Ten Thousand Job Saga And Matters Arising From Recent Recall Of Sacked Imo Indegines In Abia State Public Service

From the year 1986 to 2009, there was no serious publicly advertised mass employment of public servants into the Imo State Public Service. Those who were employed during this period were employed through the state Governor's waiver.

Between the year 2009 and 2010, the Ohakim Administration in the state conducted a bio-data exercise in the Imo State public service whereby a whitepaper indicted some public officers for various misconducts. The exercise therefore, resulted in the retirement of many public servants who were long over-due for retirement. Those with fake certificates were also sacked while ghost workers' syndrome was curtailed. Others who were guilty of sending off offences were according dismissed.

After the above exercises, it was discovered that majority of the public nursery and primary schools especially the ones in the rural areas in the state lacked teachers. It was also discovered that the population of secondary school teachers was a little above eight thousand. Six thousand out of the said teachers were above 54 years. It was also on record that between 1986 and 2009, a lot of public servants had either died, retired or left for greener pastures while new ministries, agencies, departments, establishments and parastatals that require staff were created.

Consequently, prior to the 2011 general elections in Imo State, the then Governor of the state, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, claimed that he employed up to 10,000 public servants. His political opponents denied that there was no such employment.

Incidentally, during the June 6, 2011 maiden broadcast of Governor Rochas Okorocha, the Governor among other things said that he had 'suspended' the Ohakim's 10,000 Job Scheme and its beneficiaries alleging that the employment exercise was full of improprieties. The reason adduced by the governor for the suspension was contained in paragraph 12 of the Governor's said maiden broadcast wherein he said ' the recent appointment of 10,000 workers into the Imo State Public Service for cheap blackmail JUST THREE WEEKS to the expiration of the previous administration is not acceptable to this government. I hereby direct the immediate suspension of the said 10,000 jobs while government, in line with its commitment to job creation will review the situation'.

When the job beneficiaries protested, the Governor told them that he did not sack them and promised to allow them continue working after a verification exercise must have been completed on the employment in question. Subsequently, the Governor constituted a committee to review the said job employment.

However, not minding the manoeuvring, intrigues, gimmicks, lies or politics, one thing clear is that there truly existed 10,000 people employed by the Ohakim administration in Imo State and some of the employees had worked up to six months before they were sacked.

Be that as it may, I have taken time to interview some of those employed in the 10,000 job scheme. I have also gone through some of their credentials and the documents they were issued by the Imo State Government for the employment. From both the records before me and from my findings, it is very clear that the Imo State Government put up very wide publications in many media houses in Nigeria advertising for various vacant positions in the Imo State Public Service during the first quarter of the year 2010. Records also show that several thousands of Imolites made online applications through www.imo.ngrecruit.com for the said jobs.

I know that applicants were issued with online printed slips containing job preferences, examination numbers, dates, centers etc. I am aware that the examination was taken on the 22nd of May, 2010 in various centers in Nigeria. It is a fact that the examination results were published online where candidates assessed their different scores. I know that those who scored above 40% were invited for interview by the Imo State Civil Service Commission and SUBEB. Records show that there was an interview and the successful ones were issued with Offer of Appointment, Notification and Posting letters. It is very clear that these citizens of Imo State accepted the employment, reported accordingly and started work at their new offices. I know that some started work in 2010 while some in 2011. Some of them said that they had started receiving salaries while some had not.

The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary defines the word 'most' as 'the greatest number the majority of something or person' and 'qualification' as 'a quality or skill that makes somebody suitable for a particular job or an official proof eg. a degree or diploma, that one has successfully completed a course and passed an examination. Therefore, if we go by the claim by the Okorocha Government in the state that most of the beneficiaries of the job scheme were not qualified, it then means that the majority of those Imo sons and daughters who were employed for the jobs did not possess the required training, skills and certificates for the various jobs they were given. It also means that majority of them did not go to school, or possess the required degrees/diploma or did not pass their examinations in their various schools. It also means that majority of those who paraded certificates during the employment exercise must have forged those certificates.

