Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has paid surprise visits to various offices to ascertain the level of commitment by members of staff in the ministry.
The minister’s media aide, Norbert Okpara, said in a statement on Thursday that Mr Amaechi embarked on the unscheduled visits round the nine-storey building of the ministry interacting with the workers on Wednesday.
Mr Okpara said while visiting the ninth floor, the minister observed a dilapidated area of the building which posed threat to the workers’ safety and directed that it be fixed without further delay.
“Amaechi observed at the time of his visit that most offices were already deserted by workers before the official closing time of 4 p.m.
“The very few who were present were either listening to music on their phones or dormant. He frowned at the nonchalant attitude and act of truancy displayed by some of the workers towards their jobs for which they are being paid for by the Federal Government,” the statement said.
According to Okpara, the minister frowned at the way the offices were unclean and promised to meet with the Permanent Secretary and leaders of the Civil Service Union of the ministry over it.
The Chairman, Joint Union Negotiation Council (JUNC), of the ministry, Mr Kolawolu Femi, who accompanied the minister on the tour described the minister’s visit to the offices as timely.
“On absenteeism by workers at the time of Amaechi’s visit, Femi said there was an ongoing training programme which most staff were attending and some others were observing their annual leave.
“The union leader also used the opportunity to appeal to the minister to address the issue of insufficient office spaces for staff to curb the issue of overcrowding in some of the offices,” Okpara said.
