Jonathan Nwokpor
Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno has informed state employees that the state government will support any federal legislation on the minimum wage in the country.
Speaking at the 2024 International Workers Day celebration in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, the governor stated that the governorship elections on March 28, 2023, saw a great deal of support from civil servants. As such, he felt obligated to return the favor by carrying out some of his commitments to the civil servants.
According to him: “We will continue to work with you to ensure that we support our workers. If we have succeeded at all, it is because we have the cooperation of all of the workers here, and we will continue to do our best to make you happy.
“On the minimum wage, we will wait on the Federal Government and then we will key into it and come to terms with the minimum wage for Akwa Ibom civil servants.”
Additionally, the governor urged them to return to farming, emphasizing that the Bulk Purchase Agency he founded was only a temporary fix.
To allow workers to visit farms in order to boost food sufficiency, he proclaimed the first and third Fridays of each month as Farm Days.
“Bulk Purchase Agency is a short term solution to long term problem. The long term project is for everyone to go back to farm and to achieve that I am declaring the first and third Friday of every month as Farm Day in Akwa Ibom State to enable workers to go to farm starting from the governor, deputy and Exco members even the lawmakers, ” he said
The theme of the May Day celebration, “People first,” was very appropriate, according to Sunny James, state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), given the economic hardships that Nigerian workers face as a result of the removal of fuel subsidies, high exchange rates, and electricity subsidies, among other things, without a commensurate increase in workers’ salaries.
“NLC will join its voice with other stakeholders to tell government at all levels to review these policies suffocating our people,” he emphasized in his call for the federal government to reverse some of the unfavorable policies that have led to increases in the cost of food, transportation, and utility bills.
James praised Governor Umo Eno for his prompt attention to worker-related issues in the state, but he also urged him to establish a petroleum task force to break up the cartel among major marketers who were diverting fuel intended for the state, as well as to provide CNG buses for the workers to reduce their transportation costs.
Speaking also, Dominic Abang, the chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), encouraged the governor to address pension administration fraud and create a pensions board in order to institutionalize a pension framework.
Abang also asked for the extension of the social register to include more people for the distribution of free food items and the creation of a legal and administrative framework to ensure the long-term viability of the recently established Bulk Purchase Agency by the state government.
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