Bayelsa State Government says its reforms in local government administration has repositioned the system for efficient and effective service delivery to the people.
The Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, stated this, on Thursday, while declaring open a two-day entrepreneurship workshop for retiring local government staff drawn from the eight councils and 32 Rural Development Authorities, RDAs, in the state.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, noted that all the local government councils are now solvent and embarking on meaningful people-oriented projects due to the bold initiatives of the present administration.
According to him, before the advent of the Governor Douye Diri-led government, working in the local government service was like inviting a curse, stressing that the prospects of getting retirement benefits as and when due were dim.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo, however, emphasized that all that had now changed for the better following the reforms, and promised to do more to ensure that people at the grassroots feel the real impact of governance.
While appreciating Governor Douye Diri for creating the enabling environment for him to drive the reforms as the supervising officer of the councils and RDAs, he urged the participants to take the training seriously to safeguard their post-retirement life from unnecessary hardship and frustration.
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His words: “I wish to first of all, thank the Governor of our state, Senator Douye Diri for the opportunity he has given to us in the local government system. Before now, people thought working in the local government was a curse.
“But today, I can assure you that many people are now considering transferring their services to the local government because of the reforms we have introduced.
“The reforms are not meant to idolize or venerate the present administration. But they were deliberate, conscious efforts based on our experiences and what people had passed through over the years.
“We felt we cannot leave the stage and leave people the way we met them. And that is why we came up with the reforms. And with your collaboration and cooperation, the reforms are now manifesting in what you are seeing today. So I thank every single stakeholder.”
In a welcome address, the Chairman of the State Local Government Service Commission, Chief Lambert Ototo, noted that the training with the theme, “Retirement to Relevance: Building Sustainable Livelihood Through Entrepreneurship”, was part of the ongoing reforms in the local government system to adequately prepare retirees for life after active service.
Chief Ototo, who described the participants as fortunate to undergo the pre-retirement workshop, expressed gratitude to Governor Diri and his deputy for turning the pitiable situation of the local government system in the state around for good.
Delivering a lecture titled “Understanding Entrepreneurship and Life After Service, Dr. Zuobomudo Agbana, enjoined the participants and retirees to cheerfully embrace retirement as it only marks the beginning of a new journey in life and not the end of work.
Dr Agbana also charged them to apply entrepreneurship in their retirement phase of life as a tool to enable them achieve financial independence and make impacts in their various communities.
