By Victor Nwegede, Abakaliki.
Ebonyi State Local Government Service Commission in collaboration with the Noble & Brown House Management Consultants Ltd has organized a 3-day capacity building workshop for over 400 staff of local government areas (LGA) and development centers (DC) in the state.
The workshop whose theme was tagged "Monumental effect of financial misappropriation through embezzlement: The root cause of economic decay in the local government system" took place at the Women Development Centre, Abakaliki after eight (8) years.
Speaking during the event, the Chairman of Ebonyi State Local Government Service Commission, Romanus Nwasum commended Governor Francis Nwifuru for having continued to take care of the workers' welfare in the state since he assumed office.
Nwasum represented by Iyke Ogbu, the Commissioner Four of Ebonyi State Local Government Service Commission affirmed that the workshop would go a long way to bringing a lasting solution to the decaying nature of the local government system.
Also, the Chairman of the occasion, Monday Nwigbo, Commissioner Two of the commission, said the workshop was packaged to train the staff of the 13 local government areas and 64 development centers in Ebonyi, to avoid corruption, diversions of public funds and to ensure development at the grassroots of the state.
Further, Commissioner One of Ebonyi State Local Government Service Commission, Arc Augustine Nwechera said the workshop became very necessary because public servants like civil servants have been on sabbatical leave in terms of capacity-building training for the state workers in the past eight years.
He noted that the participants of the workshop included the Director of Head of Personnel Management (DPM), Head of Personnel Management (HPMs), Accounting Officers (AOs), Treasurers (TRs), Financial Officers (FOs), Internal Auditors (IAs), Public Relations Service (PRS) officers and cashiers.
Nwechara said the chairman and the members of the commission had toured all the local government areas and development centers in the state and found out that the workshop would assist in tackling the challenges facing the workers.
The Commissioner One also assured of training and retraining the grassroots workers, noting that the management staff of the local government areas and development centers would be the next target of the commission to ensure a better change in the system.
Recall in his remarks, the Director of the Head of Personnel Management, DPM in Ebonyi State Local Government Service Commission, Prince Patrick Akputa lamented that most of the new appointees and old principal staff of the local government areas and development centers lacked the grips of the knowledge of their offices because, for the past eight years, no seminar was conducted for them by the government in power.
Prince Akputa said: "Within the past eight years, the seminar was not conducted, promotions were not held, and other things that go for the civil servant's benefits were also put to stop."
The DPM, however, commended Governor Francis Nwifuru, whom he said, had out of his magnanimity appointed and constituted the state local government civil service commission, and charged its members to sit up and revive the local government system.
"It's because the local government system was almost dead. For that reason, we deemed it necessary to hold this seminar, for training and retraining the staff.
"The law establishing the local government service commission states the staff functions, among them are; employment, training, discipline and promotion.
"Within these functions, it calls for the commission to hold seminars. A similar seminar like this was held in the last three months, and today we are having another one, to keep educating and addressing them, including their challenges.
"With this seminar, they will learn ways to handle challenges in their various offices. Most of the people who were appointed to oversee the activities of the commission have no training including the chairman. It's with the training, the Chairman and the members of the commission will grasp the grips of the knowledge," Akputa concluded.
