NLC to Kwara Govt, LGs: Pay your workers

...as teachers threaten strike

The Chairman, Kwara State Branch of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Yekini Agunbiade, has appealed to the state, Local Governments, agencies and parastatals to ensure prompt payment of workers’ salaries.

Agunbiade noted that while the state government owes only May salary, some local governments and government agencies are yet to pay about four months salaries.

The Chairman, who made the appeal while speaking with National Pilot in Ilorin, on Monday, observed that prompt salary payment becomes imperative most especially in the fasting period.

“The government owes the civil servants, May salaries but the Local Government workers are being owned four months and some one month and while the SUBEB workers are being owned one month," Agunbiade explained.

The NLC chair said the labour leaders met the governor over unpaid salaries, but the governor gave two options as to how the salaries would be paid, but the council rejected it.

Agunbiade explained: “The Governor called us on this issue of unpaid salaries. The last salary we received was in April during election period. So, the labour leaders agitated that why is it that the government failed to pay salaries after election.

''We asked whether the last salary was paid because of the election. But, when the governor called us, he explained that the government borrowed money to pay April salary. He also explained that when May allocation came, salaries of all workers could not be accommodated. Only pensioners and judicial workers were paid from the allocation as others could not be accommodated.

“The governor gave us two options; maybe he should pay other civil servants from this month allocation or whether the remaining money should be spread on all civil servants on whatever percentage it covers.

“When we met our members through various unions NLC, TUC and others, on the options given by the governor, we all took resolutions. One of the resolutions was that the council thanks the State Government for prompt payment of our salaries uptill April, 2015, but they now agreed that they didn’t accept the options given by the governor.

''They rather advised the state government to devise means of paying the salaries as being done in the past by ensuring payment of all workers’ salaries. We have submitted our report to the head of service.”

He, however, urged the government to ensure payment of outstanding May salary including that of June and as well ensures LGs and agencies owing up to four months salaries, pay accordingly.

Meanwhile, some teachers in public schools in Kwara State yesterday said they may start boycotting classes if the two months salaries owed them were not paid.

The teachers, who spoke with newsmen in separate interviews across the state, expressed worry at the development.

In Kosubosu, headquarters of Baruten Local Government Area, the affected teachers described their current situation as “life threatening.’’

They urged government at both the state and federal level to intervene in order to ameliorate their plight.

A teacher, Mr Ismail Issa, berated the state government over the non-payment of their salaries, saying that it was unfair in its disposition to teachers’ welfare.

Issa said the situation may degenerate further if attention was not immediately focused on sourcing funds to pay workers. He added that teachers might start to boycott classes in order to explore other sources of earning a livelihood.

Another teacher, Mrs Aminat Sabi, said that she had undergone a lot of hardship arising from non-payment of salaries.

Sabi also said that she could not meet her obligations as she had no other means of livelihood other than teaching.

Some teachers, who spoke with newsmen at Omu-Aran, the headquarters of Irepodun Local Government Area, on the condition of anonymity, also expressed worry over the non – payment of their salaries.

They said they were unhappy at the unfolding scenario and described the development as unprecedented.

When contacted last night, the state's Chairman of the Nigerian Union Teachers (NUT), Comrade Musa Abubakar, said: “There is nothing of such. We are not aware of it.”

But, the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, attributed the development to the shortfall in allocation to the state and local governments from the Federation Account.

According to Akorede, there was a significant drop in federal allocation to Kwara in May, adding that the state suffered a shortfall amounting to N2.8 billion.

The governor’s aide added that the state government had been augmenting teachers’ salary with over N200 million monthly in the last one year.

He, however, expressed government’s determination to meet its obligation to the people of the state, including the workers.

#kwara