A concerned citizen of Kogi State, Comr. Dademoh Onimisi Habib (Blaize Zafir), has written an open letter to Governor Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, calling for urgent action to address the critical shortage of staff in ministries and parastatals across the state.
In the letter, Habib commended the Ododo administration’s achievements in infrastructure, youth empowerment, and economic development since January 2024. However, he warned that a systemic shortfall of qualified civil servants is undermining these gains, leaving many ministries operating on “skeletal crews” that can barely meet daily demands.
He highlighted the ripple effects of this staffing crisis:
- Healthcare: understaffed hospitals struggling to deliver timely care, especially in rural areas.
- Education: teacher shortages affecting literacy and school improvement programs.
- Governance: overstretched workers facing burnout, errors, and inefficiencies in service delivery.
- Economy: delayed projects discouraging investment and slowing job creation.
Habib noted that the crisis has been compounded by a wave of retirements among civil servants recruited in the 1990s and early 2000s, leading to a “loss of institutional memory” and widening gaps in expertise.
To tackle the challenge, he urged Governor Ododo to:
- Conduct a Statewide Staff Audit within three months to identify the exact shortfall.
- Recruit at least 5,000 new civil servants in the 2026 budget, with a transparent, merit-based process.
- Invest in capacity building, including mentorship programs linking new hires with retiring officers.
- Reform retirement policies, with incentives for phased retirement and contract extensions in critical roles.
According to him, such measures would not only fill urgent vacancies but also inject “fresh energy, innovation, and diversity” into Kogi’s public service.
Habib concluded by calling on Governor Ododo to listen to the voices of Kogites “from the banks of the Niger to the hills of Kabba” and invest in human capital as much as infrastructure. He stressed that a robust civil service is vital to sustaining the administration’s vision of inclusive growth.
“By heeding this call,” he wrote, “you will safeguard service delivery and cement your legacy as a leader who invested in the human capital of our state.”
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