Oyo State is to restructure its 105,000 workforce and will not retrench as being speculated, Governor Abiola Ajimobi said yesterday.
Ajimobi, who clarified this in Ibadan, said restructuring of the workforce was aimed at enhancing its productivity.
He put the workforce at 105,000, saying many workers were unproductive.
Ajimobi said the restructuring would place each worker where he or she would be more productive.
“You know we have three types of workers. We have workers, who have the expertise and are ready to work. We have those without expertise, but are ready to learn and work. We also have those who don’t have the expertise and are not ready to work or learn.
“We want to ensure that every worker has something doing and doing well for government to justify his or her salary. Today, we need to drive our revenue to be self-sufficient,” he said.
He said restructuring was also reason for the government to strengthen its educational system, because development is knowledge-based.
Ajimobi said a knowledge-based economy produces development, stressing the need to develop pupils to be able to compete around the globe.
Quoting a philosopher, Ajimobi said: “If we keep doing same thing all the time, we will continue to have same result.”
The governor called on the workers to always embrace dialogue, saying the last strike drew the state backward.
“We told them all that is available to pay salaries, but they did not believe us. They embarked on the strike based on speculations that we were not sincere. Today, we have shown all to them and now they have seen that we are sincere and transparent on all we have told them.
“I pray that God rewards me based on my action towards the workers. If I lied to them, God will reward me and if I am sincere to them, God should continue to answer their prayers for me,” he said.
The governor solicited support for the state’s growth in the face of the economic downturn, saying his administration will continue to give its best.