The question now is having gone through the above processes, on what basis did the Okorocha Government come to the conclusion that the employment exercise was full of improprieties? On what basis were most of these beneficiaries deemed not qualified for the various jobs they were offered? Does it mean that many of them did not go to school? What kind of qualification did these employees not have? Did the government conduct any screening and discovered fake credentials among the majority of these employees before making his assertion? If so, why has it not published the names of those involved for prosecution since certificate forgery is a serious criminal offence in Nigeria? Imo people have waited for more than three years now for candid explanations on the kind of qualification these Imo sons and daughters did not possess.

Ironically, many of the beneficiaries of the 10,000 Jobs have either Masters Degrees or Post Graduate qualifications in areas where only first degree was the minimum requirement. It is even interesting that some of the employees were previously working in banks and other corporate organizations before being employed in the 10,000 job scheme.

In all, I therefore, humbly submit, without fear of equivocation that many of these employees of the 10,000 jobs were most qualified for the jobs they were given.

Be that as it may, the Okorocha Administration sometime set up a committee to scrutinize the Ten thousand Job Scheme. After a while, this committee came up with some names numbering a little above 2,000 which it deemed fit for employment. Three years after, nothing has happened.

However, one thing is certain, whether the employment of the 10,000 workers was for political gains or not, it is clear that the sack of the employees in question did not affect Ohakim as a person. It is the Imo citizens who voted Okorocha that are today, being the brunt. Interestingly, many families in Imo State benefited from the employment. Unfortunately, a lot of families have been thrown into perpetual agony because of the said 'suspension' or sack.

Incidentally, the sacked public servants in question have been in the Industrial Court challenging their sack. There in the court, the Okorocha Administration is claiming that the sacked workers were not sacked but rather that they abandoned their work. The irony is that the Governor has also used all intrigues to frustrate the case.

Some months ago, Governor Okorocha claimed to have employed 25,000 youths into the public service of the state without the involving the state employment agencies like the Civil Service Commission etc. Also there were no employment letters, work schedule etc. Ironically, so called employees have been given uniforms like prisoners with a promise a flat stipend of =N=20,000 every month. I do not know whether the said stipend is being paid. However, I do not want to dwell much on this employment as it will be treated as a separate topic some day.

Be that as it may, some time ago, the Abia State Government disengaged public servants in Abia State who are from Imo State. Ironically, Governor Okorocha was among the first who condemned Governor T. A. Orji for the sack describing it as an 'inhuman action'. Consequently, Governor Okorocha promised to absorb the affected workers into the Imo State public service. This promise Governor Okorocha never fulfilled for more than two years after the promise.

Recently, the Abia State Government recalled the said sacked Imo workers.

Reacting recently to this development, in a press statement by Governor Okorocha's Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, Governor Okorocha was quoted to have applauded Governor Orji for the recall describing it as a 'patriotic action done in the interest of the Igbo nation and the society at large'.

Then comes the question, since it was inhuman to Governor Okorocha that Imo Indigenes in Abia State were sacked, is it not a greater inhuman action for a Governor to sack his own indigenes in their own state?

'Who is fooling who?' When some people say that Rochas Okorocha is not a true Igbo man, I tend to agree with them. No Igbo man will sack a fellow Igbo man and remain happy except people like Rochas Okorocha.

Therefore, I will continue to advocate that Governor Okorocha should stop deceiving the public and emulate his Abia counterpart. He should listen to the cries of these helpless and jobless Imo sons and daughters who he sacked and give them back their jobs.

As I predicted doom for him during the burial of late justice Chukwudifu Oputa and it came to pass, I hereby predict another doom which may come sooner or later. 'Ukpara okpoko gburu, nti chiri ya'.

Barr. Emperor N. Iwuala (Ksc.)
08037247295, 08125028705 [email protected]