The fact that workers’ salaries have not been paid for many months in Kogi State is troubling. Workers across the state are living in pathetic and inhuman conditions which can ultimately lead them to their early graves.
Kogi people are not unaware of the present socioeconomic challenges in the country. However, in my estimation, this should not be an acceptable reason for not paying workers and pensioners for six months.
The non-payment of salaries and pensions for months on end constitutes a crime against the workers, pensioners and their families whose lives and obligations to man and God and sense of self-worth have been put in jeopardy.
The multiplier effects of earned but unpaid wages are real. The workers suffer, their immediate family and dependents suffer, and society is worse off for harbouring stress-filled human beings who are not proud to call themselves citizens. Worse still, people’s lifespan is gradually shortened.
The Yahaya Bello administration should therefore do all it can to ameliorate the ordeal of the workers. With the way state is currently structured, there is no economy outside of the civil service. If civil servants, teachers and the likes are not paid, nothing else happens.
– Balogun Funsho,
Kabba, Kogi State.
