Aged women protest removal from Bayelsa versity payroll

This morning there was a thread on Nairaland about old some protesting unclad in Bayelsa state https://www.nairaland.com/4503970/bayelsa-workers-protest-coffin-against

However the story is incomplete as it excluded the crux of the matter.

See the full report... Please, I think Nigerians should commend Dickson for this move and the opposition should be ashamed for deceiving Old women.

Old women yesterday took to the streets of Amassoma, Southern Ijaw, Bayelsa State to protest their removal from the payroll of the state-owned Niger Delta University (NDU).

The women, who were in their late 60s and early 70s, blocked the road leading the university in their area demanding their names to be returned to the payroll.

It was gathered that the aggrieved women obstructed traffic as they lay on the road refusing to give way to vehicular movement.

The women, who carried fresh palm fronds and placards also blocked the entrance to the university, which was temporarily closed following students' protest.

Investigations revealed that the women were casualties of the ongoing cleansing in the public service initiated by the state Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson.

Dickson commenced public sector reforms to free the civil service of illegal workforce and create spaces for fresh graduates to get employments.

It was gathered the the Amassoma protesters were among those who were removed from the university's payroll for drawing salaries despite reaching retirement age.

The angry protesters including cleaners and gardeners locked all offices claiming that the government had blocked their source of livelihood.

They said Dickson was marginalising the people of Amasomma and denying them their only means of survival created by their late son and former Governor Diepreye Alamiyeiseigha.

The protesters said the NDU would not be opened for academic activities until the state government reversed its decision.

But the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said the protesters were mainly aged people, who could not understand that civil service has age limitation.

He said the detractors of the government were funding the protest instead of explaining to the mothers that the government was doing the right thing.

He said the protesters would rather thank the governor if they understood that the public reforms were meant to secure the future and provide opportunities for their jobless children.


The commissioner said the protesters were among the over-bloated non-academic staff weighing down the university adding that the school had a ratio of 70 percent non academic staff to 30 per cent academic staff.

He said the affected women were not going to work but were drawing salaries at the end of the month.

He said to ameliorate the effects of removing the retired persons from the payroll, the government decided to pay them three-month salaries in lieu of their disengagements.

He said: "The protest is being supported and sponsored by the enemies of the state. Instead of explaining to the women that they had gone beyond the age of retirement and should leave the system as required by the law, these enemies made it look as if the government was set to punish the women.

"But we are engaging them and we know that very soon the women will come to realise that there is age limitation in the civil service. They will soon know that at a certain age a civil servant is expected to leave the system to create spaces for fresh graduates.

"These graduates are the sons and daughters of these women. They roam the streets without jobs because the system has been weighed down by illegalities.

"But the governor has decided to do the right thing. He has done what others could not do by ensuring a vibrant, productive and efficient public sector. The governor needs commendation. He needs to be encouraged to complete the reform because at the end these protesters will be the ultimate beneficiaries".

Source http://punchng.com/women-protest-lock-down-town-over-removal-from-payroll/

Nigerians should start appreciating reforms.

We have elders taking salary without working even when they are over retirement age, yet some people felt it was good to deceive them into protesting.

Meanwhile, the kids of these women are graduates looking for jobs while the state suffers due to unproductive civil service. This move I believe should be commended

Nigeria...

I am not from Bayelsa but if this story is true then the Governor did not do anything wrong.

Good move a rational person would say but it is not always wat it seems wen politicians speak.
Else y is the state Environmental sanitation Unit also on strike, still same old women?

Those women na wa for them o. we de sayh we no see job and dem de vex say dem de create small space for us. abeg make people fear god na

asksteve:
Good move a rational person would say but it is not always wat say it is wen politicians speak.
Else y is the state Environmental Unit also on strike, still same old women?

na who you de ask many question ehn. we de talk of old women you de talk strike

if we don't reform the civil service Nigeria will go nowhere. If the story of the protest is true the Governor should explain to the elderly women for them to understand.

Story

Naysayers and Bayelsa Public Service Reforms

By Daniel Alabrah

Timi is about 27 years and hails from a rustic community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. He is not a lazy Nigerian youth (if you catch my drift).

Since he left secondary school, he has fended for himself, having lost his parents early in life. He is a decent young man, who abhors cultism, drug abuse or some of the anti-societal idiosyncrasies found among youths in Yenagoa, the capital city. Currently, he is a part-time student at the Niger Delta University (NDU) and engages in menial jobs to be able to acquire university education.

But his story would have been different. A few months ago, he shockingly discovered that his name was on the payroll of the Bayelsa State Civil Service. Unknown to him, his uncle, a civil servant and who is supposed to be his benefactor, had applied and secured a job for him. But he collected the employment letter, kept it away from him and had been secretly receiving his salary for some years.

