By Bashir Bello

KATSINA—Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State, yesterday, said civil servants in the state have become lazy and failed to tap available opportunities through retraining and updating their knowledge, hence the government resorted to engaging consultants.

Governor Masari spoke while swearing in the new Head of Service, Idris Tune, at the General Muhammadu Buhari Government House.

He stressed that retraining through workshops, seminars and related avenues, enable civil servants to compete favourably at the national level.

According to him, “the cooperation from the middle and most senior civil servants in the government is not as we expect.

“We try to improve the quality so that we remove a lot of these consultancy businesses in the service. But really, what we found out is that it appears some sections of the civil service are not keen or interested, or have lost touch, because lack of training or exposure makes someone lazy.

“Most of our senior civil servants have basic qualifications to go higher even to become more knowledgeable, but they have become lazy.

“Unless you do catch-up, how can you participate at the national level when you don’t improve yourself?”

Masari, called on the new Head of Service to make training and retraining of civil servants a priority to enable them become competitive nationally, urging him to treat people with justice and fairness, and work for the transformation of the state civil service.

Speaking, the new Head of Service said staff development is his priority and watchword.