Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has said more workers in the state employment would start working virtually as part of safety measures being put in place to guard against the spread of the new Covid-19 variant, Omicron.

Dr Fayemi disclosed this on Wednesday when he paid an unscheduled visit to workers at the State Secretariat Complex in Ado Ekiti, the State capital. He said one of the opportunities in the adversity of Covid-19 is that more workers in the state would learn to work smarter with the aid of modern technology.

The visit, which also witnessed the distribution of new office furniture to state officials, according to the Governor, was meant to felicitate with workers in the New Year and to pay attention to issues that can serve as challenges to their performances in 2022.

Governor Fayemi maintained that a lot of development had taken place in the secretariat with landscaping and completion of more buildings to create more space for office accommodation. He added that adequate preparation had been made in all the offices to ensure compliance with covid-19 safety protocols.

“We ensured that adequate provision were made for the covid-19 protocols in the various offices, but what is important now is they are back and in coming back we still owe a duty of protection to them in their various offices that’s partly why I have to go round to see what is going on for myself.

“It is a new year, it is a new dawn and it is a year of fulfilment as we have described it and we pray that our workers would be imbued with the enthusiasm and the commitment to work smarter and work harder. Smarter because in the age of Covid, we worked virtually now, at the level of the Executive council, all our executive council meetings are being held virtually, we still meet every week but we meet virtually because we now have a new variant of covid-19 which is even mutating faster than the previous variants that we have had.

“Spending too much time physically within the same space is not the most advisable but in that adversity there is opportunity, many of our people will learn to work virtually and to work a lot more away from their physical space in a way that protect their wellbeing and health care,” he added.

The Governor who was accompanied by the Head of Service, Mrs Peju Babafemi; the Chief of Staff, Biodun Omoleye; Overseer, Office of the Secretary to the State Government, Evang. Folusho Daramola; some leaders of the organized labour in Ekiti and top government officials was received by the Commissioner for Information and Values Orientation, Barr Akinbowale Omole, Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Alhaja Maryam Ogunlade and Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr (Mrs) Bimpe Aderiye at their respective ministries.

Other offices visited included the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Pension Commission, Ministry of Land and Housing, among others.

•PHOTO: L-R: Special Adviser Governor’s Office, Hon Foluso Daramola; Commissioner for Women Affairs and social Development, Alhaja Maryam Ogunlade; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social development, Dr (Mrs) Eunice Olayinka; Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi and the Head of Service, Mrs Peju Babafemi; at the Commissioner’s office, during the Governor’s unscheduled visit to the state secretariat complex, Ado-Ekiti…on Wednesday

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