Enugu govt adopts new measures against kidnapping (13th July 2010)

The Enugu State Government has taken very stern measures to stamp out kidnapping and cases of violent crimes in the state.

Under the arrangement, government has directed that any house used to harbour hostages or found to be a hideout for kidnappers in the rural communities will be demolished while the certificate of occupancy of such building in the urban centers will be revoked and the property seized by government.

The State Governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime gave the directives during a Town Hall meeting he held with presidents and secretaries of all the 467 autonomous communities in the State at the Governor’s Lodge, Enugu.

The Governor, who described the menacing effect of kidnapping in the society as embarrassing and unacceptable, also warned that government would deal decisively with any town union executives in whose community such unpatriotic crimes are committed while the kidnappers arrested will be made to face the law.

Governor Chime made it clear that government will not accept any excuse from anybody or town union, pointing out that no matter where one resides either within or outside the country, one has to take full responsibility of what happens in his house or houses.

According to Governor Chime, “no one is above the law. We will tackle the problem of kidnappers and violent crime in the state hundred per cent, not with kid gloves.  We outnumber the violent groups in the society and we must succeed.”

The state chief executive used the occasion to appeal to the town union executives to devise means of monitoring the movement of people both visitors and residents of their communities and to report any unusual movement and suspects to either the police, men of the State Security Services (SSS) or his office.

He solicited the assistance and cooperation of the town unions in the state in the fight against kidnappers and violent crimes, adding that the South-east Governors forum had earlier taken a decision to work together in the fight to check the crime in the interest of the states and their economy.

Chime tasks town unions on monitoring of projects (13th July 2010)

Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State has directed the town union executives of all the 467 autonomous communities in the State to ensure effective monitoring and supervision of all development projects being executed by government in their areas.

Governor Chime, who gave the directive during a meeting he held with the town union executives in Enugu said that this is the only way to ensure that such projects were not abandoned or executed below standard and the expectations of the benefiting community.

The Governor stated that as a matter of policy, government has decided that documents for contract awarded in the state containing the name of the contractor, terms of the contract,  amount involved, the scope and time of completion of such job will be made available to the Town Unions of the benefiting communities for easy and effective monitoring.

The state chief executive also told them that government had completed arrangements to establish an office of a special adviser under his office where they could obtain the contract documents and also channel their complaints, observations and other relevant information for necessary action.

He advised them to feel free to lodge their complaints and situation reports on such projects, adding that any town union executive that connives with the contractor to dupe their community or do a shoddy job will be penalized.

Governor Chime therefore requested the town union executives in the state to form an umbrella association at local, zonal and state levels where they could meet and compare notes for easy administration and effective discharge of their duties.

In an answer to their questions during the interactive session of the meeting, the Governor assured that government will help in funding their monthly or quarterly meeting and also provide other needed logistics that would help them perform optimally.

Answering a question on the relationship between the town union executives and their traditional rulers, Governor Chime made it clear that their duties are different but complementary and advised that they should consult each other when the need arises while the town unions should inform the Igwes about projects and their programmes.

On the issue of cattle menace in some parts of the state, the Governor explained that the new State Commissioner of Police has taken up the task to address them and called on those communities that are yet to elect their own traditional rulers to do so without further delay.

The Governor thanked them for their cooperation and for honouring the invitation for the meeting and requested all those whose questions were not treated well as all those who had problems or complaints to put them down in writing and forward same to his office for necessary action.

Gov. Chime appoints new Head of Service (10th July 2010)

A new Head of Service has been appointed and sworn-in in Enugu State. He is Mr. Sylvanus Onoyima. Until his appointment, Mr. Onoyima was a Permanent Secretary in charge of Establishments, Pensions and Training Bureau in the Office of the Head of Service.

Performing the swearing-in ceremony at the Executive Chambers, Government House, Enugu, Governor Sullivan Chime said that the choice of Mr. Onoyima was based on his track record of professional excellence and diligence. The Governor observed that Mr. Onoyima is the third Head of Service since the inception of his administration and requested him to improve on the good records set by his predecessors.

Responding, the new Head of Service said that his appointment was a challenge, assuring that he would bring his experience to bear in his new position in actualizing the Governor’s vision of a truly professional civil service. He stressed that his elevation was an act of God, recalling how he rose through the ranks from a clerk to the pinnacle of theState Civil Service. He praised his predecessors for laying the foundation for him to build on and assured that he will discharge his duties to the best of his knowledge and with a keen sense of integrity.

In a related development, Governor Chime has also sworn in Mr. Charles Nwokike as a new Commissioner in the Enugu StateIndependent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC). The commissioner replaces the former member of the commission, Mr. Romanus Chibuisi who died recently.

ENSG to sanction workers on double jobs (10th July 2010)

The Enugu State Government has warned civil and public servants in the State who keep two full-time jobs and collect double salaries to desist from such act forthwith. The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Uche Uzochukwu who gave the warning while declaring open a two-day workshop for the newly recruited medical staff in the State Local Government Service Commission, described such act as criminal and unacceptable by government.

Dr. Uzochukwu made it clear that anybody caught in such unpatriotic act would not only be dismissed from service but will refund all the monies collected and also face the wrath of the law. The commissioner disclosed that government would set up a joint monitoring team of officials from the Ministry of Health and the Local Government Service Commission to check and enforce attendance to duty by health workers in the seventeen local government councils of the State, adding that the exercise was not meant to witch hunt anybody but to ensure that their work and patients did not suffer unduly.

He told the participants that the workshop was organized to help enlighten them on the State Government’s health structure and operations and provide them with information that would guide them as beginners in the health sector.

The commissioner told them, “Your first duty in the healthcare service is to save life. Government will definitely not take it kindly with any healthcare provider in the service who neglects his duty or is found to be involved in any malpractice.” The State Ministry of Health boss explained to them the structure of the State District Health System, which was aimed at integrating all levels of health service delivery in the State, adding that the structure was arranged to decentralize the management of the healthcare delivery to the grassroots with the ultimate goal to improve healthcare services.

According to the commissioner, strengthening the referral system is central to achieving this desired objective of improved healthcare service delivery and free maternal and child health. “Do not hesitate to refer cases beyond you to the next level of care. This is intended to prevent any preventable mortality in our health care system”, he told them.

Earlier in her speech, the Chairman of the Commission, Mrs. Bridget Orjiekwe described the workshop as very appropriate and timely since it was aimed at realizing the laudable healthcare programme of Governor Sullivan Chime’s administration in its 4-point Agenda for the State. Mrs. Orjiekwe advised the newly recruited medical staff to comply strictly with government’s new policies and directives in their various duty posts in their own interest and the benefit of the State.

She assured them that the commission would provide them with all the needed equipment and facilities to work with to make their job easier and achieve government’s set goals in the health sector in the State. More than two thousand newly recruited medical workers including doctors, nurses and midwives, pharmacists, technicians, laboratory attendants, among others, attended the workshop.