Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has inspected a state-of-the-art Computer-Based Test Centre set up for workers’ recruitment as part of efforts to upgrade the quality of workers into the State Civil Service for enhanced productivity and standards.
Fielding questions from Government House Correspondents shortly after his inspection of the facilities at the Civil Service Auditorium, State Secretariat Complex, Uyo, Governor Eno noted that the standard of the civil service in the State must be consciously stepped up to meet up with the challenges of the 21st century.
He stressed that “the Civil Service is the engine room of governance. If we don’t get the Civil Service right, we would never get governance right.”
Governor Eno posited that the quality of staff recruited into the Civil Service matters a lot in the 21st century.
He explained that people the world over have moved to Artificial Intelligence, and emphasized the need for the State to recruit qualified and capable hands that will be able to stand the test of time in service delivery.
“We need to have people who, at least, understand basic computer services, and are confident in what they are doing.
“Besides, the introduction of this Computer Based Test in our recruitment will considerably eliminate the issue of godfatherism in our system for competence to lead,” he added.
The Governor reasoned that recruitment of workers through the CBT approach will drastically make applicants to be serious and prepare effectively for absorption into the Civil Service system.
“We need to be practical about it; eliminate all manner of encumbrances so that applicants will prepare effectively for the examination. And, if they perform well, they would be taken. And, if they fail, they can prepare well to write it next time,” he explained.
On his part, the Commissioner for Science and Digital Economy, Dr. Frank Ekpenyong, commended Governor Eno for his exceptional vision and passion to ensure merit, competence, and confidence in the State Civil Service for efficiency in service delivery.
Dr. Ekpenyong disclosed that the CBT Centre is capable of accommodating upwards of 400 applicants at a time, and about 2,000 applicants for a day scheduled in batches.
Also speaking, Head of the Civil Service, Elder Effiong Essien, thanked Governor Eno for introducing dynamism in the service, disclosing that the CBT recruitment examination will take place in the next ten days.
Elder Essien assured the applicants that the CBT facilities and processes are within their knowledge and capability, and enjoined them to just get themselves prepared for simple evaluation test through the computers.
On the inspection with the Governor were members of the State Executive Council, captains of industry, political stalwarts, and staffers of government.
