil Service College in the state.
This was part of the 30-point recommendation contained in a report on the ‘Revitalising and Repositioning of the Delta State Civil Service’, the association presented to the state governor, Senator Okowa at Asaba, the state capital.
ASORHOPS posited that the establishment of the college was long over due in the state as part of measures to revatilise and reposition the service for better service delivery and performance to the people of the state.
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The retirees, however, thrown their weight on the periodic staff audit aimed at cleaning up the payroll and removing dead woods from the service by the Okowa-led administration.
Chairman of the association, Mr. Okey Ofili, while presenting the report, told the governor that some of the recommendations would require passage of laws to introduce best practices in the processes and procedures of the state civil service.
Ofili commended the state government under Governor Okowa for what he described as regular payment of pensions to its members, saying that “as we speak we have been paid our August, 2019 pension.
“We note and sympathise with government on the challenges of settling the contributory pension of retirees under that scheme brought about as a result of inadequate preparations for its take off which Your Excellency now has to contend with.
“We appreciate the efforts being made to attend to the problem and pray fervently that the finances of the state will continue to improve to pave the way for the smooth running running of the scheme.”
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Responding, Governor Okowa appreciated them for their concern for the repositioning of the service, and urged them to support the mentoring of civil servants for effective delivery.
The governor said it was necessary for the senior citizens to be involved in mentoring of persons still in service, because they would not like to see the collapse of civil service in the state.
“No one leaves a place and watches it collapse. There is a lot of roles for you (ASORHOPS) to play to ensure that the civil service you left behind can still be very effective in the delivery of services.
“If these classes of people are involved in training and mentorship, we will have a better system. It is my prayer that this partnership that has been started will continue to grow,” he said.
While disclosing that his administration was working hard to surmount the challenges of pensions, he said the Central Secretariat complex being constructed would be inaugurated in the first quarter of 2020.
According to him, with the completion of the multi-billion naira edifice, 24 hours power supply will be available to all government offices to ensure enhanced service delivery in the state.