Late last year, the bubble burst courtesy of the staff audit and verification exercise in the state public service. After futile attempts to penetrate the committee set up by Governor Henry Seriake Dickson on the implementation of the public service reforms, Timi's uncle reluctantly produced his employment letter and admitted that he had been collecting the nephew's salary for about four years. This was because he now wanted Timi to appear before the reforms committee to validate his employment, a task that was not only difficult but had dire consequences for the young man. Of course, he refused.

Timi's ordeal is just a sad reflection on the numerous discoveries in the ghost worker syndrome, payroll fraud, certificate racketing and falsified grade levels scam that had ravaged the Bayelsa civil service and local government system for years. It was discovered recently that about N12 billion is lost annually to the payroll and employment racketeers in the state.

On assumption of office in February 2012, Governor Dickson identified this cankerworm alongside some of the ills plaguing the public service and vowed to clean up the malfeasance. Without mincing words, he said: "We shall undertake fundamental reforms of the governance culture to emphasise transparency, accountability, due process and value orientation by all institutions and functionaries of government beginning with my humble self.

"There shall be zero tolerance of corruption under my administration. The days of enrichment without labour and funding the greed and avarice of a few at the expense of the development of our state are over. I will work hard to plug all leakages and sources of corruption, which have been the bane of our development. I will rather use our commonwealth to fund the construction of good roads, enhance education, promote tourism, generate wealth and develop agriculture than fund corruption and greed."

The talk-and-do governor is known to match words with action. So he promptly signed the Bayelsa State Salary Fraud and Related Offences Act 2012. Unfortunately, the rot was more entrenched than envisaged and just a piece of legislation could not comprehensively address it even though his Restoration Administration succeeded in reducing the civil service wage bill from N6 billion that it inherited to about N4 billion.

In October 2017, Governor Dickson courageously revisited the matter with the ardour and zest to comprehensively reform the system. Since then, not a few have been rattled just as the figures emanating from the different sectors in the state have been equally mind-boggling.

In its editorial of October 3, 2017, under the headline: "Bayelsa's payroll mess: A hurricane across states," The Punch noted: "The rot is monumental that Dickson did not express his concerns through a statement by his Chief Press Secretary but via a broadcast. The festering payroll fraud five years after a penal measure was put in place shows how flawed its enforcement has been...

"Having inherited the mess, it is, however, heartwarming that he has vowed to reform the system so that his successor will not be likewise encumbered by the scourge. How rooted the cleansing eventually becomes will be determined by the courage he brings to bear on the crusade. To get it right, it is important that he critically examines why the 2012 Act failed to arrest this bureaucratic fiscal recklessness."

Indubitably, the civil service is the engine room of government. For any government to be effective and result-oriented, it must have an efficient, professionalised and productive civil service. Not one bogged down by waste, redundancy and sharp practices. The purpose of the ongoing reforms, therefore, is to reposition the service for greater productivity and efficiency.

Among other benefits, the reforms will eliminate fraud and insulate the public service from the cankerworm of certificate and age falsification. It will equally promote excellence as civil servants will be made to work in their areas of core competence just as it will preserve the honour and integrity of the public service.

Governor Dickson has left no one in doubt about his singular determination to clear the Augean stables and the filth of corruption in the state public service.

A staff audit in 2016 to probe the payroll fraud in the local government system discovered 3,243 unauthorised employees in the Rural Development Authorities (RDAs) and another 3,037 in the eight constitutionally recognised local government areas in the state. No fewer than 500 administrative officers were also recently discovered in just one local government alone, Sagbama.

In the education sector, the figures are also unsettling. About 70 per cent of workers in the state primary schools are non-academic staff. In a school, for instance, you find just two or three teachers and 50 non-academic staff. Primary schools are constitutionally under the purview of the local governments.

The Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said the bloated wage bill in the eight local government areas was responsible for the negative and false media reports that the Bayelsa State government was owing salaries of workers. He added that the fraud in the councils and the over-bloated wage bill made it difficult for the councils to pay staff and teachers salaries even when their monthly allocations are not tampered with by the state government as a matter of state policy.

The payroll fraud situation in the councils is not different from what obtains in the tertiary education sector as the verification exercise revealed that no fewer than 5,000 non-academic/administrative officers were engaged in the six state-owned tertiary institutions, a figure Iworiso-Markson describes as a classic case of people being put on the payroll without rendering the requisite services to justify their salaries.

Regardless, since the implementation of the reforms commenced in 2016, the facts and figures show an appreciable reduction in the wage bills of the councils. The sum of N3.912 billion is, for instance, saved annually in the eight local government areas alone. A breakdown shows that the wage bill for Southern Ijaw was N201 million monthly but currently is N131 million monthly. Ogbia, which was formerly N207m, is now N165m while Nembe that was N127m is now N99m and Brass N119m (now N101m).

