Kebbi civil service on verge of collapse – SSG

The Kebbi State Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Babale Yauri, has said that the civil service in the state is on the verge of collapse.

The secretary made the statement in Birnin Kebbi at the opening ceremony of a four-day in-house training and capacity building for permanent secretaries, chief executives of agencies and directors of the state civil service.

“I came to realise, as an SSG, that the civil service of the Kebbi State is not as we imagine it; It is honestly on a verge of collapse.

“The notion that the state had a dynamic civil service is past eroding,” Yauri said.

He noted that the chief executive detected abnormalities in service years, wrong promotions and that this cannot be tackled unless trainings are carried out.

“Many instances have come across my table that ordinary civil servants should deal with it or detect the problem before reaching us,” he said.

Yauri advocated for civil service examination before promotion saying it was a test of performance. “I believe most of the participants do not undergo these tests,” he said.

He expressed hope that since the present government listened to the yearnings of the civil service the problem would be dealt with accordingly.

He also pointed out the need to review some civil service rules and regulations to meet present realities.

The Head of Civil Service, Alhaji Abubakar Idris, urged the beneficiaries of the training to avail themselves the opportunity to acquire additional skills for effective service delivery.

He said the training was timely and apt, in view of the technological development, especially in information technology.

“Most of us are now our own typists and secretaries; for this reason, we must strive to move with new trends because our time dictates that any civil servant that is not computer literate is no better than illiterate,” he said.