Lagos government increases salary of workers on Levels 7-15

• Silent on increment for Levels 1-6
• Says 60,000 HIV patients ‘missing’ in state

Lagos State Government has agreed to increase the salary of its workforce from 20 to 30 percent for workers on Grade Level 7-15, while it was silent on the percentage increase for workers on Grade Level 1-6.

In a statement yesterday through the office of the Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, the state said that effective November 1, 2019, public servants in Lagos State would start enjoying the new minimum wage as the state government has approved its implementation. Public servants on Grade Level 7 will enjoy 30 percent increase; those on Grade Level 8-10 will get 25 percent increase; those on Grade Level 12-14 will get 22.5 percent increase while those on Grade Level 15-17 will enjoy 20 percent increase.

The statement further explained that payment of salaries for November was delayed to adequately process payment of the new wage.In another development, the state government has said that 50 percent of the 120,000 persons living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in Lagos are currently ‘missing’, not receiving treatment.

Also, of the 20 local councils in the state, Eti-Osa Local Council came top with the highest prevalence. The state’s Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, who disclosed this yesterday at the formal disaggregated Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey Data and the inauguration of the Lagos State HIV consortium group, said Eti-Osa Local Council accounts for 3.3 percent of the people living with HIV in the state, which is the highest.

Abayomi further said that 40 million people had died of HIV throughout the world, promising that the 60,000 people living with HIV that are missing would be tracked and put under treatment so that Lagos could be the first to reduce HIV in Nigeria.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu thanked all stakeholders and partners for their efforts and commitment to the fight against the spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) over the years in the state. He said: “Together, we have worked and sacrificed resources to achieve the level of awareness that have significantly changed the behaviour of our people. This is evidenced by the reduction in the prevalence rate, which currently stands at 1.4 percent.

“Although the current prevalence rate shows a reduction, it is still a source of concern when we consider the actual number of people within the bracket. There is therefore the need for us to step up our efforts to achieve a further reduction through aggressive public enlightenment campaign, which must be taken to the nooks and crannies of the state.”

“This “Know Your HIV Status” symposium is one of such strategies aimed at encouraging all citizens and residents of the state to know their status. In addition, this symposium is organised to achieve two major objectives:

Firstly, to disseminate the 2018 Nigeria HIV and AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) result for Lagos State disaggregated by Local Government areas – a first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa. “This result is important considering that Lagos State has been identified by the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) as one of the 15 priority high burden cities accounting for three million people living with HIV globally.”

Sanwo-olu, therefore, appealed to all residents to co-operate with the state to enable it achieve a significant reduction in the incidence rate of HIV infection in Lagos. Besides, the governor promised that the state would make efforts to locate the missing patients for them to receive treatment and prevent the spread of the virus.