Others are Ekeremor N192m (now N177m), Kolokuma/Opokuma N109m (now N77m), Sagbama N171m (now N130m) and Yenagoa N194m (now N147m).

The administration, which inherited a N1.3 billion primary school teachers wage bill, has also reduced it to N1.027 in the last two years.

But for implementation of the reforms, the local government system in the state would have experienced a total collapse as the councils are still grappling with arrears of their staff and primary schools teachers salaries.

Those who accuse the state government of embarking on an endless staff audit and verification exercise do so either out of ignorance or mischief. Frequent verification or staff audit is not peculiar to Bayelsa. A few examples will suffice.

As recent as February 2015, during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, revealed that with the introduction of biometrics 62,893 ghost workers whose salary amounted to N208.7 billion were discovered to be on the payroll of the federal government.

A year later, her successor under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, equally disclosed that another 23,846 ghost workers had been eliminated from the federal civil service payroll, saving the government N2.29 billion between December 2015 and February 2016.

In April 2016, the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, said 37,395 ghost workers had been uncovered on the federal civil service payroll and that the government lost about N1 billion.

By December 2016, the president's Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, also said no fewer than 50,000 ghost workers had been rid off the federal government's payroll, amounting to N200 billion that had been saved. He said N13 billion had been taken off the payroll monthly from February to December 2016.

In March 2018, data from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation revealed that there were 80,115 ghost officers on the payroll of the Nigeria Police Force.

My investigation also revealed that the Lagos State government carries out a quarterly staff audit of its civil service in order to check fraud and eliminate corruption in payroll administration.

The Bayelsa helmsman has, however, assured that the reforms will have a human face as it is not a witch-hunt and that no individual regardless of political affiliation or preference is a target. He has equally allayed the fear of job loss, particularly by those whose names are on the redeployment list. There is therefore wisdom in empanelling the Justice Doris Adokeme-led judicial commission to give room for persons that are indicted or whose salaries were erroneously suspended to seek redress and clear their names.

Many concerned Bayelsans and commentators commend Governor Dickson for summoning the courage and political will to confront the hydra-headed monster. In their view, the big stick should have been wielded earlier as the state has lost humongous amount these past years. They say it would take the prosecution of all those involved in the payroll mess to be able to pacify patriotic indigenes of the state who want the fraudsters brought to book.

...Alabrah is Special Adviser on Public Affairs to the Bayelsa State Governor

TonyeBarcanista:
Nigerians should start appreciating reforms.

We have elders taking salary without working even when they are over retirement age, yet some people felt it was good to deceive them into protesting.

Meanwhile, the kids of these women are graduates looking for jobs while the state suffers due to unproductive civil service. This move I believe should be commended

if na Buhari now, you for talk different thing.

Kyase:
if na Buhari now, you for talk different thing.

It is.on record that I was the chief supporter of Buhari anti corruption war when he started even when a lot of my comrades in PDP couldn't understand my position, but I started having rethink due to the insincerity in prosecuting it.

The point is, I'll always commend good works irrespective of partisan affiliation!

Politics isn't everything

Penaldo:
na who you de ask many question ehn. we de talk of old women you de talk strike

If not dat those in amassoma followed their with protest would u have heard this old women n elderly story?

Go back to the post of yesterday n c d pics if they are all old women as they claim.

Retirement is surely to come whether its public or private service or even ur own business but wen u hide under that guise to unnecessarily downsize the work force then their is bound to be downing of tools.

Go to Bayelsa n see wat is going on in every government parastatal there n tell me they r retiring those due for retirement.

Come to think of it wen last did he Gov. Dickson pay pensioners?

N u think people would want to join that crew?

Make pensioners happy n c if people will not happily retire from that 8 to 4 system.

this is good. I support the Governor

Face topic pls... Stop playing politics with our mothers

asksteve:


If not dat those in amassoma followed their with protest would u have heard this old women n elderly story?

Go back to the post of yesterday n c d pics if they are all old women as they claim.

Retirement is surely to come whether its public or private service or even ur own business but wen u hide under that guise to unnecessarily downsize the work force then their is bound to be downing of tools.

Go to Bayelsa n see wat is going on in every government parastatal there n tell me they r retiring those due for retirement.

Come to think of it wen last did he Gov. Dickson pay pensioners?

N u think people would want to join that crew?

Make pensioners happy n c if people will not happily retire from that 8 to 4 system.

The pictures I saw has young women in them 40 - 50

show the pictures again TonyeBarcanista?

BankeSmalls:
The pictures I saw has young women in them 40 - 50

show the pictures again TonyeBarcanista?

I respect the elderly, I can't republish any picture pls

TonyeBarcanista:

I respect the elderly, I can't republish any picture pls

Liar! Let me search for the picture