By Nelson Utip
Elder Effiong Essien, The Akwa Ibom Head of Civil Service says the state government is willing to abide by any agreed minimum wage for workers in the state as the negotiation between the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Federal Government for a new minimum wage progresses, Essien stated this as he interacted with Newsmen in Uyo on Thursday, he urged the Organised Labour to be realistic and ask for what is practicable according to the purse of the states, noting that The Akwa Ibom State Government is ready to go by any amount accepted at the end of the negotiations.
“Every worker wants increment in wage. But increase in salary in the civil service has a process and not strictly a state matter, it is a concurrent matter that comes from the federal.
“After negotiations at the national level, the Federal Government will release a circular on the new minimum wage and it’s at that point that states begin to key in and see what they can pay out of the minimum wage. So Akwa Ibom State is keeping its ears on the ground to see what the national will arrive at and state government is willing to pay.
“Civil servants can make their wish but the most important thing is the ability to pay. These demands should be realistic.” Essien said.
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On the challenges in the civil service, he said policy makers especially ambitious politicians often don’t allow due process in the civil service to prevail hold sway without attempting to truncate it by influencing employment and posting processes.
“Sometimes the processes of the civil service are truncated by ambitious politicians. When a civil servant says that something must follow due process he will be blacklisted. As in what we witness today, you want to do posting of a staff, you see a paramount ruler coming to talk about posting of his relation or when there will be employment, you see politicians or anybody trying to influence without allowing due process to be followed.
“Every little thing, you see somebody calling somebody to influence that process, these are the bane of the civil service.” Essien continued.
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Essien advised governments to employ workers intermittently but consistently so that a large chunk of the workforce will not retire the same time thereby leaving a vacuum in the service.
“Government should regularly engage or employ workers, they do not need to wait till four years before they will employ 5,000 workers at a go, that means the generation of workforce is being brought in and all of them will be retiring same time which will leave the service empty.#
“But if you employ in bits based on needs that will check future occurrence like His Excellency, the governor is doing in the health sector, that is not the total demand in that sector but that bits coming in will douse the unemployment tension.”He concluded.
