THE Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Dr. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, has revealed that she currently has no official office to work from, underscoring the infrastructural challenges facing the ministry.
Onyejeocha made this startling disclosure on Thursday during an interview with the African Independent Television (AIT) monitored by News Point Nigeria, where she explained that the space initially allocated to her has been reassigned to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation.
“This is the Ministry of Labour and Employment but even the Minister of State doesn’t have an office because the place I am staying currently, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation has been allocated that same place,” she lamented.
“Where do I go to? We have to stay there because even the minister’s office, they said we will have to go to the seventh floor which is not ready and it’s not going to be ready in the next couple of months.”
The minister expressed optimism that the situation would soon be addressed with the completion of the new National Directorate of Employment (NDE) headquarters in Abuja.
“I believe that we will put all our energy in this new National Directorate of Employment (NDE) building to make sure that it is finished with the speed of light so that those who do not have office will just come in there,” Onyejeocha said.
Earlier this week, the Ministry of Labour and Employment reiterated that the NDE has the capacity to provide skills acquisition programmes across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
During her inspection of the new NDE head office project in Abuja, Onyejeocha stressed that the building, once completed, would not only resolve the office accommodation crisis but also strengthen the agency’s mandate of creating sustainable employment.
She assured that she would work closely with the Ministry of Finance to fast-track the release of funds to complete the project.
Also speaking during the inspection, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Mohammad Dingyadi, expressed satisfaction with the pace of construction and pledged that the NDE would be repositioned to create more job opportunities for Nigerian youths.
“I am satisfied with what I have seen and so far so good. I do hope that the NDE will try to move in as quickly as possible.
“They are already paying rents on that one and by the time we are here, that will be off our neck,” Dingyadi said.
The revelation by Dr. Onyejeocha that even a serving minister lacks an office has sparked concerns about the state of government infrastructure, while also drawing attention to the urgency of completing the NDE’s permanent headquarters.
