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• Benue workers get salaries since Nov 22, sing new song
From Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi
On June 25, 2023, Benue State was literally thrown into frenzy. The unusual happened after civil servants had lost hope of being paid their salaries. The narrative changed for the best that day.
The state capital, Makurdi, erupted in joy as Governor Hyacinth Alia ordered the payments to all categories of workers. This immediately brought smiles to homes. Songs rent the air as bank alerts kept coming in different ringing tones.
Mary Agbo works with one of the ministries in Makurdi. The last time she received her salary was in November 2022. She had waited each month end with baited breathe for payment. But her hope kept crashing.
Words are not enough to describe the mood of the family when Debby Adoka, another government staff, got her alert on June 25, 2023. “It was like a miracle,” she told Daily Sun: “I was so elated that tears of joy flowed down from my eyes.
“This is a God-sent man to the people of Benue State. Aside of the five month arrears the past governor owed workers in 2017, the last time we received salary was in November, 2022. It has been hell.
“I was borrowing to feed my family, borrowing for everything I did. I borrowed so much money from the people around me that I became ashamed to borrow again. Then, I resorted to giving out my property, one by one as collateral.
“I went to lease a land from a neighbouring community in Makurdi, where I planted some crops for alternative source of food. Sometimes, we contributed money, sent someone to a bush market to help us buy foodstuffs since they were cheaper there.
“Don’t even mention the school fees because we are owing. It has run into some terms. It was not easy, but thank God, the waiting game is over. I’m only appealing to the governor not to default. Let him continue like this and we will stand by him.
“I am also praying that he remembers to settle the arrears incurred by the immediate past administration.”
For Brenda Teryila, a mother and teacher: “People went into real-time debt. My family, in all sincerity, was not an exception. We had to find alternative sources of income or would die.
“My husband and I delved into farming. Luckily, we came from neighbouring Tarka Local Government. Every weekend, we went home to work in the farms. That supported us a lot in those difficult days.
“As a teacher, I organised lessons and offered home service lessons to interested wealthy parents as well. I went into small consultancy.
“Today, I told my husband how much we owed for food and fees and he screamed hell. We survived by the grace of God.
“The farming helped too. We planted cassava, water yam, sweet potatoes and other things. They really helped in providing food for the family to survive.”
Peter Unenger was already used to multiple sources of incomes: “I worked and farmed at the same time. Some of the grains I stored, I sold them to feed my family and paid their school fees. It wasn’t enough though but it was better than nothing.
“But I won’t lie to you, a lot of families were overstretched and some even left town. I have a friend who besides his family, was taking care of his relatives quartered in IDP camp.
“As the torture of unpaid salaries lingered, he broke down at some point. He became frustrated. He was often quarrelling with his wife on roughly every topic under the sky.
“When she asked him for money to buy food, he would just flare up. His kids were chased out of school many times because he was unable to pay their fees.
“Sometimes, because of frustration and lack, he would leave home early and would not be back for days. But after I advised him, he bought a motorcycle and now, uses it for business after work. That was how he regained his sanity.
“It wasn’t easy. If Governor Alia will sustain the payment of salaries, like he has started, things will surely improve for us all.”
A teacher who didn’t want to be named told Daily Sun: “I was practically collecting money for food and other items from my family members. It was very tough and then I have some good neighbours too.
“When I had to borrow money, some of them were good enough to borrow me some money so that we could settle some issues. I am only praying that our new governor will sustain what he has started, pay us as at when due so that I can pay them back all I have borrowed without excuses.”
A shop owner, Cajethan Chinedu, deals in provisions. She confessed that unpaid debts negatively affected their businesses and generally slowed down traffic in their industry: “Customers will come crying like they want to die, promising to pay in few days time. But the moment you lend them money, they disappear.”
But the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), wondered why was only paying “just a month salary instead of clearing the arrears like he had pledged.” Its state Publicity Secretary, Bemgba Iortyom, charged Alia to use “the slush funds at his disposal to clear salaries and pension arrears as he had promised during the 2023 campaigns.
“Our party is aware that the governor, who is still running a government without a cabinet, has received into the state’s treasury tens of billions of naira from the monthly federal statutory allocation as well from stamp duty and debt swap accruals.
“Those are accruals, which the immediate past administration of Samuel Ortom did fulfil all due diligence requirements for accessing, with offsetting of the workers’ salaries and pensions arrears earmarked as priority expenditure from same.
“We recall that the governor had promised to clear salary arrears being owed workers and the understanding was reached that he would pay four months at a go.
“We urge Governor Alia to maintain same expenditure priority with those funds as was envisaged by his predecessor who worked to secure them, by keeping true to the understanding of paying four months arrears to workers in of June.
“With the volume of funds currently at his disposal, Governor Alia will have no reason for not keeping to this understanding in the interest of the state and her people, particularly the workers.”
