Some workers in public and civil service in Bayelsa State have turned
to begging to survive the hard economic realities in the state.
It was observed that some workers, in a bid to cope with the harsh
economic condition foisted on them by unpaid salaries, had devised different
means to beg in order to fulfil their financial obligations.
The PUNCH learnt that
the civil and public servants being owed about five months’ salaries by the
Governor Seriake Dickson-led administration could no longer meet their personal
and family obligations.
Many of them were said to be unable to pay their bills, children’s
school fees and service their accommodation expenses.
Due to their inability to pay transportation fares, most of them could
no longer attend to go to their work places and church activities while persons
who managed to go end up begging for fares to go back home.
Some of them said they were dying of hunger, adding that they no longer
went to work because of the lack of money for transport and feeding.
They recalled that Dickson had promised to promptly pay salaries of
workers, but wondered why the governor, who was no longer executing projects,
could not pay workers.
One of them, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of
victimisation, said he stopped going to work because the government had not
paid him since November 2015.
The source, who is a manager in the government owned Izon Ibe Community
Bank, confessed, “I work in the state-owned micro-finance bank, but since
November, I have not been paid. I can’t go to work because I need to look for
something to do to feed my family. It has been very tough. Surviving in Bayelsa
State has become so difficult.
“I wonder why an oil-producing state like Bayelsa cannot pay salaries.
We learnt that states like Ebonyi and Taraba, with one of the least
allocations, still pay salaries. But here, we are working in an oil-producing
state without salaries.”
Also, two ladies working for the state government were sighted on Imgbi
Road, on Wednesday, begging passers-by for N100 to go home after attending a
morning church programme in the area.
Though many people turned them down, they leapt up in joy when
eventually a Good Samaritan gave the duo N500 to go home.
It was, however, learnt that the governor recently approved the payment
of a month’s salary for the civil servants, but most of them had no balance
left in the accounts after their banks deducted arrears of unpaid loans.
A food vendor, who identified herself simply as Emilia, said the
hardship had affected her so much that most of her customers no longer
patronised her.
She said, “Before, my small shop used to bubble with patronage. I would
finish selling before 9pm every day.
“But everything has changed. I have reduced the quantity I cook, yet I
can’t finish selling my food even up to 12am. I carry them home. I am even
considering closing my shop.”
However, most residents have blamed the development on the leadership
style of Dickson, saying he stifled the economy on assuming office as the
governor for the second term.
An angry resident, identified simply as Emmanuel, wondered why the
government was claiming that the state is poor when Dickson said he opened a
dedicated account “where he saved for the rainy day.”
“The rain is now falling. People expected the governor to start using
the savings of the state in paying salaries and rejuvenating the economy.
Bayelsa is not supposed to be suffering. It is supposed to be a model state.”
Commenting on the situation, the Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress,
Bayelsa State, Mr. Ndiomu George-Diepre, said the Congress was disenchanted
with the development.
Though he appreciated the economic situation in the country, he,
however, appealed to Dickson to pay the workers so that they could meet
their personal and family obligations.
George-Diepre said, “The Congress as usual is still on the struggle.
Right now, we are on the air, calling on the government to pay the unpaid
salaries.
“While we understand the economic situation in the country and how it
also affects the states, we are still asking that the government should pay all
the outstanding salaries of workers, particularly the pensioners and of course,
the local government workers.
“There are also a lot of scams and ghost workers suspected in those
areas, and the governor is saying he wants to do verification and after
that they will pay. But the Labour is saying that they should be paid because
they have suffered for a long time.”
However, a top official in the Governor’s office said Bayelsa State was
not the only state that was owing salaries, rationalising that some states were
owing between seven and eight months.
The official, who did not want his name mentioned, said, “So, why
is Bayelsa State so peculiar that journalists want to do a report on it?
“The Federal Government is owing. You heard the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation saying the FG is owing N6bn every month. Is that
not scandalous for a nation like Nigeria? Is it not more news worthy than
workers resorting to begging? Check the fact, we are owing just three months.”
Source: THE PUNCH
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