When the biometric staff capturing exercise commenced in the state about three months ago, Gov. Sylva and the Director-General of the Due Process Office, Mr. Von Kemedi, were in very high spirit. Both were literarily savouring their supposedly imminent spoils: apportioning the blame of the state current economic quagmire on corrupt civil servants and to buy time for a possible excess crude allocation that would create a semblance of a return to normalcy. But the scenario is completely different today.
Sylva, whose unprecedented financial recklessness had plunged the state into an economic wreck, in an attempt to demonstrate the dept of the decay caused by the supposed cartels that profiteers from the ghost workers syndrome, handed unverified figures to Mr. Kemedi who also willingly gave same to the press without further investigation.
In a show of a pathologic ignorance, Kemedi assigned the responsibilities of the local councils and that of the federal to the state government. The generality of the adult Bayelsans knows that the wages of primary school teachers and the non-academic staff, and those of the local government councils are not the responsibilities of the state government. Hence, the 31, 500 civil servants out of the 54, 300 are obviously not entirely on the pay roll of the state government. The only reason why the state governor seemingly assumes these responsibilities is because of his blunt and criminal refusal to conduct the long overdue local government elections.
Two years ago, Sylva’s claim was that he inherited a workforce of twenty-nine thousand and he spends 2.6 billion on salaries monthly. But less than three months into his tenure, an elated Sylva announced to the world that he had effectively pruned the state’s wage bill to 1.2 billion. Now that Mr. Kemedi has now put the staff strength of the state at 22, 830 the questions begging for answers are: Does the state government spend a whooping 2.6 billion on 22, 830 staff? What happens to the federal statutory allocations to the councils and their internally generated revenue since the state is generous enough to pay their staff? Where does the state government source for the funds for the payments of the entitlements his over-bloated executive council: commissioners and special advisers, and needless number of senior special assistants? What is the total debt of the state and how much does the state spend to service these debts monthly? How would he pay the 100 billion naira he is eagerly sourcing for at the Nigeria Stock Exchange? Did Sylva not learn from the Alamieyeseigha’s saga that put Bayelsa state on the world map for the wrong reason?
It is true that a few civil servants profits from malpractices the effect which is infinitesimal compared to that of a greedy chief executive and politicians. Both Sylva and Kemedi knows that those in government own the luxury homes, houses, cars and hotels. De-Prize, Monalisa, Ayalla, Engenne, Intercontinental, Osiri, Jasmine Suites, De-Jakes. Civil servants do not own Opili and Tasnengi and most were built in the last two years.
The threat by the government to disengage staff employed from 2007 should be fiercely discouraged by all and sundry. Majority of the persons in this category are staff of the state environmental sanitation authority and actually earn pittance. The salary of a redundant commissioner, which is in excess of one million monthly, can conveniently pay more than a hundred of such staff.
Although the meagre amount they receive by each of this junior staff monthly is quite small it has impacted positively on their lives and that of the society. Many of these persons have secured university admissions and conveniently foot their bills with minimal and occasional support from families and friends. The sack of these youths will obviously promote restiveness and militancy.
Now that it has become glaring that the verification exercise will not save much for the state, the government should live up to its mantra of transparency and rule of law. If the governor had not secured the series of abominable bank loans, which have largely been wasted on over-inflated and poorly executed contracts, the state would never have nosedived into this unprecedented and regrettable financial mess. If Von Kemedi had painstakingly done his job, the various sums that would have been saved from the phony contracts awarded with his approvals would have taken care of the state’s true wage bill and those of the local councils for upwards of two years.
Once again, the impoverished but resilient Bayelsans will watch and pray.
ERE TIMI
SPOKEPERSON, BAYELSA MONITORING GROUP
08039118928
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