By: Monday Danladi, Bauchi
Bauchi State Government has employed a total of 850 skilled and unskilled personnel to boost the health sector of the State, particularly the Primary Healthcare subsector for effective and efficient service delivery.
The disclosure was made by the Executive Chairman of the State Primary Healthcare Development Board, Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, during a One-day orientation and documentation of the newly employed staff at the headquarters of the Board on Friday.
He said that, “We have concluded the first phase of the exercise. Yesterday, those from Bauchi South, particularly the Ningi cluster, were here. It is your turn today.”
He disclosed that the Governor gave the total number of approvals for recruitment into the Primary Healthcare system, which was quite significant.
He explained that,”First, early last year, the Governor approved the engagement of 151 volunteer staff, who are already working. The second engagement involved staff from across the state. A total of about 175 staff were approved, including Nurses and Midwives, Community Health Workers, and other healthcare personnel.”
According to him,”Their letters of engagement and approval have been issued, and the Governor has approved their recruitment. They are expected to commence work very soon, possibly by next week.”
The EC further said that, “We then realized that in Bauchi State, many Healthcare workers were dying, retiring, or voluntarily leaving the service without being replaced. I therefore presented a memorandum to the Governor, requesting approval to replace those who were no longer in service. The Governor approved it.”
“With the support of the local government Chairpersons at the time—some of whom are still serving while others have since left—we were able to secure the Governor’s approval to engage 850 staff across the state,” he said.
Rilwanu Mohammed said that, “These 850 positions have been distributed across all the local government areas, based on the number of staff who had retired or left the service. However, we discovered that three local governments had particularly low numbers: Misau, Kirfi, and Warji.”
He also said that,”We do not know exactly what happened, but since 2019, replacement had been carried out in these areas based on the number of people who retired or left the service. Misau had only 18 people, Warji had 19, and Kirfi had 18 people who had retired. This replacement system continued until it was stopped by the government.”
“For the other local governments, the numbers were much higher because we identified the number of people who had retired and replaced them accordingly,” he said.
He further said that, “At the Bauchi Primary Healthcare headquarters, the Governor approved 92 staff. In some other local government areas, the numbers were also substantial—for example, 46 in one area, 56 in another, and 70 in Bauchi Local Government. So, this is why we are here today.”
According to him,”We have already carried out the first assignment, which was the validation and documentation exercise. Some of you were attended to in Azare, some in Misau, and others in different clusters. I remember that we had the Bauchi cluster and the Ningi cluster because of the distance involved.”
He added that,”That exercise has been completed, and what remains now is for us to give you your engagement letters today. That is why we are gathered here. I want to thank Almighty God. As from today, you officially become staff of the Bauchi State Government.”
The EC stressed that,”The Governor has demonstrated that he is a true statesman, he has shown that he understands the plight of the people and has agreed to engage additional healthcare workers to serve the people of Bauchi State.”
In his earlier remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Board, Samaila Itimiya Liman, reminded the new recruits that they had been coming to the agency for validations and other aspects of the particular process, saying, “This is probably the final stage of the process, during which you will receive your engagement letters.*
The PS stressed, “I believe that each and every one of you here is going to dedicate yourself to the service of the State. As we are all aware, there are many other applicants outside, but you are privileged to be among those who will be given the opportunity to serve.”.
“Therefore, I believe you will adhere to your schedules and duties once you assume office and will carry out your responsibilities diligently. I welcome you all to this exercise, and I believe that each and every one of you will successfully complete the process,” he concluded.
Some of the new recruits expressed their happiness over the development counting themselves lucky to have been chosen from among the several who applied.
They assured that they will not take the opportunity for granted but will work assidiously to justify their employment in order to contribute to the effectiveness of the healthcare service delivery.
End
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