Ayegba Israel Ebije
18 November 2008
Minna — Following the disposition to issues of probity and accountability as it relates to their superiors, the Governor of Niger State, Dr Muazu Aliyu has described civil servants in the state as timid.
The governor made the observation at the opening ceremony of a retreat for directors and their deputies in the state civil service yesterday in Minna. He said the state government initiated the two week retreat to educate civil servants on how best to go about their roles in the administration.
"Apart from the human capital development, this retreat is going to give us a chance to have a new cadre which had never been there before. We hope that at the end of the day, you will realize that the position you hold is in trust to the people and to God", he said.
Aliyu explained that civil servants in Niger state are not assertive enough and as a result, they shy away from their primary function of running the affairs of government as most of them have the fear of stepping on toes. He observed that such position by the civil service does not mean well for governance, adding that they are the engine room that runs the state.
The governor said directors and the deputies were very important links between policy makers and other players in the civil service. He said their role as bridge builders therefore had to be well formulated to enhance smooth dispensation of service to the people.
"I will assure you that I will not relent in the effort of transforming the existing civil service into a proactive and result oriented one that can be relied upon in critical areas such as policy formulation and analysis, planning and management, coordinating as well as monitoring and evaluation", he said.
He however expressed confidence in the potentials of the present civil servants in the state adding that capacity building programs would bring out the best in them for the overall benefit of the state.
"I wish to re-iterate that we have a lot of faith in the ability of well trained civil service to deliver the goods no matter the political dispensation. We place absolute emphasis on capacity building for our civil servants," he said.
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