Many civil servants at the federal, state and local government areas now go to work twice or three times a week to cut down the cost of transportation, Daily Trust’s findings have revealed. 

Cost of living has risen in the last one year due to several economic policies of the government, especially the removal of fuel subsidy. 

However, in order to save costs in the face of stagnant salaries, many civil servants have resorted to self- help. 

Daily Trust reports that Lagos, Ogun and Osun governments, respectively, approved two-day work-from-home policy for junior civil servants, while those on senior cadre were given a day. 

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu introduced the policy in February and extended it by three months on September 4. 

He directed that workers on grade levels 01 to 14 were allowed to work from home for two days a week, while those on grade levels 15 to 17 were allowed to work from home for one day a week. Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun, adopted that Lagos template on September 11. 

Osun’s Governor Ademola Adeleke followed suit on Tuesday in a circular from the Office of the Head of Service. 

“By this circular, therefore, and until another directive is given, the working day schedules for public servants in the state have been approved as follows: 

“Public servants on GL.01 to GL.10 – three days a week; public servants on GL.12 to GL.17 – four days a week,” a statement from the government reads. 

A Labour leader in Lagos, Comrade Yusuf Bello described the work-from-home directive as an admittance of the failure of policy. 

According to him, “If the policy of the government is working and it is working for the welfare of the people, they wouldn’t move in that direction. 

“To pronounce that kind of policy suggests that the government itself understands that its policy is not working. Because when workers are supposed to work for five days or six days as the case may be but they are only able to work for two days, something is lost not just to the workplace but the economy in terms of the informal workers who trade around offices, who live on people who come to work. So there is a multiplier effect on the economy that is lost.

“What I would rather add is for the government to rethink its policies in a manner that those policies would address the welfare of the workers and the people generally, not to look for quick fix temporary solutions. We need an enduring long term solution that would address the challenges of the economy and the welfare needs of the people”, he said.

Other govs silent 

Daily Trust reports that other governors have been silent on the work-from-home policy but civil servants in those states have resorted to ‘self-help’ to cut down cost of transportation.

 Borno 

Speaking to Daily Trust in Maiduguri, Mallam Baka, who works with the state government, lamented that life has been unbearable due to the high cost of living. 

“My take home is N87,000; I have been working for 14 years now, but things are very difficult for us as workers. We have family and aged parents who depend on us for everything, including feeding, which is increasingly becoming difficult,” he said. 

Babagana Mohammed, an assistant director said his salary is a little above N100,000. 

“In the last one year, the prices of food items have quadrupled; unfortunately, our salary has not increased,” he said. 

Reacting, the Chairman of Borno State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Yusuf Inuwa, explained that the workers enjoy transportation N50 per drop, which significantly reduces their expenses. 

He added that N2 billion loans given to workers were part of the palliatives of the state government to reduce hardships faced by workers in the state. 

“The state government rolled out metro transit, so we paid N50 instead of N200 for the transportation in Maiduguri. This has helped a lot as workers and the disbursement of N2 billion loans to workers equally assisted our members,” he said.

 Kano 

A senior civil servant said in spite of the rising cost, some servants do report to work except on Fridays. 

“You know, in Kano, there is no work free day, unlike in other states. 

 “I live at Yakasai Quarters in the ancient city and I trek to this place every work day and my salary is nothing to write home about. 

“While I was leaving for the office today (yesterday), my wife asked for money to buy charcoal but I did n’t have any,” Yakasai said.

However, the chairman of the state chapter of the NLC, Kabiru Ado said civil servants do not even want to talk about rising cost of transportation because it agitates their minds. 

“The federal government is yet to begin payment of the N70,000 minimum wage signed into law, and we have not seen the template. The Kano State government has set up a committee on the minimum wage implementation. The committee has submitted its report. 

“Hopefully, when negotiations are completed, the payment could begin and that may bring succour to workers, but I can tell you the situation is critically difficult,” he said.

Abuja 

In Abuja, the nation’s capital, our correspondent reports that federal civil servants across ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) have made a series of arrangements to cushion the effects of rising costs of transportation, occasioned by fuel price hike. 

 Some workers at the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) and Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), in separate interviews with Daily Trust, said they have devised various “arrangee” models in their various offices. 

One of the workers said that the arrangements depend on the offices or departments where one works, and also on the directors or other supervisors they are working with. 

“For me, I go to work (office) two times. I know other workers who come to the office twice or three times a week. 

“I also know of some others that their directors or superiors asked them to stay at home or work from home, but should be available when they are called,” he said. 

Another civil servant said it was unfair for workers to come to office, especially the junior ones, even when the new minimum wage has not been implemented. 

While the leadership of the labour unions were not available for comment, an executive of one of the chapels in Abuja, told Daily Trust that there have been some meetings where labour leaders defended workers who were reported to be skipping office due to high cost of transportation. 

Some workers who spoke with Daily Trust at the FCTA’s Secretariat in Area 11, Garki, Abuja, said that since the upward adjustment of the petrol price, transporters have jacked up fares.

One of the workers, who gave her name as Mrs. Mary John, said they made an arrangement among themselves. 

She said: “In our department, what we do is to divide ourselves into two sets; one set will come Mondays and Tuesdays while the other go Wednesdays and Thursdays every week. 

“This is necessary because, for instance, I stay in Bwari and will have to spend N3,400 every day on transportation aside from food. So, how can I cope with that amount five times in a week when my salary is less than N100,000?” she asked.

Benue 

Some of the civil servants, who spoke on condition of anonymity to our correspondent in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, said it was practically impossible for them to go to the office five times a week.

“I go to the office only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in a week. We have the arrangement in my office and our boss supports us since we can’t afford daily transportation to be at work”, one of them said. 

Another respondent, a senior civil servant, decried the hardship, saying he had long parked his car at home.

“I occupy a sensitive position in one of the ministries, so I try to be at work daily but without my car,” he said.

Zamfara 

A civil servant working with Zamfara State House of Assembly, who preferred anonymity, said he could not afford going to office five days in a week because of the economic hardship. 

“I am lucky, the director gave me the go ahead to report to my duty post three days in a week. At least, I will save the transport fares for the remaining two days to do something else,” he said.

A director in one of the ministries, who said he should be addressed with the name of his hometown, Dansadau, confirmed that many civil servants go to office twice a week. 

“There is no way we can sanction them, honestly. We simply pretend that we are not aware. Even the permanent secretaries also pretend that they are not aware. This is because, what justification do you have to punish them?” he asked.

Rivers 

Some respondents who spoke with our reporter said that they select the days they go to work.

“In every situation one has to devise a means of survival,” said James Abo. 

“With the biting economic hardship ravaging the country, some of us have devised a means of surviving the high cost of transportation,” he said. 

Alice Daniel, who works in one of the ministries, said, “it’s not possible for one to go to work on a daily basis.”

 Kwara 

Speaking on the issue, a civil servant in the state who gave his name as Mr. ‘B’, said their response to the situation varies. 

“It depends on how you look at it. For the core civil servants, we have some that now go to work three times a week. It’s only senior management staff of those in public service that may not have options”, he said.

It’ll lead to low productivity – Analyst 

An economic analyst, Prof. Adebayo Adams, said the policy, though a good idea, can only work in the public service, saying it cannot work in the private sector. 

“It is going to cause a lot of low productivity. As it is now, a lot of companies would still leave the country. The implication is that more workers would go and in the private sector, the policy of the government asking workers to spend some days at home would not work. 

“There is no way you can work for only three days and you think you would have good results,” he said.

[DailyTrust]