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,,,,Workers call for immediate implementation of wage award, others.
By Dawud Ahmed in Lokoja.
The Governor of kogi state,Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo,has commenced the state workers for their invaluable contributions to the prosperity and development of the state.
He showered the encomium on the workers on Wednesday in his speech during the 2024 Workers’Day celebration in Lokoja, the state capital.
According to the governor,the tireless nature and commitment of workers to excellence by the, through sweat and toil, had joined the engine of the state civil service to inspire his administration to improve their welfare beyond minimum expectation of the average worker..
He told the workers that his administration recognized the importance of fair wages and social security for every worker in the state, assuring that his government would implement all the policies that promote the rights and welfare of workers.
In this regard, Ododo added that his administration had commenced.governmet contribution to the formal sector enrollment into the state health insurance scheme in which various state workers would be enrolled, adding that the scheme would should be extended to local government areas.
“The state free education policy remains on course, and payment of senior secondary school examination has been paid by the state government. Our new template for the payment of bursary for the payment of students at the higher institutions has been adjudged to be a step higher in prosperity and accountabilitt.
“Our further palliative has since commenced and we shall not renege on this accord,” he said.
Governor Ododo,who said the state government recently gave out vehicles to enhance at effectively checking insecurity in the state among other efforts by his to peace.
He said that government would set up a committee, comprising of relevant top government officials, to look into the demands of workers and come out with meaningful results.
Earlier,At he Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, had called on the state government to immediately commence the implementation of the wage award totalling around N35,000.
The state chairman of union, Comrade Gabriel Amari, made the call in his speech at the occasion.
He said the adjustment not just fair but also urgent, given the relentless rise in the costs of goods and services which continuously erodes the purchasing power of workers.
Amari said that until the long -awaited negotiations for a new minimum wage were concluded.and put into effect, the wage award would serve as a temporary relief for workers grappling with the current economic hardships.
The labour leader emphasized the stark reality faced by the average Nigerian workers, including those in Kogi state, adding that the current N30,000 minimum wage had fallen short of meeting their basic needs in the prevailing market conditions.
The labour Chief in the state also noted that to worsen the plight of kogi state workers,they had to contend with the non-cash backing of promotiona and annual increments for many years, at the state and and local government levels.
He, therefore, called on the state government to address payment of weigh-in-allowance for workers in the media houses, restoration of the 22.5 % teachers’ perculia for teachers in primary and secondary schools in the state.
Otter demands of the labour ,he said,include; issuance of all outstanding promotion letter to deserving workers, payment of the 2018 20 percentage balance of the three-month percentage salary for state workers.
Amari also called for full implementation of COHES$ salary structure for all health workers, provision of affordable owner-ocvupier housing for workers and restoration of potable water supply to Lokoja metropolis.
The organised labour in the state, however, commended the state government for the recent appointment of the immediate past chairman of NLC in the state, Comrade Onuh Edoka as the Special Adviser on.labour matters.
“There is noticeable improvement in the salary of local government workers, which will significantly enhance their standard of living and stimulate economic activities in the rural areas.
“The launch of the Kogi state health insurance scheme comes at a critical time when healthcare costs are soaring and access is limited.
“The conduct of outstanding promotions exercise (2019 to 2022 and the timely distribution of promotion letters to workers have been met with elation and gratitude from the workforce, he said.
Our correspondent reports that highlights at the occasion were the match pass by various industrial unions in the state ,reviewed by the governor and presentation of a new Hilux vehicle to the Special Adviser on Labour matters, Com.Gabriel Amari, to enhance his official duty.
The Reporters recalls that May Day or International Workers’s is marked in honour of back in 1886 when it was marked to honour workers sentenced to death following the 1896 Haymarket Square Riot in Chicago, United States of America while Nigeria joined in celebrating.the global event in 1080.
