Fayose declares indefinite strike in solidarity with workers
Fayose
Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has embarked on indefinite strike in solidarity with workers of the state civil service, who have been on strike for about 12 days.
Fayose said the solidarity strike became expedient to show concerns with the workers, who have not received salaries in the last five months.
The governor made the declaration in Ado Ekiti at the weekend in a
televised broadcast.
However, to calm frayed nerves, Fayose said he had paid the January salaries of local council workers, primary school teachers and subventions to tertiary institutions in the state.
The workers, under the auspices of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiation Council (JNC), had last week Wednesday called out workers for indefinite strike, alleging that the governor wasn’t responding positively to their yearnings.
But Fayose in the broadcast declared solidarity with the workers to confirm that he shared their pains and anguish caused by inability to pay salary.
The governor was explicit that what he has been declaring as amount accruing to the state as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and the N2.6b workers’ wage bill were true positions of the state finances.
“I want to tell workers that I have placed myself on indefinite strike in solidarity with you. I share your pains, but it was rather unfortunate that a man can’t give what he doesn’t have,” he said.
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4 Comments
That is a shame and absence of good leadership for a state chief executive to embark on a strike in support of striking state workers, when he should find solutions to the workers’ problems or pacify them. The question now is “who is the weak”? The striking workers or the governor? It means the activities of the state across all spectrum have been put on indefinite halt as a result of the lack of leadership and wisdom of the governor. Whose fault is it that the Ekiti State Civil servants are not paid? When other state governors are looking beyond federal allocations to meet the overheads and other exigencies of the state, Fayose is unceasingly, busy criticizing Buhari; following up on Buhari to know what he can put to the press negatively. If it’s easy to rule Nigeria without blemish, I think Ekiti State being the second smallest state should be ruled with ease. Fayose has begun to swallow his vomit. Shame!
I don’t know why people have suddenly forgotten so soon how ex-president, GEJ, was criticised by APC, a situation which made Jonathan the most abused president in the world. I see no wrong in Fayose criticising the administration of Buhari or should we all keep mute without saying anything when things are going bad at the moment…I praise the guts of Gov. Fayose to join the workers strike to express his feelings toward the workers action. If only governors of the ruling party can go on strike to accept the poor handling of their financea and FG’s faltered policies in addressing the ills bedevelling the country as a way of joining Nigerians in the present suffering condition blowing across the land. Fayose carry go…atleast your action against the armed herdsmen showed your desire to be who you are and not what you are like most politicians.
Nobody says Fayose should not criticize Buhari no matter how constructively guided or destructively misguided. He has also never been called to question for his utterances. The strike embarked upon by the Ekiti State civil servants is not against the Federal Government but against the government of Ekiti State, and by extension, Gov. Fayose for not paying them their monthly salaries. The strike action by the civil servants is an indictment on Fayose; that he is not living to his responsibility of paying them their salaries. Joining the civil servants in their strike action is just a mockery on the civil servants. The state government still receives allocation from the federation account no matter how meager. The state government also have internally generated revenues. So, the question is where are these funds? If the government cannot meet the staff salaries in full, why not give what it has. When has the responsibility of paying salaries of state and local government employees become that of the fed., even if the two tiers depend to fund their activities on the fed. What does Fayose stand to gain by embarking on strike in solidarity with the civil servants if that is not a mockery, shirking responsibility and insensitivity to the plight of the workers?
Naija is always a home movie.
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