Former President Goodluck Jonathan has called on the Federal Government and state governments to harmonise salary scales, grade levels and career structures across Nigeria’s civil service, arguing that public servants performing comparable responsibilities should not be treated differently simply because they work for different tiers of government.
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Jonathan made the call in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, during the foundation-laying and fundraising ceremony for the proposed Secretariat Complex of the Bayelsa State Association of Retired Permanent Secretaries.
The former President said Nigeria needed a more uniform civil-service system in which qualifications, responsibilities, career progression and remuneration at the state level correspond more closely with what obtains in the federal service.
“The civil service of the federation is the civil service of the federation, whether you are working at the state level or you are working at the federal level,” Jonathan said, arguing that the salary structure should reflect comparable responsibilities.
He also cited university lecturers as an example, contending that a professor in a state-owned university performing the same professional role as one in a federal university should not be disadvantaged merely because of the institution’s ownership.
Jonathan similarly questioned disparities in the grading of directors in state and federal civil services, recalling reforms he introduced while serving as Governor of Bayelsa State.
According to him, when he became governor, directors in the Bayelsa State Civil Service could only rise to Grade Level 16, whereas their counterparts in the federal service occupied Grade Level 17.
Jonathan said he considered the disparity unjustified because a person qualified to serve as a director in the Bayelsa civil service should ordinarily possess qualifications capable of supporting an equivalent position in the federal service.
He consequently directed officials of his administration, including the then Secretary to the State Government, Head of Service and Accountant-General, to restructure the system and introduce Grade Level 17 for directors, with Level 16 subsequently serving as the grade for deputy directors.
The former President said similar alignment between state and federal structures would help strengthen Nigeria’s public service while ensuring greater consistency in the treatment and progression of workers performing comparable duties.
Jonathan also praised members of the Bayelsa State Association of Retired Permanent Secretaries for embarking on the construction of a permanent secretariat, saying the calibre of senior civil servants produced by Bayelsa compared favourably with their counterparts at the federal level.
He said the proposed facility would not only provide a permanent base for the association but could also enable retired senior public officers to continue deploying their experience and institutional knowledge for the benefit of government and members of the public.
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, represented at the ceremony by the Head of Service, Dr Ebiye Sawyer, pledged the state government’s support for the project and commended the retired permanent secretaries for their initiative.
Chairman of the association, King Collins Ebi Daniel, said the proposed complex was conceived as an institutional legacy for retired public servants and would contain administrative offices, event halls, conference rooms and recreational facilities.
Daniel disclosed that the project is estimated to cost ₦500 million and is expected to be completed within two years.
Other dignitaries at the ceremony also pledged support for the project and urged the association to develop the facility beyond a meeting centre into a policy institute capable of contributing ideas to governance and development at both state and national levels.
The ceremony featured the formal laying of the foundation by Jonathan, a fundraising session and a cultural presentation by the Bayelsa State Council for Arts and Culture.
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