The last time I checked, the Nigerian
civil service system was deeply bedeviled by a cankerworm known as ‘ghost
workers’. The syndrome, which isn’t peculiar to the federal level, is indeed
ubiquitous that no certain level/unit of government is exempted whenever its
scourge is being discussed. Funnily enough, the anomaly has lingered that
anyone could insinuate that it’s a norm.
Two months ago, precisely on Thursday 5th
May 2016, during the meeting between federal ministries and Newspaper
Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) in Lagos State as organized by the Minister
of Information and Culture – Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Finance Minister, Mrs.
Kemi Adeosun categorically disclosed that the ongoing #165 billion monthly
salaries cum allowances of federal civil servants was over-bloated, thus could
no longer be sustained by the Federal Government (FG).
Mrs. Adeosun who was speaking on the
economy reform agenda of the present administration, stated that the said fund
represented about forty percent (40%) of the total spending made by the FG.
According to her, the figure was outrageous; hence, government was pursuing
aggressive measures towards detecting as well as prosecuting ghost workers and
other saboteurs in the system. She landed with a mind-boggling revelation that
the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), which wasn’t fully functional, still
had names of about ten thousand (10,000) workers on its payroll regularly
serviced by the FG’s coffers.
In a related development, barely few
weeks ago, over a huge sum of #4 billion fraud was reportedly discovered in Aso
Rock, the Nigeria’s seat of power. The discovery was made by President
Muhammadu Buhari’s National Security Adviser (NSA), Major Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd).
Aside his alleged shocking discovery, which was made after a general security
auditing and verification exercise ordered by Mr. President, the NSA further
disclosed that names of twenty-nine (29)
ghost security personnel had been on security payroll in the Presidency over
the years.
The various states and LGAs across the
federation aren’t exceptional. On Thursday 26th May 2016, the
Bayelsa State government said it had uncovered payroll fraud in the State
Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), with the discovery of over 765
illicitly employed teachers in the existing eight local government councils in
the state. According to the report, names of fifty (50) dead teachers were
equally found on the payroll of Ogbia Local Government Education Authority
(LGEA) alone.
It
baffles me that at this age, Nigeria is still lagging behind as regards
Information and Communications Technology (ICT). We can’t continue indulging
ourselves in retrogressive issues in an era when ICT or Hi-Tech has succeeded
in simplifying everything, or unraveling every mystery related to information.
Most times I wonder; is it that Nigeria cannot afford the services of ICT, or
that she can’t boast of or source for the required ICT personnel?
The answer, of course, is No. Nigeria can
afford all of the above. Her plight ab initio, has been lack of orientation and
corruption. The people she had had in positions of authority refused to be
convinced that ICT is the only way forward concerning the lingering payroll
palaver in the country, perhaps owing to lack of political will occasioned by
corruption. However, we are intensely glad the current administration apparently
detests corruption profusely.
Now that the President Buhari – led
government is interested in getting it right, it must acknowledge that
obtaining a comprehensive database for all the federal workers is long overdue.
Such measure can only be actualized via a forensic approach. To this end, a
special unit/department must be created by law under the Ministry of Finance.
The proposed unit is subject to be manned by well qualified and reliable ICT
experts; and no one ought to have access to the department, except its staff
and the director/HOD.
Additionally,
an agency comprising thoroughly scrutinized individuals ought to be set up by
law to monitor or oversee the day-to-day activity of the department. The agency
would ascertain whenever a worker dies or retires, as the case may be, among
other likely events, and thereafter ensure that the record is duly implemented
by the unit. Moreover, from time-to-time through their oversight functions, the
federal legislators should invite the members, particularly the chairman, of
the agency to keep them abreast of happenings.
For the above unit to function tactically
and properly, every federal MDA must equally boast of a competent and reliable
ICT unit that would regularly update the former, or the umbrella body, on
matters relating to employment, death, retirement, expulsion, retrenchment, or
what have you; the said agency would assist in monitoring the genuineness and
adequacy of the aforementioned cooperation. For efficiency’s sake, the unit
must engage a viable and reliable software consulting firm toward ensuring
holistic update of its software maintenance.
The above measure ought to as well be
replicated on the part of payment of pensions and gratuities. And, the various
state governments should endeavour to borrow a leaf from the overall proposed
approach. Let’s embrace ICT now, to enjoy forever. Think about it!
Comr Fred Doc Nwaozor
(TheMediaAmbassador)-ICT/Engineering Consultant, Researcher, Blogger, Analyst & Activist-
Founder/CEO, Docfred (Nig.) Ent. - Owerri
____________________________________
http://frednwaozor.blogspot.com\
Twitter: @mediambassador
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