Salaries Commission Advocates Regular, Inclusive Job Appraisal

BY COBHAM NSA, ABUJA – The Executive Chairman of National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), High Chief Richard Onwuka Egbule has advocated regular and all-inclusive job evaluation as the panacea for recurring agitations for wage increase in the nation’s public service.

He said frequent demands for increment and review of salaries by Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs) were manifest signs of job insecurity and undue delay in undertaking comprehensive appraisal of job schedules in the Service.

High Chief Egbule told a delegation from Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation (OSGF) during a visit in Abuja that it is most regrettable the last comprehensive job evaluation in the public service was undertaken in 1972.

According to a statement by the Commission’s Chief Press Secretary, Njoku Emmanuel, the Executive Chairman insisted that the country needs appropriate and frequent evaluation to effectively sort out and address issues surrounding the numerous agitations for upward salary review in the Service.

The NSIWC boss said going forward, there is an urgent need to institutionalize processes that will ensure periodic review of existing job schedules and description for efficiency and effective mandate delivery by the public service.

On agitations for reviews of wages and allowances packages in the Service, Chief Egbule said the exercise has been shelved for now due to issues relating to the new National Minimum Wage recently passed by the National Assembly and awaiting the president assent.

He explained that all wage reviews were put on hold because the new minimum wage would obviously come with some financial adjustments and significant rise in the public Service wage bill.

Chief Egbule however assured the Surveyor-General that every request tabled before the Commission would always be properly scrutinized with appropriate recommendations made to the relevant authorities.

In his remarks; Surveyor-General of the Federation, Mr Ebisinitie B. Audu listed the many challenges associated with the surveying and mapping sectors in the country.

Highlighting its importance to all sectors of the economy, Mr Audu said given the existing as well as emerging challenging in the industry, the office has made inputs for salary and allowances adjustments as incentives to motivate the staff.

The Surveyor-General said the visit was to interface with the Chairman and his management team on issues of salaries and wages, adding that lack of funds has also hampered the OSGF from operating drones in line with global best practices given its attendant risk of emission of radiation.

The OSGF was established in 1895 with its first institutions in Surveying and Mapping sector in Nigeria being the Federal School of Surveying & Mapping that was set up in 1908.