Appointments reckless, unjustifiable – Stakeholders
It’s for optimal results – CPS
BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
The recent appointment of four commissioners of education by Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, has continued to generate ripples across the state and beyond.
Critics have faulted the rationale behind making four commissioners to man the Education ministry and also appointing two others for the Works ministry, considering the general downturn and the parlous state of the nation’s economy. Those who are incensed by the appointments described the exercise as epic display of wastefulness and economic recklessness.
Others felt such actions showed a lack of deep thinking, citing the example of Lagos State, which rakes in billions monthly from Internally Generated Revenue and credited with a population of about 22 million but has 24 ministries, one for Education and one for Works. They also point to Kaduna, which in 2019, actually downsized its ministries from 19 to 14.
Okowa had on July 29 sworn–in 11 Commissioners to bring the total number of the reconstituted exco to 29.
When, subsequently, portfolios were announced, the Education ministry, hitherto manned by two commissioners, was further split into four, namely: Primary Education; Basic & Secondary Education; Higher Education; and Technical Education.
The Works ministry was also split into two – Highway & Urban Roads and Rural Roads.
The main opposition party in the state, the All Progressives Congress, was unsparing in its criticism of the appointments. It described the action as “another circle of unpleasant wastage”.
In the party’s reaction, which was signed by the Caretaker Publicity Secretary, Sylvester Imonina, and made available to The Point, the party expressed concern that, given the state of the nation and the state’s economy, decisions and policy directions ought to be guided by a need to minimise waste and not engage in wanton frittering away of scarce resources.
The party said, “The All Progressives Congress, Delta State, notes with concern the recent appointments of four Commissioners for education and two Commissioners for works! The worries of Delta APC is predicated on the fact that because of economic downturn plaguing the world, saner Governments are circumspect in decisions that have the potential of depleting states’ scarce resources.
“Recent events in Delta State have shown that the PDP-led Government has scored a hat-trick in economic wastages and indifference to the economic well-being of Deltans.”
The party further charged that what had happened was just creating “jobs for the boys”, claiming that two hands could successfully man the education ministry as the case had been.
“Salaries are not the issue, productivity is what matters. If it’s salary, government should be able to accommodate that. These (Education and Works Ministries) are very big sectors and the governor wants optimal results”
It said, “A cursory look at these appointments/portfolios leaves no one in doubt that they were made as ‘jobs for the boys’, not for the sake of delivery of dividends of democracy to Deltans.
“Delta APC dares to say that two vibrant hands can conveniently man the Ministry of Education, as against the appointments of four Commissioners! Also, one vibrant and capable Deltan can handle the Ministry of Works, instead of two people.
“We want to draw the attention of Deltans to the fact that, while they wallow in abject poverty, every newly appointed Commissioner is entitled to at least a non-refundable sum of sixty million naira as take-off allowances. What an economic drain!”
The opposition party contended that the 29-member exco for a state with 25 local government areas was an aberration and declared its rejection of the appointments.
“The Constitution only says that every Local Government Area is entitled to a civil Commissioner in the State Executive Council. There is no justifiable reason for the appointments of people whose services are not needed before any serious minded Government could achieve her programmes for the citizenry!
“Delta APC calls on Deltans to reject this amorphous portfolios/conduit pipes. The State Governor should be called upon to downsize his cabinet and huge political aides. The Governor should desist from under-developing Deltans at the altar of politics. Deltans need more monies for the development of the State,” the party argued.
IT’S FOR OPTIMAL RESULTS – CPS
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Olisa Ifeajika, would, however, have none of those criticisms as he stoutly defended his principal’s decision. He dismissed the criticisms as baseless.
Ifeajika contended that the Governor had good reasons for assigning four people to the ministry.
He spiritedly argued that the duplication of the office was to ensure optimal results in the two sectors.
He told The Point that payment of salaries and other entitlements to the extra appointees was not an issue to the state government and that the ministries were too huge for one commissioner to superintend.
When asked if there were enough resources to sustain the appointments, Ifeajika said, “The same resources that were being used by one person as Commissioner or by one ministry, is the same that these ones are using to manage the ministries.
“Salaries are not the issue, productivity is what matters. If it’s salary, government should be able to accommodate that. These (Education and Works Ministries) are very big sectors and the governor wants optimal results. The governor means well for the people.”
On why the state was not taking a cue from states like Kaduna and Lagos states, the governor’s spokesperson explained that needs and priorities of states differed and that the action was taken in Delta because citizens had hunger for education and infrastructure developments.
He explained, “States have their peculiarities, and no state is the same. They have their sizes different, and in some states, they have 34 local government areas, some have 20, Delta has 25. The level of education and infrastructural developments in some states is not the same in other states; so many things differ. And the need of some states is certainly not the need of other states. The priority of some states is not the same with the others.
