- Opened discussion with the Labour Union
The Ondo state government on Tuesday said it has promoted over 12,000 workers in the state civil service, with over 1,000 health workers recruited into the state’s health sector.
The state Head of Service, Pastor Kayode Ogundele, who disclosed this in Akure, the state capital, during a press conference to herald the 2023 Civil Service week, said workers are also recruited in the engineering department of the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure.
Speaking on the theme of this year’s celebration, “Bureaucratic Impact on Investment Promotion in Ondo State” Ogundele commended the present administration for prioritising the welfare of workers in the state.
He disclosed that the governor Rotimi Akeredolu-led administration has rolled out palliative measures to cushion the effects of the increase in the pump price of the Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, to assuage the sufferings of the workers of the state.
He said the steps became necessary following the current economic realities over the removal of subsidy on petroleum, and said the state government has subsidised transportation of workers as one of the measures to cushion the effects of subsidy removal on the citizens.
Speaking on the recently announced N35,000 minimum wage award to all categories of workers in the state as approved by the federal government, the Head of Service said: “On the issue of N35,000 minimum wage, we have agreed that is going to be one of the things we want to do as a way forward for workers in Ondo state. What we did in Ondo state is more robust, and that’s why we rolled out the buses for workers.
“We went ahead to repair buses of all the agencies and made provision for the fueling and maintenance daily for our workers that are interested in joining the buses at the designated point, and this is costing the government every month between the amount of over N10m
“We have opened discussion with the Labour Union, and already we are working at the level of the Accountant General Office to look at what is going to be the cost implications.
“I can assure you that the good news about this will be passed across to the people very soon. We have agreed on it already, and Ondo state workers will not carry last in this package.”
On the recruitment of teachers, “we agreed that people are retiring in the teaching service, but we will also agree that just about two years ago, the government recruited about 1,200 teachers into the primary schools.
While work is ongoing for the recruitment of secondary school teachers, I can assure you very soon something positive will be done.
“Recently, Mr Governor approved the retirement elongation of teachers in the teaching service commission in our schools. Now, instead of retiring at the age of 60 years, teachers have been given the opportunity to retire at the age of 65 years.
“And very soon, advertisements for the recruitment of health personnel will be out, and we are planning to recruit over 1000 health workers our goal is that by November, we should be able to bring them on board so that they can be part of the system in order to settle this issue of ‘japa’.
“And if you decide not to work with the Ondo state government again, workers should be sincere and courageous enough to let the government know. Just be kind enough to give us the required notice. But we have seen cases where some officers will travel abroad and collect their salary until workers are verified, particularly in the health sector.
“So we don’t want this situation again in our system. Don’t be a burden on our wage bill because anyone who is found culpable will be immediately dismissed because you have violated the terms of agreement and appointment.”
He commended the state government over its welfare for state workers and said the state government is not only living true to its promises by securing lives and property through the valuable service of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, Amotekun, delivering massive infrastructural transformation in road expansion and rehabilitation across the nooks and crannies of the state, and it has also made the issue of workers’ welfare a priority.
“Recall that this Administration inherited seven months of unpaid salaries and allowances. Within a space of about two years, the salary backlog is almost completely cleared, leaving only a month which will be paid before the end of the year 2023.”
He listed some of the activities lined up for the three-day programme, including a health walk and interactive meeting with a cross-section of the public servants which will be wrapped up with a lecture slated for Thursday, 19th October, 2023.