Emma Elekwa
National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Anambra State has charged staff to make discipline, hard-work and fairness their watchwords as they work towards individual progress and that of the agency.
State Director, Barr Lady Ifeoma Chijioke stated this during a one-day in-house training organized by leadership of the agency for its staff at the headquarters in Awka.
She announced that promotion is no longer based on Annual Performance Evaluation Report System (APERS) form but on individual performances.
She said, “I am happy to see your faces again as a result of the programme. The essence of this event is to adequately train and equip some of our staff who are due for the next promotion by next year.
“Promotion now does not base on APERS form again, but on individual performances.”
Chijioke called on staff of the agency at the local government areas to open movement register for easy supervision of their activities by the Supervisory Deputy Directors assigned to them to enhancing their performances at the grassroots.
She further urged staff to intensify campaign on Nigerian Education Loan Funds (NELFUND) of the federal government to enable great percentage of Nigerian students from across the country benefit from the programme.
Ignorance of NELFUND
She regretted that many Nigerians students were ignorant of the NELFUND programme, especially in the South Zone.
Chijioke hinted that federal government pays school fees of the benefiting students through the NELFUND as well as #20,000 in addition as their pocket money.
The NOA boss urged students in tertiary institutions across the five Southeast states to work towards accessing the funds like their counterparts in other states of the federation.
She identified high rate of disrespect, disobedient and insubordination among the participants, especially those in the junior cader as the cankerworm capable of crippling the growth and development of any agency in the state and elsewhere in the country.
She also advised staff irrespective of their grade levels to shun any form of absenteeism, truancy and serious misconduct capable of costing their job.
Chijioke lauded participants’ unalloyed spirit of team work, dedication and commitment aimed at boosting activities of the agency in the State and Nigeria at large.
Delivering a lecture titled, “Prioritizing Value Orientation and Re-Orietation for Sustenance of Democracy in Nigeria”, Deputy Director Civic, Values and Democracy Education of the agency in Awka, Remigius Obi urged Nigerians to imbibe tenets of good values and patriotic will as some of measures towards sustenance of true democratic governance in the country.
Civil service rule
In another lecture, Deputy Director Administration and Human Resources Department, Mrs Nkechi Onwuka advised participants to be conversant with Nigerian Civil Service Rules, especially sections that deal with terminations, redundancy, discipline, leave matters, among others to equip themselves with all they needed to know about the Nigerian Civil Service Roles.
Also, Deputy Director Abuse, Rights and Narcotics, Mrs. Ijioma Akabueze enjoined participants to join forces with government in fight against eradication of societal abuses such as child, women, gender, domestic abuse and human trafficking in the country.
She further urged them to uphold citizens fundamental human rights at all times as well as key in the fight against narcotics and drug abuse in the present-day Nigerian society.
Lectures were further delivered on “Role of Accounting and Proper Retirement of Government Funds in Public Service Administration and Nature, Objectives and scope of Audit by the Chief Accountant of the Agency Mrs. Uzoma Obeleagu and the Auditor of the Agency, Mrs Amalachukwu Anyansi respectfully.
According to them, financial accounting is the responsibility of every staff member of the agency who are handling public resources for proper documentation, prudent spending and timely retirement of government funds.
