By Jonathan Ugbal, Government House Correspondent
“Even in the Bible, God commanded that we should get our wages after work. Even God rewards only the work we have done unless there is Grace; that is why God said, I will bless the work of your hands; so you have to work first before the blessing. We are in the age of grace under Governor Ayade. This is pure Grace. It is only under grace that you get paid when you have not worked. It is only workers that will understand this. Go and tell the rest of Nigeria that Cross River workers are under the period of grace because of governor Ayade.”
-Madam Eunice Eyamhe
That was the exclamation of Madam Eunice Eyamhe, a civil servant in Cross River state to this reporter in reaction to the payment of the salaries of civil servants for the month of May 2016 on the first day of the month.
Reports from the venue of the May day celebration say, a mild drama immediately ensued when the workers who were at the U.J. Esuene Stadium for the May Day celebration each began to receive salary payment alert from their various banks.
Unable to contain the excitement, shouts of ‘alert alert alert rent the stadium as the workers went into a frenzy, singing the praises of the governor.”
Before now, the governor had paid salaries between the 13th and 20th day of each month.
Ayade told the workers, who named him the Best Labor Friendly Governor in Nigeria, that his administration had a duty to give workers in the state a sense of dignity.
“We must create opportunities for labor to feel a sense of dignity. If you are truly a Christian, you must know that as you care for your kids, you must care for labor,” he stated.
He said this is because “no infrastructure is more important than labor, which is why in all my programs, I focus on people.”
Urging Labor to keep faith with his administration while working in harmony to foster the growth of the state, the governor declared that no worker who has dully put in his honest labor will go unrewarded.
He reasoned that “anybody who pulls down labor does not understand the philosophy of existentialism, hence the need for labor to come before infrastructure and skyscrapers.”
Other packages the governor announced were the donation of a new Toyota coaster bus for labor, release of funds for the building of Labor house as well as the appointment of labor representative into the state executive council.
Earlier, the organized labor, through the State Chairman of the Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC), Comrade John Ushie, had lent its support to the construction of the 260km Superhighway as well as other projects aimed at repositioning the economy of the state.
Ushie also urged government to intervene in a number of areas, including the State Newspaper Corporation, which he said is in a dilapidated state.
Leave feedback about this