Civil servants
in Oyo, Osun, Cross River, Rivers, Abia, Benue, Plateau and Bauchi states have
adopted different strategies to survive months of unpaid salaries in their
states.
The strategies
include begging for money from friends and relatives, securing loans from
different sources and doing menial jobs to survive.
Some state
governments, especially those led by the opposition All Progressives Congress
and the Federal Government have been trading blame over the unpaid salaries of
workers.
While the states
attributed the development to the drop in federal allocations to them, the
Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, accused them of not
prioritising salary payments.
In Oyo State,
for instance, where the government has not paid salaries for three months, some
civil servants skip their lunch daily.
A few others, it
was gathered, however report to their duty posts with garri and
groundnuts which serve as their lunch.
One of them told
The PUNCH at the state secretariat in Ibadan that the
state government gave them reasons for the non-payment
of their salaries.
He said, “My
colleagues are not happy because of the situation. Some of them now
skip lunch break because they have no means to observe it.
“I have seen
some junior workers taking garri and groundnuts as lunch. We have been
told that dwindling allocation from the Federal Government was
responsible for the salary delay. We hope for a change when (Muhammadu) Buhari
takes over.”
A vice-principal
in one of the secondary schools in Ibadan also told one of our
correspondents that it had become a habit for some teachers to ask
him for money every day.
He said, “My
teachers come to me for money every day but I don’t have enough to give to
them. I rely on my wife’s business to keep my home running.I have three
children in tertiary institutions and one of them is now at home.
“We only hope
that the Federal Government will sort out whatever the problem is and increase
what the states get as allocations.”
A secondary
school teacher also lamented the development, saying
that some of her colleagues who have cars no longer drive them to
school.
She said, “Those
of us who do not have cars used to rely on our senior
colleagues who have to take us to our nearest bus stops. But now,
we walk to the bus stops because they no longer
bring their cars to school due to the high cost of fuel.”
A non-teaching
staff in one of the schools in the city, said he had resorted to taking
loans from a cooperative society which he is a member.
“I took a loan
from my cooperative society for the repair of my roof but when salaries did not
come, I started spending it on transport to my office.”
The non-payment
of salaries by the Osun State Government for the past six months has also
forced many civil servants into ‘forced fasting’ and selling
jewellery as well as household appliances.
Our
correspondent in the state gathered that some of the workers who had part time
business were now paying more attention to them than before.
Some of the
workers also do not go to work more than twice or three times in a week due to
lack of funds.
A local
government worker, who identified herself simply as Kemi, said, “We
have a roster in my office. We rotate it among ourselves, some would go on
Mondays and others on Tuesdays. I don’t go to the office more than
once in a week because of lack of transport fare.”
The case of
Cross River State workers is no less different. Some of them, who
are owed between two and six months’ salaries, told The PUNCH that
apart from getting loans from private individuals and financial institutions,
they beg for foodstuffs from their relatives and friends.
A director in
the state Ministry of Information, said, “It is different strokes for different
folks. Some people get support from their relatives and the well-to-do who
understand their plight. Others borrow to make ends meet, especially to pay the
school fees of their children and wards.
“For instance,
the state government is guaranteeing soft loans from one of the new generation
banks in the state. We apply for the loans and the government guarantees them.”
Also, the
chairman of the state University of Science and Technology branch
of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Steve Ochang, said
lecturers were given soft loans to survive the almost
six months of unpaid wages.
A worker with
the state Ministry of Education, who asked not to be named, said, “They have
turned us to beggars. We have not been paid for months now and this
has made some of us to be begging for food items. This government has not been
treating us well. They are making us to lose our dignity as breadwinners of our
families.”
The Chairman of
the state Trade Union Congress, Clarkson Otu, said it was
regrettable that the outgoing Liyel Imoke administration did not keep to
its promise of paying all outstanding salaries on May 5.
He said, “Part
of our agreement was that government would pay the March salareis on or before
May 5. The governor promised to do all within his power not to leave any wage
unpaid. He said this during the Workers’ Day on May 1.
“Unfortunately,
he has not kept to his promise. How can he now meet up all the payments before
May 29? We will ensure they feel our anger if they fail to pay us our
accumulated wages.”
Otu also
confirmed that many civil servants had become debtors following the
development.
In Plateau
State, striking civil servants said that their survival had been at the mercy
of God.
It was gathered
that some of them had taken to menial jobs to raise
money to feed their families while some had turned their children and wards to
hawkers.