“In Delta, we put a lot of premium on education; education is big. Primary education alone is a big thing and secondary is the same. In the wisdom of the governor, apparently, from experience, only one person in that ministry (Primary and Secondary education) may have had some lapses. So, in his wisdom, he felt that, given four people in the area of education will give him the results he wants. You won’t expect one Commissioner to be handling Primary, Secondary, Tertiary education and Vocational.
“I am not sure if there is any government that has that, it depends on what they want. No one of these education sub-sectors will achieve optimum success if given to one person to manage. I am sure with the governor’s previous experiments, he felt that to get the kind of results he desired and that would be good for the state, there was a need to put more hands on the plough.”
The spokesman argued that the recent establishment of higher institutions meant more hands would be needed for administration. He practically explained the education policy of the Okowa administration.
He stated, “Recall that, recently, we established three new universities. Our people will be wondering, why three when we have one before? It’s because there is so much hunger for education in Delta State. Every year, close to forty or fifty thousand students will be seeking admission into tertiary institutions and at the end, only about 5,000 will go in, the remaining 45,000 won’t get admission.
“So, while some will be waiting, they may be tempted to go into areas that are not too good, just as you know that an idle hand is the devil’s workshop.
“This should bother a good state. That’s why the governor upgraded some polytechnics to universities and also, some colleges of education were upgraded to universities to allow more students to gain admission. We now have four universities with two polytechnics and two colleges of education. That’s a whole lot for one commissioner to superintend over. So, to get results, he gave one person that responsibility, that’s commissioner for higher education.
“The same he gave to Vocational and Technical Education. The governor wants to have a Technical College for each of the 25 Local Government Areas in Delta and, right now, we have 19.”
“These reasons also apply to the Ministry of Works that has two Commissioners. These creations were borne out of experience. Delta has a lot of hard-to-reach areas and if you allow one person to see to that, the person may try but the optimum will not be attained. So, the governor says let’s have a split. Let someone face highway and urban roads and the other take rural roads, so, he knows what he is doing,” he contended.
Ifeajika rejected the label of profligacy by the opposition.
“Whatever the opposition is saying is theirs. We don’t tolerate mediocrity. You don’t talk because you are opposition for the sake of talking; you should be objective, and be patriotic at times. You don’t say you are in opposition and you criticise negatively everything the party in government has done. If something has been done well, say it has been done well; that’s how to earn credibility,” he argued.
But more knocks have come the way of the administration.
A former Director General of Delta State Traffic Management Authority, Stephen Dieseruvwe, insisted that no amount of explanation could justify the appointment of four people into one ministry.
“As a stakeholder in the state, I feel having two Commissioners for Works, and four Commissioners for Education is sheer waste of our resources. How on earth can anyone justify appointing six Commissioners when two Commissioners would suffice for the two Ministries? Lagos State with huge monthly IGR, has one Commissioner, each, for Works and Education. This is nothing but display of profligacy,” he said.
Another stakeholder who wouldn’t want his name in print insisted that this was one decision the administration got so wrong.
He told The Point that in the South-South region, Delta State, which should be leading other states on account of the huge resources accruing to the government, was rather lagging way behind.
He said, “Personally, I am shocked. Four people to one ministry, to say the least, is laughable. And imagine anybody defending that. Let us name another state out of 36 that has that record. This is one decision they got way too wrong. You can see why Akwa Ibom, Rivers, even Cross River, are well ahead of Delta in many critical areas, according to my thinking.
“Delta should be leading the South-South region in all spheres. But when you fritter away scarce resources, you box yourself into a corner and go borrowing.
“Look at Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai downsized the ministries in 2019. How much do we generate here in terms of IGR? Our problem is misplaced priorities. Lagos has an estimated 22 million people but one commissioner each for both Education and Works ministries. That’s a fair deal I guess.”
Alex Nwadiamu, lawyer and APC chieftain from Ndokwa in Delta North, told The Point that he was not surprised by the development. He insisted that the administration had achieved very little as there was no policy direction he could identify.
He, however, acknowledged the new secretariat being built by the Okowa administration but which cost, he claimed, was unknown to him.
He said, “As an individual, I think our potentials have been grossly untapped and resources evidently mismanaged. Except for the new government secretariat whose cost is unknown, this administration has done nothing worthy of analysis.
“Personally, I am shocked. Four people to one ministry, to say the least, is laughable. And imagine anybody defending that. Let us name another state out of 36 that has that record. This is one decision they got way too wrong”
“The storm water project has been a huge disappointment. We still experience massive flooding when it rains. There are no jobs for our youths and not a single industry has been built in Delta under this administration. All our industries built by Dennis Osadebey have been either balkanized or sold outright.
“AT&P, Sapele is gone; Asaba Texile Mill is gone; all the rubber and palm kernel plantations are gone and the government does not seem to recognise agriculture as a veritable means of creating employment. The government agriculture program is mere slogan of YAGEP, YAGEM & SMART nothing.”
“I would want to see a government that addresses unemployment through agric programs and infrastructure development. These are employment creating areas of our economy,” he
stated.
