Bayelsa: How Dickson's Reforms Saved The Local Government SystemFrom Total Colapse

The former governor of Bayelsa State, Henry Seriake Dickson carried out sweeping Local Government Reforms at the inception of his administration in Feb 2012. Before he assumed office, the Local Government system in the State was rotten such that some Council Chairmen operated three pay vouchers. There was massive fraud, forgery and fake names in the vouchers. Accountants and their accomplices wrecked havoc at the treasury. Some workers received two to three salaries and the Due Process Unit , which duty it was to correct the anomalies was compromised. As far as the Councils were concerned, there was leadership void.

Local Government Councils were like chimneys emitting vapours of corruption. Indeed, they were layers of inefficiency and fraud, and because of the haphazard way they were run, they became pay points visited by workers only during salary payment. They became a huge liability to the State, siphoning monies, which ordinarily would have been deployed for capital projects. This scenario was worsened by the workers employed without due process leading to bloated wages.

The fraudulent cabals resisted the reforms but with the vision of repositioning the Local Government System, entrench transparency, accountability and due process in the system, stakeholders bought into the reforms. It is understandable why the reforms were driven by traditional rulers, Community leaders, Chiefs, CDC Chairmen, youth and women groups. It was the peoples reform: root and branch.

The reforms reduced the wage bills of Councils, thereby freeing up money for the delivery of essential social services like health, education and water supply. The reforms also pruned down the excess workforce by rightsizing and professionalizing the local government Councils. This created room for the employment of qualified graduates and other professionals. The due process unit was activated in all Councils and financial accountability was entrenched. Prudential ethics were followed and government functionaries became more responsive to the needs and aspiration of the grassroots.

Since the implementation of the reforms commenced in 2016, the facts and figures show an appreciable reduction in the wage bills of the councils. The sum of N3.912 billion is, for instance, saved annually in the eight Local Government Areas alone.

A breakdown shows that the wage bill for Southern Ijaw was N201 million monthly but currently is N131 million monthly. Ogbia, which was formerly N207m, is now N165m while Nembe that was N127m is now N99m and Brass N119m (now N101m). Others are Ekeremor N192m (now N177m), Kolokuma/Opokuma N109m (now N77m), Sagbama N171m (now N130m) and Yenagoa N194m (now N147m).The administration, which inherited a N1.3 billion primary school teacher’s wage bill, has also reduced it to N1.027 in the last two years.

But for implementation of the reforms, the local government system in the state would have experienced a total collapse as the councils are still grappling with arrears of their staff and primary schools teachers’ salaries.Those who accuse the state government of embarking on an endless staff audit and verification exercise do so either out of ignorance or mischief. Frequent verification or staff audit is not peculiar to Bayelsa.

A few examples will suffice. According to him, he will not to hand over a public sector riddled with payroll fraud, truancy and absenteeism among others to a new government in 2020. He said he would help ensure Bayelsa workers imbibe the spirit of dignity in labour.“I want to commend the hardworking workers for our state as well as labour union leaders, who are part of this exercise for their understanding. I am aware of the misinformation out their but I promise you that from now on, you will see more interaction to douse this misinformation.“

Emphasizing on the substance of the reforms, Governor Dickson said this much: "Overall I want to assure the state and the public service that this government means well for the state. The public service reforms is in the interest of the state and if we say we all love this state then we must work together to reposition the state. We cannot be a state with an inefficient, fraudulent and indiscipline public service".

Dickson is credited to be the greatest reformer in Bayelsa State since 1996. Under the law of justice, under the reign of right, under the influence of liberty, security, stability, and responsibility, his reforms restored work ethics, efficiency and effective service delivery in the State.