One of the
workers said, I work in the Ministry of Health but it has not been easy for
many of us who are not professionals to survive because we are being owed for
many months. Some of us have taken to doing menial work like cleaning the homes
of some rich people in order to maintain our families. But I help my big
friends to do laundry work every weekend in order to raise money.”
The Chairman of
the state chapter of the NLC, Jibrin Bancir, said that some of them
had borrowed beyond their limits from different sources.
He said, “We are
in the hands God. It is not true that government is making efforts to
pay. In the last six months, they have been going to Federation
Account Allocation Committee meetings and they have not paid for
even one month salary. They have defaulted six months in a row.”
Some workers in
Abia State parastatals also expressed displeasure over their unpaid
wages and appealed to the outgoing Theodore Orji government for
quick intervention.
An employee of
the state Universal Basic Education Board in Umuahia, who said they
had not been paid for the past six months, stated that they had been surviving
“by the grace of God.”
He said he had
to start up a “small business centre where I do some photocopying works to keep
body and soul together.’’
Similarly,
another worker with the ASUBEB said she had been
“living on credit.”
She said, “I
have a huge debt and more than four members of my colleagues have died because
they could no longer cope.”
When contacted,
the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Anthony Agbazuere, said
the government had always rationalised its resources in such a way
that no civil servant in the Ministries was being owed.
He however
pleaded with workers in the parastatals to exercise a little patience as their
salary arrears would be paid as soon as the state’s revenue improved.
A civil servant
in Benue State who identified himself simply as Mr. Agber said the state
government only paid workers in the state in January this year.
Agber, who
described the non-payment of salaries as unprecedented, said many workers had
resorted to part-time jobs to make ends meet.
He said, “We
started collecting half of our initial salaries; and it got worse this year as
we have not been receiving other entitlements.
A teacher with
the State Universal Basic Education Board in Makurdi, who identified himself as
Akpen Peter, said, “This year, we have not received any salary. The government
is also owing us the salary of May last year. We have been doing our work. We
would have protested but this has not proved to be a good strategy. We are
hoping and praying that the incoming government would address our plight.”
In Rivers State,
a worker, who identified herself as Happiness, said she was being owed eight
months salary arrears.
Happiness,
an assistant to a top state government functionary, explained that she tried
selling clothes to make ends meet.
“It has not been
easy because even my clothes business has collapsed because civil servants, who
are mostly my customers could not pay me. The government is owing them
two-month salaries.”
But Mr.
Christian Naku, who is a teacher in one of the state-owned model schools, said
teacher were being owed two months salaries.
She added that
she had been relying on her brothers and other relatives in the private sector
to survive.
In Bauchi State,
civil servants described as demoralising, the failure of
the government to pay them.
They wondered
why the government claimed not to have money when
it was collecting its allocations from the federal account
regularly.
A civil servant
with the state Ministry of Information, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity, said, “It is wrong for the state government not to have paid us.
“Sincerely,
the situation is too difficult for us to bear because we usually get our
salaries before the end of every month but there are no signs now that we will
be paid soon.
“This is strange
to us; we don’t know what is happening. We can hardly survive.”
He called on
“Governor Isa Yuguda to please pay us our April salaries and the arrears of our
January salaries before the end of his tenure.”
He explained
that the government “divided our January salaries into
10 parts and has so far paid us in only two instalments.”
A secondary
school teacher, who decried the situation, said, “We
are not finding things easy because we can barely feed our families.
“In fact, I have
taken my family to the village for now until the situation becomes better. I
can’t cope with the high cost of living in the town.
“How
much do the entire teachers in the state earn that they can’t pay?
What are they doing with our money?
Another
teacher said he had resorted to borrowing money from people close
to him.
“I’ve been
expecting salaries and since they are not forthcoming, I have to go to business
people that I know to lend me money,” he said.
The
NLC in the state said it had issued an ultimatum to the
government to pay the workers on Tuesday (today).
Its
chairman, Hashimu Gital, said, “Workers deserve to be paid their
salaries and the government has up to Tuesday (today) to do so, otherwise, we
will be left with no choice but to withdraw our services.
“We will embark
on an indefinite strike until all workers in the state are paid their salaries
including the 2, 700 SUBEB teachers who were disengaged and re-engaged. Their
nine-month salaries must be paid.”
In Edo State
where some employees, under the Coalition of Unions of State-owned
Tertiary Institutions and the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria are presently on
strike, the government said on Monday that it was “up-to-date” in
salary payments.
