IMO State Governor Rochas Okorocha has lauded the resource sharing agreement he entered into with workers, saying sharing the state’s monthly revenue will solve the problem of growing recurrent expenditure.
Speaking in an interview with The Nation yesterday, Governor Okorocha said it was ironical that the workforce of about 40,000 would corner 70 per cent of the state’s resources, leaving only 30 per cent for the population of about five million, but admitted it was a relief nevertheless.
Okorocha said the agreement was a win-win situation for both sides, noting that the development will give the government a leeway to continue to prosecute development projects.
He said: “I think this may perhaps be a way out for many states weighed down with the burden of growing recurrent expenditure, not just Imo State. There was no dispute really; we merely suspended those non-productive workers to get them agitated so as to take their job serious.
“What we did was to introduce the concession policy into the healthcare sector, having tried it at the Imo Concorde Hotel, water board, the Imo Palm Plantation and the new diagnostic hospitals.
“We belief the only way this state can survive is by introducing private sector spirit into the public sector. This is because in our culture, we don’t believe in government property; that is why we always want things destroyed all the time.;
“Patriotism is not in our people and it is only when people buy into it one way or the other that you achieve positive results.”
The governor noted that the matter got out of hand because union leaders felt the policy was leading to workers’ sack. “That is why they invited national union leaders here. My problem is that I did not want to use tax payers’ money to continue to pay people who are unproductive. But since they fell under the category of civil and public servants, we can now share our resources to cater for recurrent and capital expenditure.”