Ordeal of redeployed staff: An open letter to Governor Abba Yusuf

Sir, permit me to disclose the predicament of redeployed staff being deactivated from the state payroll since June 2023.  Their ordeals began in July 2021, when the Office of the State Head of Civil Service released the list of staff with teaching qualifications in LGAs, SUBEB, and some agencies (KIRS, KAROTA, etc.) following recommendations received […]

Sir, permit me to disclose the predicament of redeployed staff being deactivated from the state payroll since June 2023. 

Their ordeals began in July 2021, when the Office of the State Head of Civil Service released the list of staff with teaching qualifications in LGAs, SUBEB, and some agencies (KIRS, KAROTA, etc.) following recommendations received by the committee on manpower to minimise redundancy and utilise human resources in the state civil service.  

Ph.D. and MSC/MA graduates were deployed to state-owned higher institutions, and those with BA/BSc were posted to secondary schools under the Kano State Senior Management Board (KSSMB). Their respective institutions screened and placed them on appropriate salary scales in accordance with the institutional regulatory bodies’ standards. Most of them disliked the exercise because it meant leaving their comfort zones for a new challenging academic environment. 

Interestingly, some of them were beneficiaries of Kwankwasiyya scholarships where children of nobody in the state had access to free post-graduate education during the tenure of Sen. Dr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.  

Later, after the successful assimilation of redeployed staff, politicians and top government officials have been accused of sending their relatives for another redeployment to educational institutions without the appropriate qualifications. Surprisingly, their salaries migrated to their new institutions in a very short time, while those deployed earlier in 2021 were still not included in state payroll. 

The first batch of redeployed staff continued to receive salaries from their previous places of work for about 18 months which were significantly lower than services offered and what their new colleagues received as salary. Furthermore, some have reached their promotion period and had been promoted as they had met the strict academic requirements for promotions. 

In October 2022, the State Executive Council approved the salary migration for the redeployed staff, and they started receiving new salaries in January 2023 onwards according to their current place of work. However, in June 2023, the State Accountant General announced that the salaries of those redeployed staff had been paid using the December 2022 payroll, leading to their deactivation from the state salary portal. Nonetheless, they were expected to continue working at their current stations until further directives. Despite this, some of them have still not received their June 2023 salary, leading to further challenges in the current economic situation in the country. 

There is a strong belief that your government should kindly reactivate them considering your emphasis on education, in line with the philosophy of the Kwankwasiyya movement in boosting education and manpower development in the state.  

 

Ahmad K. Usman wrote via [email protected]