Founder, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola has expressed concerns over corruption, boot licking, eye service, inefficiency and ineptitude in the civil service.
The legal luminary stated this in Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of a two-day training workshop organised by the University in partnership with the Ekiti State Ministry of Capacity Development and Training titled “Public Policy and Administration”, for officers in the special cadres of the ministry.
The elder statesman noted that civil service in the old western region was formidable but the current civil servants who are meant to be the eyes and ears of the government are bedeviled by corruption, unnecessary bureaucracy and usurpation of political powers.
His words, “The civil service was put in place to formulate, implement, evaluate and review government policies and programmes. It was meant to be a channel between the people and the government.
“During the old western region, the civil servants were feared and respected but later when they realized the enormous power they wielded, they virtually usurped power from the government and rendered the leadership powerless.
“This led to corruption, inefficiency, eye service, boot licking and ineptitude creeping into the civil service.
“With the seizure of power from the leadership, it became almost impossible for the people to have access to the governor without bribing their ways through the civil servants who were supposed to be the eyes and the eyes of the governors which unfortunately they never did”.
Babalola also advocated sufficient payment of remunerations to civil servants in Ekiti state in order to aid productivity in state civil service.
According to him, sufficient payment of remuneration is expedient in the civil service in order to bypass the parlous state of the nation’s economy.
“Special attention must be paid to the salaries and emoluments of Civil servants, having regard to the parlous state of the nation’s economy. As things are today, the monthly take-home of an average civil servant can’t take him to the next bus stop. To make them productive, civil servants must be properly remunerated”.
On his part, the Ekiti State Commissioner for Capacity Development and Training, Professor Patrick Tedela hailed the founder for partnering with the Ministry to organize the training programme geared towards developing officers in the ministry in a bid to rightly position them for the upcoming endeavours.
The commissioner, represented by his permanent secretary, Olaleye Olawale added that the state government is committed to providing continuous training and development opportunities for public officers, stressing that the the training will enhance service delivery in the state civil service.
Also, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Smaranda Olarinde, represented by Deputy Vice Chancellor on Administration, Professor Olasupo Ijabadeniyi was on the opinion that the process of state development is in chaos, asserting that the workshop will enable the ministry to contribute to the general well-being of the state and country.
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