The Governor of Cross River State, Senator Bassey Otu has placed civil servants’ minimum wage at forty thousand naira (₦40,000.00) to cushion the effect of hardship.
An investigation by Voice of Nigeria revealed that the previous minimum wage was twenty-five thousand naira (₦25,000.00), which recently came into effect under the current government.
The ₦40,000.00 minimum wage further investigation showed is fifteen thousand naira (₦15,000.00) above the previous, a situation many civil servants agreed would go a long way to uplift their standard of living.
Governor Otu, announced during his May Day speech at the U. J. Esuene Stadium, Calabar, the capital of Cross River State in southern Nigeria.
The theme for this year’s Workers’ Day is “People First” and this interestingly coincides with my administration’s mantra.
“Accordingly, whatever action aimed at ameliorating the suffering of the workers is readily embraced by me. One of such measures is the payment of a living wage to the workforce. The government under my leadership, is willing and ready to put smiles on the faces of its workers and in line with the season of sweetness, which characterizes my administration,” he said.
He noted that due to what he described as the peculiarity of Cross River State in terms of lean federal allocation and the unfavorable Gross Domestic Product to debt servicing ratio, the new wage implementation would reflect realities rather than sentiments.
Governor Otu stated, “I wish to announce that the least paid worker in the Cross River State Civil Service will henceforth earn the sum of ₦40,000.00 (Forty Thousand Naira) only as a living wage. Modalities for immediate implementation are being worked out.”
Abolishing “Middlemen” Farmers
Besides announcing the new minimum wage for civil servants in Cross River State, Governor Otu has shifted attention to food security, which mainly guaranteed better income for farmers at affordable prices for Nigerians resident in the state.
Otu disclosed that the government would set up machinery to abolish the activities of so-called “middlemen” farmers or merchants, who have influenced the prices of foodstuffs astronomically to their advantage and detriment of the average farmer as well as the consumers.
He stated, “to enhance the income of an average farmer and others within the informal sector, I also wish to announce that henceforth the activities of merchants or middlemen making huge profits from the sweat of the producers are abolished.
“To bridge this gap and allow the farmers to sell their produce at competitive market rate, the State Produce Marketing Board will soon be constituted to control prices,” the governor assured.
Otu further pledged to improve the working environment to enhance the output of civil servants, noting that some ministries, departments and agencies were currently undergoing renovations, while new and updated office furniture would be installed during the second phase of rehabilitation.
The governor urged all state government employees to reciprocate its gesture through higher productivity, arguing “I would not be fair and just to the workers of Cross River State if I conclude without making mention of their shortcomings; principal among these is low productivity, which is adjudged to be barely 5 percent.”
He continued, ‘It amounts to wasting one’s sweetness in the desert if the government should yield to almost all the demands of workers, yet the productivity is not commensurable.
“I, therefore, charge every worker in the employ of Cross River State to reciprocate the kind gestures of the present administration by doubling effort in assigned duties. If this is not adhered to, this administration may resort to ways of evaluating workers benefits vis-a-vis their output,” he urged.
The May Day celebration in Calabar featured a march past by different workers adorned in colourful fez caps, T-shirts, beautifully tailored Ankara materials and lovely shades of the ‘comrade-styled’ shirts worn over black, navy blue, or jeans trousers and skirts.
Dominica Nwabufo
