Local government workers 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 workers 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 government 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 staff, stating that with the way things are presently, fresh hands may not be attracted to the sector.
Orie said, "We want to thank the governor for his efforts so far, but we want to bring to your notice that we have acute 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.
She also called for training and retraining of staff and improved welfare for workers at the local government level.
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.
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 finalised for massive employment into the local government system.
"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," he said.
The two-day event which started with a training conference for the workers on day one, climaxed on Wednesday with a parade by all the staff of the various local government areas.
Anambra LG workers decry shortage of staff, say many departments may go extinct