By Ifeizu Joe
Staff members of local government system in Anambra State have decried the acute shortage of manpower in the respective council areas, lamenting that with the way things are, many departments may go extinct in the near future.
The staff members made this observation on Wednesday during the 2026 Local Government Service Week, which held at the Anambra State Local Government Service Commission compound, with the theme: Innovation and Efficiency in Local Government Service: The Solution Agenda.
The chairman of the planning committee of the service week, Dr Mrs Helen Orie in her address lamented that all the 21 local governments councils in the state were experiencing acute shortage of workers.
She harped on the need for training and retraining of workers and also enhancing the welfare of existing workers, stating that with the way things are presently, fresh hands may not be attracted to the sector.
Orie in her address said: “We want to thank the governor for his efforts so far, but we want to bring to your notice that we have accute shortage of workers in the local government system.
“In fact, many departments may die off in the nearest future because of lack of qualified manpower to man such offices. We pray that the governor will approve the employment of local government staff. Kindly consider this requests as part of your administration resolve to building a stronger local government system,” Orie urged Governor Soludo.
Mrs Orie also called for training and retraining of staff and improved welfare for workers at the local government level. It appealed for increased financial support to the Local Government Service Commission to help it meet the obligations of the staff.
Governor Chukwuma Soludo who was also at the event told the workers that his government will continue to ensure efficiency and smooth running of the local government system, saying those were the fulcrum on which his government runs.
Soludo said : “Training, staff recruitment and welfare are at the very core of our administration’s mandate. We will focus on this because they are at the heart of what we stand for.”
The governor assured that plans have already been finalized for massive employment into the local government system, stating that it needs to constitute a new board, after the resolution of the previous one and the appointment of the former chairman of the board as the Commissioner for Local Government Affairs and Chieftaincy Matters.
“Recruitment is set, we are going to reconstitute and strengthen the commission and deal with the issues of training and recruitment. The board will make recommendation for welfare after the reconstitution. Your former chairman is now in the ministry so we need to reconstitute so that we take it from there.
The two-day event which started with a training conference for the workers on day one, climaxed on Wednesday during a parade by all the staff of the various local government areas.
