By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON
The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has pointed out that the in spite of wide condemnation of the controversial plan to elevate certain group of officers who joined the service between 2009 and 2015 and leaving behind those who joined the service between 1992 and 1994, the service has proceeded with the wiidely-condemned plan.
In a statement signed by the AYCF National President, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, made available to newsmen on Sunday March 27, 2022, the group called on President Muhammadu Buhari and other relevant government agencies to stop the act it described as “national calamity”.
“We still call on the relevant Federal Government agencies to swiftly move into action and ensure that the right thing is done and correct this anomaly.
“The presidency, the Secretary to Government of Federation, the Head of Service of the Federation, the National Assembly, the Minister for Finance Budget and National Planning, the Federal Character Commission, among others, should do the needful to stop this national calamity and right all the wrongs,” the statement said.
The group said that information available to it confirmed that despite their plea to Nigeria Customs Service on February 27, 2022 to reconsider its controversial plan to elevate certain group of officers, they went ahead to implement the plan.
“The argument by the service, that the set of officers employed between 1992 and 1994 were employed as junior officers cannot stand.
“Most of them have improved their skills and capacity. You have among them PHD holders, Masters degree holders, graduates of multiple disciplines, members of different professional body, etc.
“At point of promotion/elevation, the statutory requirement is not the qualification at the point of entry rather qualification at the point of promotion/elevation. That is why public and civil service pay much attention, plan and spend heavily on capacity building, training, etc,” the statement said.
The added that, “Consequently, we wish to re-state our stand against this policy that smacks of administrative abuse, injustice and to further declare as follows;1. That this selective exclusion in the name of elevation plan should be cancelled immediately, so that everybody can now be carried along.
2. The gap or vacuum created due to embargo on employment in the service between 1994 and 2009 was not caused by the older officers and they should not be made to suffer for it, like sacrificial lambs. Evidently, this group of officers has already suffered a lot in the service, in the form of delay in promotion (some stayed up to eight years in one rank), poor remunerations, etc.
3. That if this plan stands, it may breed indiscipline, low-morale, low-productivity, feeling of rejection, alienation, work at cross-purposes, low esteem, sabotage, dichotomy and failure in meeting up with targets, etc.” They submitted.
