OYO State governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde has announced payment of N25,000.00 for workers and N15,000.00 for pensioners as wage awards in the state.
The governor also assured that workers would start receiving payment alerts from their respective banks before the week runs out.
He said the payment would be for six months at an additional N2.2 billion to the wage bill of the state.
Makinde disclosed the company of labour leaders including Comrade Kayode Martins (NLC), Comrade Bosun Olabiyi (TUC), Comrade Olaonipekun Oluwaseun (JNC Public Sector) while addressing workers at the entrance of the Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Ibadan.
Other government functionaries including, Special Adviser (Labour Matters), Comrade Adebayo Titilola-Sodo, the Executive Assistant to the governor, Reverend Idowu Ogedengbe among others also accompanied the governor during the address. The workers had stormed the Governor’s Office as part of a decision taken during a Congress on Monday to ensure the issue is resolved once and for all.
Recall that the workers had last month (October) threatened to embark on an indefinite strike should the government fail to meet their demands for wage increase following the announcement of the federal government wage award of thirty-five thousand naira (N35,000).
Dissatisfied with the announcement by the governor for payment of wage awards to take effect from October, the workers who spoke in loud voices demanded that the payment be backdated to September.
He added that the wage award has been designed to last for six months through which the state government would have been able to work out a sustainable package for civil servants in the state.
While calling on the protesting workers to show more understanding, Makinde explained that he understood that the economy was biting hard on household finances due to fuel subsidy removal and the naira-dollar exchange rate.
He said the current economic situation calls for deeper partnership and cooperation between government and workers rather than having the “we against them’ disposition stressing that the present economic situation would pass with collective efforts.
“We’re talking with your leaders, there are one or two things I want to point out and it should be concerning to us in Oyo state. How come that Lagos that is 120km away, their IGR is 60 billion naira and we’re struggling between N3.5 and N3.8 billion, it was N1.8 billion when we came in during our first tenure.”
“So, we must decide if we want to work together to improve the economy of Oyo state. If we provided economic prosperity in Oyo state it would reach everybody.” Makinde said
Addressing Governor’s Office Correspondents immediately after speaking with the workers, Governor Makinde said the 2.2 billion naira would have a direct impact on the state’s finances but expressed determination to make his promise to the workers come to fruition.
He noted that it would further stretch the state government capacity but it was a situation that must be addressed which was why his government made the wage award announcement reassuring that workers would start to get payment
“We all understand that it’s a challenging period for us as a nation and as a state, you have to look at your pocket to see what we can do, so for every Pensioner in the state, we will give them fifteen thousand naira monthly for the next six months and I guarantee it is starting from October, but they’re asking we start by September and I told them I don’t know if we had enough money. And for workers, we’re doing twenty-five thousand naira to cushion the effects of these economic challenges that we’re all going through.” Makinde added.
Earlier, the Chairman, Oyo state chapter of Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Kayode Martins told journalists that the Governor’s gesture should put to an end all agitations for wage awards.
Eighteen-Eleven Media