THISDAY

NEWS BRACED: Govt Must Rebuild Infrastruc­ture to Aid Devt, Says Obaseki

Edo State Governor, Goodwin Obaseki, has said the country could not attain any meaningful developmen­t unless infrastruc­ture was rebuilt.

Obaseki also stated that bureaucrac­y must be fixed to ensure that the Public Service support the drive to developmen­t of the country.

The Edo governor said this yesterday in Benin at the opening of the BRACED Commission Strategy Retreat for Heads of Service from Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta at the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy (JOOPSA).

Using Edo State as a case study, he said his administra­tion decided to build the state through institutio­nal reforms, infrastruc­tural developmen­t, Social welfare enhancemen­t, economic revolution, environmen­tal sustainabi­lity as well as arts, culture and tourism.

Besides, Obaseki noted that the civil service must employ the best brains, just like Edo is doing, to make the work force better.

“Because we are hiring the best, we must pay them the way their counterpar­ts are being paid in other organisati­ons. So, If we must rebuild Nigeria, then the best brains must be attracted to work in the public and civil service

“We cannot build our country and states if we do not build our institutio­ns and infrastruc­ture. So, it is so important that as we talk about building Nigeria, we must also fix our bureaucrac­y that runs Nigeria at all levels,” Obaseki said.

He further noted that the retreat with the theme: “Leadership in the Public Sector-Strengthen­ing Public Institutio­ns”, would afford participan­ts the opportunit­y to brainstorm on ways to support each other to develop the civil and public service in the South South region.