Ondo launches public service reform

Moves to curtail youth unemployment, migration
Ondo State government has iterated its commitment towards effective service delivery and high productivity in the public service, reforming it to tackle youth unemployment and migration from the state.

The Head of Service (HoS), Mr. Dare Aragbaiye, disclosed this at a press conference yesterday in Akure to mark the 2019 Public Service Week tagged ‘ICT and Innovative Governance: Panacea for Youth Unemployment and Migration’.

Aragbaiye noted that the anniversary was an annual celebration in line with the Tangier Declaration in Morocco by the African Union (AU) in 1994 to celebrate the importance of public service in the development of Africa.

He revealed that the event, which would kick off today, provided for the rank and files to deliberate how to improve on the state bureaucracy, while there will be anniversary lecture on public service reform tomorrow.

“The reform package, christened Ondo State Improvement Programme (ODSIP), will become our catechism henceforth. It is designed to address most of the dysfunctions currently plaguing the bureaucracy,” he said.

Adding that ODSIP would also set the tone for better service, the HoS lauded Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu for making the welfare of workers a priority, especially offsetting unpaid salaries, allowances and commitment to new minimum wage.

He stressed, “The focus of the celebration is to acknowledge and commemorate the prime place of the public service in the development of African states.

“The public service week gives recognition to the institution and practitioners of the public service; the career officers whose roles are otherwise mistakenly reckoned as of lesser importance.”

Aragbaiye, the state’s 13th HoS, tasked public servants to show understanding and demonstrate industry and dedication to the worker-friendly administration of Akeredolu.