Low Turn Out Of Workers At Lagos Secretariat

Government activities at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, were at low ebb on Wednesday as many workers did not report at their duty posts after the two-day Eid-El-Kabir holidays.

The Federal Government declared November 7 and 8 as public holidays in observation of Eid-El-Kabir.

A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent, who monitored activities at the secretariat, reports that most offices in the ministries and parastatal agencies had few workers, while the car parks were almost empty.

Few workers were seen at the Ministry of Finance and the Education Ministry which normally were a beehive of activities.Also, the influx of visitors was reduced as the security personnel manning the different gates had little problems controlling them.A man, who simply identified himself as Mr. Fidelis, said that he had gone to one of the offices to obtain some documents but was told that the workers in charge had yet to report for work.

A worker in the Ministry of The Environment, who pleaded anonymity, told NAN that though an appreciable number of workers reported for duty, the attendance was generally low.

“This is what usually happens on the first work day after most holidays. Some of the workers travelled out of the state and would likely return today.“They are just trickling in and I am very sure by tomorrow (Thursday) all of them would have returned and normal activities would resume fully at the secretariat,” she said.Mr Dele Balogun, Public Relations Officer, Office of the Head of Service, however, described the workers’ attendance at the secretariat as impressive.“The workers attendance is pretty okay in all the offices, except for those who are on outside assignments and engagements. Every agency has a register which each staff member has to fill when they get to the office and so far the attendance has been impressive.

“The Office of the Head of Service, where I work, has everybody in already”, Balogun said.