C'River: Gird Your Loins To Revamp Health Sector, Commissioner Charges Health Staff
By Kingsley Agim
Staff of the State Ministry of Health have been enjoined to gird their loins ahead of the uphill task of repositioning the health sector of the State in line with the present administration's 'People First' mantra.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, who gave the charge, Monday, at separate meetings, first with the enlarged staff and later, Directors, Heads of Departments, Unit Heads, and Desk Officers, said everybody in the Ministry must begin to adapt to new measures aimed at moving the Ministry forward.
Ayuk said after the just concluded screening exercise for civil servants, he expects the full cooperation of staff as his leadership would not condone indiscipline, truancy, recalcitrance or any untoward behaviour from anybody, no matter their placement in the service.
Assuring staff of a conducive working environment, the Commissioner tasked them to imbibe result-oriented work ethics that see punctuality, commitment to duty, adherence to constituted authority as hallmarks of productivity.
Decrying the poor number of information and communication technology (ICT) compliant staff, Dr Ayuk challenged them to seek ICT education in order to acquaint themselves with the 21st century digital age, enhance their productivity, as well as compete favourably with their counterpart in other climes, admonishing staff to "humble themselves to learn."
He also assured that his time with the Ministry would promote knowledge transfer from top to bottom to ensure that capacity is built to bridge gaps created when people exit from service.
My desire is to see that when management decisions are taken, there are cascaded to the various personnel and units of the Ministry, while warning "Nobody should undermine my directives, please."
He re-emphasised the need to have an enhanced and workable health sector that is truly reflective of the Governor Bassey Otu-led administration's 'People First' mantra.
Earlier in her opening remarks, the Ministry's Permanent Secretary, Dr. Pauline Obute, lauded the Commissioner for his transformative ideas that are yielding palpable results barely few weeks of assuming duty. She re-echoed the Commissioner's warning, directing staff to henceforth sign movement registers and time book according, as well as adhere to the rules and regulations guiding the civil service, as the leadership would not hesitate to wield the big stick on erring staff.
The meetings featured the Ministry's routine morning prayer, a question and answer session on teething issues bothering the Ministry, among others.
