THE broad knowledge which is necessary to form sound judgments,
the integrity of one’s intellectual conscience to scrutinize these judgments
adequately and the impartiality to analyze a situation with insight, especially
to impart on societal growth and development best describes the real calibre of
Rt. Hon. (Engr.) Victor Onyekachi Ochei (FNSE), the Speaker of the Delta State
House of Assembly.
His greatness, as in the words of William Boetcker, can be
measured by his kindness, his education and intellect, by his modesty and his
real quality, by his consideration and tolerance for others, as well as his
visionary contribution to service and to humanity.
His concern for development and the well-being of society, no
doubt, formed the basis of the invitation to him to be the 2012 Distinguished
Annual Public Service lecturer at this year’s public service lecture series of
the University of Ibadan Alumni Association, Asaba Chapter.
A public servant per excellence, he rose to the occasion with an
exhaustive analysis of the theme “Minimum Wage and Enhanced Productivity in the
Public Service”, a timely and all-important topic which he dissected with
surgical precision and concluded that the new national minimum wage is a sine
qua non for the enhancement of productivity in not only the public, but also
the private sector.
He noted that “improvement in basic living conditions can
motivate an employee to improve his or her productivity. This also affects the
private sector as the private business owners are also required to comply with
the new minimum wage structure.”
“There is no doubt that job satisfaction can result from
increased monetary compensation. This can make employees value their jobs more
because more of their basic needs are met from their efforts at work.”
However, his sound analytical mind beamed on the lop-sidedness
in the revenue sharing formula in the country and the rate of service delivery
by the civil service, among other problems as factors militating against the
implementation of what he termed a theoretically ideal situation.
“The current revenue sharing formula is such that the Federal
Government gets 42.6 per cent of the total revenue, while the 36 states, the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the 774 local governments share the
remaining 47.4 percent. The position of the state governors is that there
should be a review of this formula to help them meet the challenges of paying
the current minimum wage.”
The dwindling revenue of government is also not being helped by
the performance of the civil servants who are the major recipients of wage
increments, an observation he supported by drawing from the words of former
Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and ex-minister for
FCT, Nasir Rl-Rufai, who opined, regarding non-performance in the public
service that “it is the inability of the public service to update its
attitudes, working methods, skills and technology. The public service has been
short-term in its vision, self-centred in policy formulation and corrupt in
programme implementation. Instead, it has focused on taking care of itself and
interests to the detriment of the nation and the system which sustains it.”
To save the situation, especially dwindling government revenue,
“it then suffices that the public servants of today must partner with
government in the area of wealth creation. It is, therefore, pertinent that
they wake up from their slumber and to justify present and future calls for
national minimum wage increases.”
Added to that he said “It is imperative that the revenue profile
of government be shored up if government must meet all its statutory
obligations to the people. This calls for the co-operation of the public
servants.”
An astute legislator, Rt. Hon. Ochei has continued to put into
practice, his fervent belief in the words of Aristotle that when a good life is
made politically secure for a majority of the citizens, the best state exists,
especially by striking a fine nexus between the state legislature, which he
leads, and the executive arm of government to deliver greater dividends of
democracy for the benefit of Deltans.
“The welfare state is that posture of governance in which the
state plays a major role in the provision of economic and social goods to its
citizens, thereby ensuring their well-being. This is based on the principle of
equity in distribution of wealth, social insurance, health, etc.”
Rt. Hon. Ochei initially tested the leadership turf as the
deputy minority leader of the Third Assembly and Chairman of the House
Committee on Education of the penultimate Assembly before his elevation as
Speaker.
A man who has invested so much in his own human capital
development, he has in his kitty, a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering
and a Master of Business Administration (MBA), both from the University of
Benin as well as a Master of Science (MSc) in Corporate Governance from Leeds
Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom and a Certificate from the
prestigious Harvard Graduate School of Education on Improving Secondary School
Education, with a Bachelor of Law degree in view to add to his bouquet of
educational accomplishments, all aimed at broadening his knowledge base for
greater service to his state and the nation.
Rt. Hon. Ochei serves as a perfect example to youths on
self-employment as he had turned the savings from his NYSC allowance into
entrepreneurial accomplishment. Many years on, his enterprise and drive for
results led to the founding of a foremost indigenous electrical engineering
company, Davnotch Nigeria Limited, although he has divested his shares in the
company since June 2011 due to the exigencies of his office and commitment to
higher contribution to the development of the state.
The advocacy for the removal of all impediments in the way of
the implementation of the new minimum wage in the country, particularly the
lop-sidedness in the revenue sharing formula, is a testimony to Rt. Hon. Victor
Ochei’s soft spot for workers and his firm belief that higher motivation will
ultimately beget higher productivity in the workforce.
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