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My heart goes out to the civil servants and pensioners who are owed many months of salaries and allowances in the State. They are certainly going to mark this Eid-el- Kabir in hunger and lack. I also remember the burdened and sick, families beset by tragedy and the homeless in the State.
Even though, it appears these classes of people have been forsaken, I urge them not to lose hope. The spirit of the festival therefore calls on us all to proclaim and renew our hopes for a better governed state. Our sufferings and pains will soon end in Kogi State because after darkness comes sunshine.
This is a challenge to all citizens to always elect competent and compassionate leaders who have the political will to solve problems rather than leaders who forsake the suffering masses and flounder our collective patrimony and resources on frivolities.
In this challenging period of our economy, it is very unfortunate that workers and pensioners are the worst hit. However the situation couldn’t have been that bad if our political leaders especially state governor got his priorities right. There is a need to insist on transparency and accountability on this issue, otherwise most of the state governors would not use the bail-out for the purpose for which it was meant.
There are many states that are still owing workers and pensioners but Kogi State is about the worst. The state government is owing workers between nineteen and twenty months salary arrears. The state government has been hiding under a verification exercise to delete some workers names from the state payroll but these workers are not ghost workers. The so-called verification exercise was a scam, it was a ploy to reduce the state workforce. What is happening today in Kogi is a big threat to the survival of workers and pensioners. This is not only unpatriotic but very shameful.
There are several workers and pensioners who are still reeling under the excruciating pains of being owed several months of salaries and wages. The verification exercises has been deceptive, stressing that the governor had decided to visit the civil servants and pensioners with unnecessary bio-metrics to delay and deny the workers and retirees their entitlements.
Some people don’t have what it takes to be a governor since they do it for pride, power and money. If you are clueless on how to run a state better resign.
My heart really does goes out to these pensioners. Whenever I consider their plights, tears well up in my eyes. I wish I had relief materials to donate, but I am equally supplicating to God for my daily bread.
– Alfa Tijani, a social mediator, writes from Ajaka.
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