Rakiya A.Muhammad
Sokoto state government is to establish a Public Service Institute to check the declining strength of qualified and experienced staff, the resulting loss of institutional memories and the subsequent erosion of public service norms and values,
“We are all aware of the situation of civil service at the state level and nationwide. It is fast losing staff, norms, and values,” Governor Aminu Tambuwal stated at Government House, Sokoto, when he received a report on the establishment of the Institute.
“This is why it is important to initiate an institute such as this so that those coming into the public service in the state will receive training and be imbued with values to run an efficient, effective and virile public service.”
He noted the existence of a working bureaucracy as a recipe for policy formulation, implementation and successful development, without which, he added, states cannot be properly run.
The governor assured that they would study the committee’s report to establish the Institute. He lauded the committee for doing a good job.
Chair of the committee, Prof. Aminu Ibrahim, described the idea of the Institute as “timely, well thought out and strategic”.
Prof. Ibrahim said they visited sites, reviewed literature on similar institutes, made a detailed bill of quantities and outlined the instruments for legal backing for its establishment.
In another development, the governor has inaugurated a committee responsible for identifying modalities to implement enhanced remuneration for principals of public secondary schools.
“We are beginning with the remunerations of principals of secondary schools as a first phase because we have baseline data on them, “Tambuwal disclosed.
“A similar gesture will be extended to our primary schools because they are the critical foundation for all subsequent educational pursuits. ”
The 11-man committee has a former Head of Service in the state, Buhari Bello Kware, as chair.