Taraba State Government Accused of Selling Employment Forms
POLITICS DIGEST – The Taraba state government has drawn the anger of indigenes of the state over the ongoing sale of forms to applicants who seek to work in the state’s civil service.
It was reported that the state’s Civil Service Commission (CSC) directed interested indigenes to apply by obtaining an online application form at the cost of N3,500.
The commission also directed workers who want to transfer their services from local government to the state service or across ministries, departments, and agencies to also obtain a transfer of service form by paying N3,000 to the state government’s account with a new generation bank.
The government had conducted a similar employment exercise in 2017 but less than 10 percent of the over 30,000 applicants were employed.
A former chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the state, Jonah Kataps, described the sale of applications for employment forms as unfair.
Kataps who is also the chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teachers and the immediate past chairman of the Local Government Service Commission in the state said:
“If the government wants to genuinely give employment to the unemployed, why charge N3,500? Do it for free.
“But that is even not my biggest worry. Why not regularly pay those on ground and clear the arrears of salaries and pay retired civil servants their benefits first?”
A former chairman of the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in the state, Obidah Bitrus, said it is unfair to charge applicants fees for forms in the face of the current economic challenges in the country.
Read Also:
In his words: “I don’t see the rationale and justification behind such an act. Government is supposed to take care of its citizens, not add more to their pains in this period of economic and security challenges whereby people are finding it difficult to survive.”
Also, the state chairman of the Coalition of Civil Society of Nigeria, Gimba Joseph, expressed suspicion that the government wants to use the exercise to generate revenue.
He said instead of the government levying job seekers, it should seek legitimate means to generate revenue.
Meanwhile, to ensure job creation in Taraba, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), has inaugurated a modern Moringa Tea/Oil processing facility for Women Economic Empowerment Initiative in the state.
It was reported that the Director-General of the agency, Dr. Dikko Radda disclosed this recently in Jalingo, the state capital. According to him, the One Local Government One Programme initiated by SMEDAN has impacted more than 336 enterprises in Nigeria and created employment for over 10,000 persons.
On her part, a female agroprenuer, Imu Ovaioza Yunusa, has advised Nigerian youths to get skills to provide for themselves financially.
Ovaioza made the comment while speaking to journalists at the launch of the Ovaioza Skills Acquisition Centre in Lugbe, Abuja on Saturday, July 10. She disclosed that 10 varieties of disruptive courses are scheduled for the maiden session which includes tailoring, hair making, barbing, interior decoration, shoemaking e.t.c
Recall that Ovaioza had earlier advised Nigerian youths on how to venture into the agricultural sector. Ovaioza who also runs Ovaioza Farm Produce Storage Business, an agricultural storage company for buying, storage, and resell of surplus grains gave the advice in an exclusive interview.
According to her, Nigerian youths who want to venture into agriculture should, first of all, interrogate their reasons for venturing into this sector, adding that agriculture is a growing industry, and youths who venture into it have the opportunity to grow with it.
