The organised labour has told governors who are finding it difficult to pay workers’ salaries to resign from their positions and stop giving excuses. This is against the backdrop of lamentation by Governor of Niger State, Alhaji Abubakar Bello, that he cannot pay workers’ salaries due to the current economic hardship in the country.
“We have laid the cards on the table; we are not hiding anything. We are very transparent as much as we can, but the truth of the matter is that I cannot give what we don’t have. I wish I had; personally if I had, I would have paid salaries from my pocket, but I can’t.” Bello had said on Wednesday after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
No fewer than 15 states including Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Oyo, Kogi, Benue, Delta, Bayelsa, Plateau, Taraba, and Imo owe public servants arrears of salaries. Public servants in Ondo and Ekiti are currently on strike.
But, President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Boboi Kaigama, asked any governor who cannot pay workers’ salaries to resign from office immediately as the Congress was prepared to make their states ungovernable over failure to pay salaries. Speaking in Abuja yesterday at the opening of 10th Delegates Conference of TUC, Kaigama expressed concerns that some governors recently sought $3.2 billion from the World Bank after recently collecting bailouts from the Federal Government.
He gave assurance that the Congress would not be cowed by anybody, no matter how highly placed, saying, “we are determined to continue to fight for the emancipation of workers and the masses of our great country.”
His words: “It is a major cause for concern that some of our governors recently sought $3.2 billion from the World Bank after recently collecting bailouts from the Federal Government. We are surprised at their behaviour, especially as they claim to be on the side of the masses and workers.
“Although the law requires that workers be paid as and when due, several state governments owe as much as seven, eight and even nine months’ salaries of their workers, thus disobeying the law that they swore to obey to the letter.
“It is our candid position that any governor who cannot pay should resign immediately lest we make his state ungovernable for him. Is it not an irony for a governor who spends over N18,000 per month to fend for his dog to claim that he cannot pay same to his worker?
“The governors should realise that governance is about thinking out of the box, and the test of our progress as a country is not whether they add more to their personal abundance, but whether they provide effectively for the have-nots in the society. “The fact of the matter is that most of our governors are wicked to say the least.
Otherwise they will not be behaving in a reckless manner where they refuse to pay salaries whereas their own families are enjoying the commonwealth of the people recklessly in foreign lands.”
He, however, lamented that intrigues in the country have not only run down the economy, but have also run down lives, marriages and education. He noted that it has also increased the number of prostitutes and miscreants, accentuated corruption and encouraged exploitative tendencies of multinationals and others.
“There is dearth of foreign exchange for companies to import raw materials, whereas our politicians no longer spend our naira. In our quest for change, we now have wolves in sheep’s clothing, and motion without movement in our affairs,” he said. He also expressed hope in the recovery of the nation’s economy despite the enormity of the struggles and challenges that lie ahead.
“Comrades, I see hope through your eyes. I equally see determination and courage, the basic ingredients we need to overcome the enormous struggles that lie ahead. Presently, the economy of the country is in a very bad shape. “We are in a period of stagflation with its attendant slow economic growth, high unemployment and rising prices.
The country’s currency, the naira, is in a free fall. “There is insecurity posed by Boko Haram insurgents, problem of herdsmen and Niger Delta militants and a host of other ills bedevilling the country.
In spite of all these challenges, however, we cannot afford to give up the struggle. “Fortunately, what I see in your eyes is hope coupled with signals of a brighter future for our unborn generations. We will surely get there,” Kaigama said.
