Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Nasarawa State, Mr. Mamman Alakayi has said that Governor Akwai Doma should be allowed to negotiate the N18, 000 minimum wage with the workers. He argued that since what accrues to the state is only comparable to states like Ekiti and Ebonyi.
The commissioner, who represented the governor at the 2010 NUJ, Kaduna Press Week also stated that while others are receiving N18 billion, in a month, the state collects only N2.5 billion. He said this makes it impossible for the state to pay workers salary.
He explained that the civil service re-organization in the state was not meant to witch-hunt the civil servants, “rather, it is intended to bring the civil service back to its lost glory.” He spoke more. Excerpts:
The journey so far
We have credibly touched the lives of our people. One is security, we also have education, rural development, water supply, health, urban development, civil service re-organization, solid mineral exportation housing and cultural re-orientation. Aach of these areas, I have always enjoined our colleagues that, each time we tell you that we have done this much in agriculture, you should endeavor to take the pains. We are there to assist you, take you to go and see these projects physically.
Sometime this year, Governor of Kaduna State, Mr. Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, was the special guest of honour at one of our agricultural progarmmes launched in Akwanga Local Government area. It was a programme packaged under the theme “Koshi Agricultural Scheme.” It is a five-year programme. It is a scheme that we grant soft loans to farmers and other farm inputs like fertilizer, herbicide, and insecticides to enable farmers concentrate more on the land.
Today the entire country is talking about oil. Before the discovery of oil, Nigeria’s main stream was agriculture. Everybody has left that aspect and we are even importing food. We decided to come up with the programme on agriculture. That is why you hear so much about Nasarawa State in the area of agriculture, through the Koshi Agricultural Scheme.
Civil service re-organization
Re-organization of the civil service does not necessarily mean ghost workers. The re-organization means bringing the civil service to the level of its lost glory. Before we came in, the structures were not in place. The governor restructured the ministry like my ministry for instance. Before now, it used to be called Ministry of Information and Internal Affairs. Because of his firm belief in reorientation, it was renamed Ministry of Information and Orientation.
The civil servants have also embraced the glory of training and retraining. The training is both local and abroad. Seminars and workshops have been organized, so as to upgrade their knowledge. These are all parts of the re-organization. It is not necessary meant to witch-hunt the civil servants. We do not have any ghost worker in our state.
N18,000 minimum wage
We as journalists are supposed to tell the country and the whole world that what the Minister of State for Information was asking for is true federalism. If you go to America for instance, the salary that federal civil servant is taking in Washington D.C is not the same salary that a civil servant is asking for in California. If you are living in a federal system, you pay the salary allowed by your status that is what I am saying.
We also believe that we don’t take the same revenue. What Bayelsa, Rivers or Cross River states are collecting in a month is what Nasarawa collects in seven months. If you look at the table of revenue accruing to states, Nasarawa comes from the bottom comparable to only few states like Ekiti and Ebonyi.
While others are receiving N18 billion in a month, we are only taking N2.5 billion how do you pay salary? You allow states to negotiate with the workers how to pay their salaries and better their welfare.
Source:http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/dec/23/national-23-12-2010-005.htm
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