As Governor Caleb Mutfwang marks another anniversary in office, the impact of his administration’s employment reforms is becoming increasingly visible across Plateau State. In this report, PESHEL NAANKANG & USHUKON DANIEL examine how the government’s employment policies are changing lives, the challenges that still remain and why many believe broader job creation efforts must continue to address rising unemployment across the state
For many workers in Plateau State, years of uncertainty, poor wages and temporary appointments had become a painful reality. Across ministries and state-owned tertiary institutions, thousands laboured for years without job security, pensions or hope of regularisation.
However, under the administration of Governor Caleb Mutfwang, a new wave of employment reforms is gradually changing the narrative through the regularisation of long-serving ad-hoc workers, transparent recruitment processes and broader plans aimed at expanding job opportunities across the state.
For many affected families, the reforms represent not just employment, but restored dignity, stability and renewed hope for the future.
In Plateau State, the government is making important changes to improve employment opportunities. Under the leadership of Governor Caleb Mutfwang, new reforms are being introduced to create more jobs and hire new staff in various sectors. These efforts aim to boost the local economy and provide better services to the state.
With a focus on transparency and efficiency, the government is committed to ensuring that more people have access to good jobs and a brighter future.
The Plateau State Government’s employment reforms are focused on sanitising the civil service, addressing past recruitment irregularities and creating 50,000 digital jobs through a partnership with Outsource Global. The administration has implemented fair and transparent hiring processes.
For 12 years, Mrs Christiana Gabriel woke up before dawn every morning to prepare for work at a state-owned institution in Jos. She attended meetings, prepared official files and sometimes stayed beyond closing hours.
Yet, despite doing the same work as permanent staff, she remained an ad-hoc employee without job security, pension benefits or certainty about tomorrow.
“Each month, we lived with fear,” she said quietly.
“Nobody knew whose name would disappear from the salary list next.”
For over a decade, Christiana Gabriel survived on temporary appointments and irregular income while raising her children under harsh economic conditions.
Today, her story has changed. Under Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s administration, Gabriel is among the thousands of ad-hoc workers recently absorbed into permanent employment across Plateau State-owned tertiary institutions and ministries. The workers were drawn from Plateau State Polytechnic, Barkin Ladi, College of Education Gindiri, College of Health Technology Zawan, College of Health Technology Pankshin and different ministries in the state.
For Gabriel, the appointment letter represented dignity, stability and hope.
“That day, I went home and cried,” she said. “It felt like my life finally started.”
Years of uncertainty
For years, Plateau State tertiary institutions operated under what many described as a crippling employment embargo dating back to 2007. Because of staff shortages, institutions relied heavily on temporary, casual and part-time workers to keep academic and administrative activities running.
Many of the workers reportedly earned between ₦6,000 and ₦15,000 monthly despite working full-time for years. Some spent between 10 and 23 years without regularisation.
Mr Luka Pam, one of the newly regularised workers, said the experience affected workers emotionally and financially.
“You work every day, but people still call you casual staff,” he said, puzzled.
“You cannot plan your future because you are unsure whether the job will still exist tomorrow.”
According to him, many workers remained in the system simply because there were no alternatives.
“We were doing government work but living like unemployed people,” he added.
For Christiana Gabriel, survival was often difficult. “There were times my children were sent home from school because I could not pay fees,” she recalled.
“Sometimes transport money to work became a problem, but I still kept coming because I believed things would change.”
After assuming office in 2023, Governor Caleb Mutfwang reviewed employment practices in state-owned tertiary institutions and ministries and discovered what officials described as irregular recruitment exercises that excluded long-serving ad-hoc workers.
The administration suspended previous recruitment processes and later introduced what government officials called a transparent and merit-based review exercise. The outcome was the formal absorption of over a thousand workers into permanent service.
Governor Mutfwang described the prolonged casualisation of workers as “immoral, ungodly and unjust,” insisting that people who had sustained institutions for years deserved dignity and stability.
Beyond permanent appointments, the governor also approved compensation for many of the workers to reflect years spent earning poor wages. Labour groups and affected workers welcomed the decision, describing it as long overdue.
For Luka Pam, the impact was immediate.
“My wife could not believe it when I brought the appointment letter home,” he said.
“Now we can finally think properly about our future.”
Beyond employment figures
While government officials often speak about employment reforms in numbers, the real impact is seen inside homes where financial pressure has reduced.
For many families, permanent employment now means access to pensions, promotion opportunities, regular salaries, improved healthcare and better education for children.
Mrs Gabriel still keeps her employment letter carefully at home.
“Sometimes I still look at it because after waiting for so many years, it feels unreal,” she said.
Her eldest son, now in secondary school, recently told her he wants to become a lecturer someday.
“Before now, I worried constantly about my children’s future,” she said.
“Now I have hope.”
Despite the recent reforms, unemployment remains one of Plateau State’s biggest challenges. Across Jos and other local government areas, thousands of graduates still search daily for opportunities.
Nigeria’s unemployment and underemployment crisis continues to affect millions of young people nationwide, with rising inflation and living costs worsening economic hardship for families.
Nanman Lar, a graduate searching for work in Jos, said government efforts should go beyond regularising existing workers.
“We appreciate what the government has done,” he said. “But many young people are still sitting at home without jobs.”
Plateau must expand opportunities in agriculture, technology, mining and entrepreneurship to absorb growing numbers of unemployed youths. The recent reforms in tertiary institutions and ministries are only the beginning of what should become broader public and private sector job creation initiatives.
More than politics
Residents said the employment reforms reflect a people-focused style of leadership aimed at correcting years of neglect. However, more still needs to be done to tackle wider unemployment across the state.
But for workers like Christiana Gabriel, the issue goes beyond politics or policy debates.
“This is not about politics for me,” she said.
“This job changed my life.”
As the afternoon sun faded outside her office building in Jos, she adjusted the identity card hanging proudly around her neck before returning to work — no longer as temporary staff, but as a recognised government employee after years of waiting.