BAYELSA HOS URGES FRESH MINDSET FOR CIVIL SERVANTS

The Bayelsa State Head of Service, Rev. Obegha Oworibo, said on Thursday that the reforms in the state's civil service would change the mindset of civil servants to match current trends in society.

He said the state would achieve this through a rigorous training of all cadres of its work force.

Oworibo spoke during an interview with newsmen in Yenagoa, the state capital.

He said promotion would no longer be automatic and routine, but based on performance and exemplary performance.

'Reforms should not come from the moon, but those inside should see the problems and proffer solutions. Civil servants must satisfy the people we are serving. When we are giving service, we should do it well, by the best way possible. We must bring innovation to deliver service,' he said.

Oworibo said the government would reposition the civil service through intensive training by experts and consultants in the relevant fields in order to add value to the qualifications of civil servants.

He said one of such schemes was an agreement with the Canadian School of Public Service that would train 20 top civil servants in the state for three months free of charge from May 1, 2010.

Oworibo confirmed that the biometric exercise conducted to sanitise the civil service had thrown up a lot of revelations, which the government would address.

Specifically, he said a lot of workers were employed in the parastatals and other departments at a time when there was an embargo on employment in the state, while several others were drawing multiple salaries from the service.