By Anne Azuka
Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Emomotimi Dennis Guwor, has assured that the 8th Assembly under his leadership will continue to place high premiums on a workforce with cutting-edge skills in line with development goals of the state government.
Speaking while declaring open a two day retreat for top management staff of the Assembly, the Speaker reaffirmed commitment towards enhancing the capacity of the entire staff of the legislature through uncompromising training and re-training.
Flanked by the Deputy Speaker, Rt Hon Arthur Akpowowo, Majority Leader, Emeka Nwaobi and Chairman of the Delta State House of Assembly Service Commission, Sunday Ebireri, Guwor said it is the vision of the House to remain a leading Assembly that drives socio-economic development, through innovative and effective legislative interventions.
According to the Speaker, the retreat with the theme “Parliamentary Administration and Management for Effective and Efficient Service Delivery”, was part of efforts by his leadership to building a vibrant, proactive and responsive legislature that guarantees sustainable development.
He expressed happiness that the exercise was yielding results, saying, “I make bold to state that this deliberate policy of the Delta State House of Assembly to continuously build the capacity of staff has yielded a lot of positive impact in the House.
“I am delighted to let you know that few weeks ago, the Governor of Delta State, Rt.Hon.(Elder) Sheriff F. O Oborevwori, assented to seven transformative Bills passed by the House. This indeed is a very remarkable feat and a pointer to the fact that our efforts and the resources expended so far on capacity building have not been wasted but worthwhile”, Guwor stated.
The Speaker who described the retreat as timely, disclosed that it is the second management retreat under the leadership of the 8th Assembly, stressing that the aim is to maintain a knowledgeable, skilled and highly committed bureaucracy in the State Legislature.
The Clerk of the State Assembly, Mr Otto Aghoghophia commended the Speaker for demonstrating consistency in the policies that promote efficiency in the state legislature and good governance in the state.
Underscoring the import of the retreat, Aghoghophia assured that the retreat would afford management staff of the Assembly the opportunity to come up with innovative reflection on issues pertinent to bureaucratic service in the Assembly in a more relaxed and convivial atmosphere.
He said, “this is an informal space outside the office environment for us to openly address some of the issues that are bothering us. As I said earlier, the resource persons are here to share with us their experiences. It is my earnest expectation that this retreat will be more than engaging and beneficial to all of us.
“Mr. Speaker sir, at this juncture, on behalf of the management, I want to assure you of our total commitment and support for you and the leadership of the House. We are indeed grateful to you and your esteemed colleagues for honouring us with your presence”.
In his remarks, Director General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, NILDS, Professor Abubakar Sulaiman represented by Dr John Olarenwaju, said capacity and effectiveness of legislative bureaucracy, directly impacts the performance of any legislative institution.
Stressing that “Bureaucracy is the Institutional memory of the legislature” Prof Sulaiman noted that it is essential to invest in capacity building in other to improve the administrative machinery and ensure infrastructure and personnel alignment with growing demands of legislative work.
“To build a stronger and more responsive legislature, it is essential to invest in capacity building for legislative staff, improve administrative systems and ensure that infrastructure and personnel are aligned with the growing demands of modern legislative work”, the DG stated.
Some management staff interviewed, including, Deputy Clerk, Mr Smart Edoghe, and a Director in the Legislative department, Dr Stephen Okolo expressed gratitude to the leadership of the house for giving them the opportunity to improve on their service delivery to the State.
