Go Marching on
stop to their activities; so they were fighting us all through. It is not as if it will happen today and stop tomorrow. They are creating all sorts of bottlenecks for the system.” Let us pray for Governor Abubakar that these ghosts will not overpower him with their “bottlenecks”.
On 29th May this year, Governor Simon Lalung of Plateau State disclosed that his government had traced 1,832 ghost teachers to a single individual who is not even a teacher. According to Lalung, the self-confessed thief who resided in the United States for several years admitted to him (Lalung) on phone that he (the intercontinental ghost) had been drawing salaries for himself and many others to fund a charity for widows and orphans. What a Good Nigeritan!
In June, Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina announced the detection of names of children and wives of some prominent persons on the payroll of local government councils in the state. “It is unfortunate that these people have been on the list, collecting salaries for over 20 years. It is also disheartening to note that some people who do not live in the state are collecting salaries every month”, disclosed Masari. Who are these people? In Nigeria, there is a golden rule for that: Don’t ask. Don’t tell!
Last month, the Kebbi Chairman of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Alhaji Bello Barade, said 9,258 ghosts were uncovered in the 21 local councils of the state. At about the same period, 9,720 ghosts were also uncovered in the payroll of Kogi State government. The AuditorGeneral in charge of local governments, Alhaji Ahmed Ododo said “in Kogi State University, there was a case of double employment where a man filled two forms signed by him. He is on the staff of the university and also on the staff of its teaching hospital. This man draws salaries amounting to N560,000 each from the two places,” Ododo said. A teacher and healer combined; why is Kogi State so blessed?
In April, the Cross River State Universal Basic Education Board uncovered 248 fake teachers in nine local government areas. Curiously, the Chairman of the House of Assembly Committee on Education, Hon Friday Okpechi, directed the authorities in the state to “announce amnesty or give timeframe for fake certificate holders to surrender such certificates to the screening panel or face the consequence of dismissal”! Amnesty for thieves? Nigeria we hail thee!
Just about two weeks ago in July, Secretary to the Bayelsa State Government, Mr. SerenaDokubo Spiff, said there were discrepancies in their payroll with cases of ghost schools, ghost teachers, fraudulent designation of status/grade level etc. “Some persons with criminal intention are short-changing the system to the detriment of the state. Members of the teaching staff who may be victims of the activities of these criminal gangs are advised to bring same to the attention of the authorities”, Dokubo-Spiff stated. I am not sure any of these ghosts has reported for arrest or has been brought to the attention of the authorities in Bayelsa State.
Last month (July), a total of 3,916 ghosts were discovered in Enugu State, following a staff audit conducted in the 17 local government councils. A month earlier in June, the Kaduna Head of Service, Mrs Alisabatu Dada-Onazi said 13,000 ghosts had been identified, following a verification exercise that reduced the number of workers from over 88,000 to 75,726 in the state. She vowed that those involved would be prosecuted. While Governor Nasir el Rufai is one man who does not run away from a fight, it will be interesting to see how he would take on the ubiquitous Nigerian ghosts.
In February, the Benue State Government said it had uncovered 1,061 ghosts who were previously on the payroll of public schools. Same month, Governor Willie Obiano announced discovering 850 ghosts in the Anambra state civil service in the course of routine efforts to identify areas of waste. It’s either many ghosts have fled these two states or they are too clever to be found.
In May, the Kano State Commissioner for Information, Internal Affairs, Youths, Sports and Culture, Alhaji Umar Faruk, “highlighted the progress made so far in which over 8,000 ghost workers were identified in the interim report.” A few days later, Alhaji Adamu Garafini, the Permanent Secretary in charge of the Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in the Niger State, announced the discovery of 7,000 ghosts in the payroll of the 25 LGAs.