The state
Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Louis Odion, in a statement made
available to one of our correspondents on Monday, described
a report which listed Edo as one of the states owing
its workers as “shocking, misleading and mischievous.”
Odion’s
statement read, “We read with deep shock, claims that the government of Edo
State owes workers five months salary arrears. Nothing could be more misleading
and mischievous.
“For the
records, Edo State Government does not owe workers salary arrears, as the
government has fully discharged its obligations. As a matter of state policy,
since 2008, pensioners receive their pay first, followed by workers
who get paid not later than the 25th of every month. The policy has not
changed.”
Meanwhile, the
Ekiti State Government has said it will begin the verification of its 48,977
workers on Tuesday (today).
It said the
exercise would end on Monday next week after which the payment of April
salaries would begin on Wednesday.
The Special
Assistant to the State governor on Public Communications and New Media, Lere
Olayinka, made this known in a statement on Sunday.
Olayinka
explained that the verification was aimed at saving about
N500m being lost to ghost workers monthly through the e-payment
system.
The statement
read in part, “Those insinuating that the verification was meant to delay
payment of April salaries are just playing cheap politics because the
arrangement is such that the moment the verification is concluded on a daily
basis, salaries of those cleared would be paid.
“The implication
of this is that those verified on Tuesday, May 12 will receive their April
salaries on Wednesday, May 13 while those verified on Wednesday will get paid
on Thursday. By Friday, May 14, 70 per cent of the workers would have received
their April salaries.
“From Tuesday to
Wednesday, staff of core Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Health
Management Board and six local councils will be verified at designated venues.
Buhari
may inherit N50bn salaries, allowances
Meanwhile, the
Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria has called on
President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure that “all outstanding
salaries and allowances owed public servants are settled before
his exit on May 29, 2015.”
The association,
in a statement titled “Pay Outstanding Workers Salaries/Allowances,” faulted
the claim by Okonjo-Iweala that the government was not owing its
workers.
Although
the ASCSN statement did not contain the amount owed the workers, The
PUNCH gathered exclusively from the association’s
Secretary-General, Alade Lawal, that it was in the range of N50bn.
The ASCSN said
the demand for the payment was to allow the incoming administration to start on
a clean slate in terms of payment of staff emoluments.
Some of the
allowances and arrears were inherited from successive governments and have not
been settled since 2007.
For example, the
salaries of some workers in federal ministries, departments and
agencies for the months of July, August, September and October 2013
have not been paid because their names were omitted on the payrolls.
“In the Federal
Ministry of Education alone, the arrears of allowances are running close to
N2bn while that of Ministry of Defence are close to N1bn,” the association
said.
The ASCSN said,
“We urge Mr. President to do the needful by ordering thorough investigation
with a view to paying all outstanding salaries and allowances to the affected
officers before he leaves office on May 29, 2015.
“This will not
only allow the incoming administration start on a clean slate in terms of
payment of staff emoluments but also further boost the image of Mr. President
as a statesman.
“The outstanding
allowances owed thousands of public servants include promotion arrears since
2007 to date, first 28 days in lieu of hotel accommodation, Duty Tour
Allowance, mandatory training allowance organised by the Office of the Head of
Service of the Federation in 2010, burial expenses and repatriation allowance.
“We believe that
if Mr. President can pay these outstanding legitimate salaries and allowances
to thousands of public servants, he would not only endear himself to the public
service employees but also leave his footprints on the sands of time. If he
leaves office without paying, public servants will surely have a different
impression of him.”
NLC
dispatches task force to states
The NLC has
however dispatched members of its task force to states to ascertain
the number of states owing workers.
Its General
Secretary, Peter Ozo-Esan, told one of our
correspondents on Monday that the members of the task force
entrusted with the responsibility of resolving the issue of
outstanding salaries were sent out on
Monday.
Ozo-Esan
said the NLC would decide the next line of action after getting
reports from the members in the states.
He said that the
National Administrative Council set up a task force entrusted with the
responsibility of looking into the payment of workers’ salaries in
the states in each of the six geopolitical zones.
The NLC
chief said, “Several teams have been dispatched to the states to
verify those that are owing. Until we get feedback from the team members, we
cannot give you the states that are owing.
“We don’t
speculate on issues like this and that is why we are saying that we should hold
on briefly for the team members to do their work and give us feedback.
“It is after the
teams have done their work and submitted their reports that the NLC would
decide on the next line of action.”
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