Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has approved the recruitment of an additional 2,000 teachers while directing the immediate issuance of appointment letters to 4,000 successful candidates from the state’s recent civil service recruitment exercise.
The approvals were announced on Friday when the governor received the report of the recruitment exercise from the Civil Service Commission at Government House, Uyo.
The additional teachers are expected to strengthen staffing in the model primary schools constructed across the state, while the 4,000 successful civil service applicants are to begin receiving their appointment letters following the governor’s directive to the commission.
Presenting the recruitment report, Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, Mrs Ekerebong Umoh, said the exercise attracted more than 36,000 applicants, with 12,000 candidates qualifying to proceed to the first interview stage.
She explained that candidates who obtained at least 50 per cent in the computer-based test were invited for the oral interview from which the final selections were made.
Umoh described the exercise as comprehensive and demanding, given the number of applicants involved, and thanked the governor for creating an opportunity for thousands of unemployed youths to compete for positions in the state civil service.
Governor Eno commended the commission and other officials involved in the process for what he described as diligence, transparency and commitment to ensuring a level playing field for applicants.
He said the outcome gave him satisfaction because successful candidates could enter the public service knowing that they earned their positions through a competitive process.
“Today is one day I feel very happy to serve the State. We can say truthfully that we had a transparent recruitment exercise, and the people coming in will value the job because they know they worked hard to come into the service,” Eno said.
The governor also disclosed that a friend had approached him to seek preferential treatment for his son during the recruitment, but he advised the applicant to subject himself to the same process as other candidates.
According to him, the young man followed the process and eventually emerged successful.
Eno said his administration was committed to ensuring that opportunities in government were accessible to qualified citizens irrespective of personal connections, adding that the objective was to build a state where “everybody can be somebody.”
“I only hope and trust God that when we finish our tour of duty, posterity will be kind to us. Posterity will be able to see what we actually wanted to achieve, that for once we can have an Akwa Ibom State where everybody can be somebody,” he said.
He directed the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission to immediately commence the issuance of appointment letters to the 4,000 successful candidates.
The governor further commended the Head of Service, Mrs Elsie Peters; Commissioner for Science and Digital Economy, Dr Frank Ekpenyong; and other members of the recruitment team for their roles in the exercise.
The meeting was attended by the Secretary to the State Government, Prince Enobong Uwah; Executive Assistant/Chief Delivery Advisor, Mr Aniefiok Johnson; and other senior government officials.
