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- Says governors not paying salaries, pensions will soon see labour trouble
From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
The National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajearo, has rated the performance of Kebbi State Governor, Dr Nasir Idris, as ‘excellent’ in the areas of infrastructure facilities, road constructions, rehabilitation of schools, and security.
The Labour leader, who made this statement while briefing journalists in Birnin Kebbi during his visit to the Governor to celebrate his one-year anniversary alongside his executive, noted that the next step for the Governor is to embark on the industrialisation of the state.
According to him, “Exactly one year ago, we were here during the swearing-in of His Excellency, Comrade Governor. From here, we left for Abuja for an important and emergency issue. To assess the state’s performance in the last year, you have to know its position at the level of federal locations, and how much the state is collecting as revenue from the federal government.
“Let me tell you that if you compare Kebbi State with other states, you will realise that Kebbi State is at least at the bottom of the states receiving federal allocations. Despite this, Kebbi State has done excellently well in the last year.”
Ajearo noted that there are many Governors in the country who cannot even wind down the windows of their cars because of the way they are treating their citizens and workers, stressing that if they dare open their vehicle windows, they might be attacked.
“But in Kebbi State, it is not like that. Anywhere we go with the Governor, people are cheering him up, coming out to greet him. We have moved around the towns and states, and we have seen a lot of development, physical development with our naked eyes.
“We came here to avoid third-hand information. We have seen what the Governor has done in the education sector. We have seen what is happening in Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic Birnin Kebbi. We have seen a lot of secondary schools rehabilitated and fully furnished by this present administration.
“Yesterday, we investigated and found out that it is true that the State Governor is recruiting 2,000 qualified teachers. We have investigated the award of scholarships to students from Kebbi in tertiary institutions, including those students in foreign countries. That one is verifiable.
“We also investigated the issue of payment of WAEC and NECO fees and scholarships to pupils in the public primary schools. We have also seen the physical upliftment of Birnin Kebbi township with beautiful roundabouts with solar lights.”
Ajearo, who noted that when Governor Idris took over, he inherited a lot of abandoned projects, said, “But now, look at the State Secretariat which is now completed. It is going to be one of the best in the world. It has a good road network, and modern facilities which can accommodate a lot of workers.”
While speaking on the minimum wage, Ajearo said they were agitating for N658,000 for workers to protect them from suffering the same thing as Nigerian journalists.
He said: “I was at the Secretariat of NUJ and I was lamenting about the suffering of journalists in Nigeria. They are facing harassment every day, no insurance for them, and we don’t want all the workers in Nigeria to suffer the same fate.”
Ajearo, however, warned State Governors in the country who are not paying salaries, pensions, and gratuities to be prepared for labour’s trouble whenever they open their files.
“We are sending a signal to other State Governors to visit Kebbi and emulate Comrade Governor. He did not owe workers their salaries. He didn’t owe pensions and gratuities, and we know that he will be the first Governor to be paying the new minimum wage.
‘To other Governors who are not paying salaries, pensions, by the time we open their files, what is awaiting them in trouble,” he said.
