Jonathan exposes why some governors are encouraging criminals

The former Bayelsa State Governor revealed this while speaking at the commissioning of the renovated Edo State Civil Service Secretariat Complex in Benin City on Wednesday, June 12, 2024.

According to the former president, some governors encouraged criminals so that they could deploy them during elections.

However, he urged them to emulate their colleague in Edo, Godwin Obaseki, who is promoting and encouraging the best brains through the automatic employment of first-class indigene graduates in the state.

“Let me also join the Head of Service, the young First Class graduate you employed, we thank you. When the Head of Service mentioned that in his speech, I was quite pleased. In fact, if you go to some states, governors are busy encouraging criminals because of politics, people that will rig elections for them, carry ballot boxes, carry knives and cutlasses to pursue people, but you are encouraging the brains.

“The brains don’t come from one political party. The brains come from all political parties. The brains come from those who are supporting all candidates. So you are not supporting these brains because you want to win an election but because you want to build a state, and for you to build a state, you have to build the people,” he said.

Jonathan also lauded Governor Obaseki for improving the welfare and providing a conducive working environment for the state's civil servants.

He noted that civil servants in the South-South state had been going home with insufficient salaries before the governor came on board.

Obaseki commenced the payment of ₦70,000 minimum wage to Edo workers last month, a threshold above the ₦62,000 proposed by the federal government.

“When I read in the newspapers that he is going to start paying ₦70,000 minimum wage, I was worried and expressed I hope that he can pay. A political leader must be somebody who has a vision and not someone who just wants to get to office and doesn’t know what to do when he gets there.

“If you have a vision, no matter the challenges, you must find a way to perform,” Jonathan added.

For his part, Obaseki said the Civil Service Secretariat Complex was the first place he visited when he assumed office as the governor of the state.

He recalled the sorry state of the complex at the time and how he promised to revamp it to provide a conducive environment for workers.

The Governor expressed the belief that creating a conducive environment for workers will always lead to a workforce that can boost productivity.