A political pressure group, #YouthDecide2019, has called on civil servants in the country to see the recently approved new national minimum wage as a challenge to redouble their productivity and justify the new wage.
The National Coordinator of the group, Mr Chukwuma Okenwa, made the appeal while speaking in Enugu on Saturday.
Okenwa, who agreed that the prevailing economy realities called for the increase in wage for workers, however, said that civil servants must check indolence and truancy in the discharge of their responsibility to the public.
He also urged various management staff in the ministries, commissions and agencies to improve on their supervisory role to ensure that their subordinates work effectively and with all sense of responsibility.
“He said: “The group is not against increase in the monthly take home pay of civil or public servants, across board. But what we are saying is that, it must commensurate with their level of productivity and daily output. The country cannot afford to use its resources and tax-payers’ money to continue to fund inefficiency, indolence and truancy among some people in government work.
“The Presidency through the permanent secretaries should come up with supervisory measures to check inefficiency, indolence and truancy among some people in government work.”
The National coordinator said gone were the days when government work was nobody’s work. “There must be a high sense of responsibility enshrined among civil and public servants, to make the salary increase more impactful on the economy and general public.”
Okenwa, however, lauded President Muhammadu Buhari and the 8thNational Assembly for their positive disposition to the welfare of Nigerian workers.
“I must commend President Buhari for his positive disposition to the increase in workers’, salary from a minimum wage of N18,000 to N30,000 per month.”
