By Segun James:
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in a surprise move, has announced salary increment for civil servants in the state.
Apart from this, the governor also disclosed that a phased system of distribution of official vehicles to persons on the director level beginning from the end of October, even as he said that 100 directors will benefit at every phase.
The governor, who made the announcement Tuesday during his working visit to the state secretariat, Alausa, to meet with the workers, assured them the state will endeavour to meet all commitments to the civil servants.
Sanwo-Olu, who was a former commissioner in the state, said: “You were always the first, you would remember that at that time we were the first to start paying the minimum wage of N18,000, way back in 2010. You would remember during my time; we started the Pension Commission. It was the first in the whole country. Even at that time, we started the first Enhanced Training.
“I’m one of you; I’m part of it and I know what the issues are. It is really a homecoming for me. Let me put it on record that the support I have received from all of you is unprecedented.
“The citizens know too well what you are doing for them. You serve almost 25 million Lagosians. I want to thank you on behalf of all of them. Of course, there are areas we can do better. I want to thank almost 100,000 of you that are carrying on to make the service the best in the country. I can see that the future is so brighter for us.
“It is only when the public service is energized, the entire Lagosians feel the benefits. You are the one that baked the cake. For me, the achievements are there for everyone to see. The administration traversed the entire aspects of life. There is no single policy that we have not used to touch lives.
“I know there is inflation in the country, the cost of living is high. Last month, I instructed that we start work on how to increase the salary of the entire workforce. I want to assure you that we will do that. We won’t wait for federal government; we don’t want the union to come and hold us to ransom. We will work it out as soon as possible.”
As part of having an enabling environment for the workforce, Sanwo-Olu said by next year, there would be a major investment in campus infrastructure, adding that there would be an increase in the number of staff buses for workers from the current 35.
Speaking on the challenges, the governor stated that: “In January 2020, just less than seven months of the administration, COVID-19 struck and changed everything about us, the way we worked, how we worked, where we worked and it ensured that we changed a lot of things.
“It created a big burden for us because Lagos carried more than 50 per cent of the country’s total burden, but guess what, we came out from it better, stronger and happier. Our health workers did exceptionally well.”
Earlier in his opening remarks, the state Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, said: “Mr. Governor, this is your second working visit into Alausa Secretariat since your assumption of office. The first one gladdened every member of staff. As a grateful public service, we appreciate your dedication to our welfare, you have made it very paramount in your agenda.”
He acknowledged that the governor had made good 80 per cent of his promises, saying the remaining 20 per cent were at various stages of completion.
