By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye
Enugu State governor, Mr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, has enjoyed a rather
impressive portrayal in the media since he assumed office. I have seen several
articles parroting his “marvelous achievements” and some of the articles have
even found their way to my email box for publication on my blog – which I
published even though they were always sent by a totally unfamiliar name.
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| *Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi |
Although, after the horrendous tragedy
perpetrated in Ukpabi-Nimbo in Uzo-Uwani by murderous herdsmen, pictures of Mr.
Ugwuanyi in flowing ‘agbada’ grinning from to ear to ear while shaking
hands with President Muhammadu Buhari (who, many believe, had done nothing to
avert the callous slaughter of those innocent villagers) had deeply shocked
many people who had expected to see him in a mourning mood, the Enugu governor
has still managed to pass himself off as a public officer trying his best to
impress his people.
During the last May Day celebrations, the
Enugu State chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Mr. Virginus
Nwobodo and his Trade Union Congress (TUC) colleague, Mr. Chukwuma Igbokwe, had
heaped praises on him for what they called his “dynamic leadership in promoting government-labour relationship”
and creating “a peaceful industrial
atmosphere” in Enugu State.
But in mid-October, I was in Enugu and was shocked to learn that some
workers absorbed into the State Civil Service from one of the government
parastatals were being owed arrears of salaries for the past 15 months! Indeed,
it is difficult to believe that any public officer could have the heart to
subject his fellow human beings to such a harrowing ordeal. But then, this is Nigeria where
leaders derive strange animation from riding roughshod on the people with
utmost impunity.
Following the decision of the previous
administration of Mr. Sullivan Chime to absorb the permanent workers of a
number of parastatals and corporations (ESBS, Enugu State Capital Territory,
ENADEP, Enugu State Sports Council, Enugu Fertilizer Company, ESWAMA etc.),
into the State Civil Service, several of the affected workers were duly
verified, their data biometrically captured and they were received into the
general public service. And since then, they have been working and
receiving their salaries. Even though there are some workers who are being owed
a few months arrears of salaries, they are still hopeful since their absorption
into the general service has been fully effected.
But in the case of ESWAMA (Enugu State Waste
Management Agency) the workers were verified and biometrically captured in
batches. In 2010, the first batch was fully absorbed and all of them have since
been posted to several ministries where they have been receiving their
salaries. In August 2014, the second and final batch made up of about 91 permanent staff of ESWAMA (some of whom may attain
retirement age in a couple of years from now) underwent their own absorption
process. This was duly communicated to the Enugu governor through a letter jointly
signed by the Secretary to the Government and the Head of Service (Ref:
ENS/SSG/M.505/11/227) dated August 6, 2014. Another letter on the issue dated
August 11, 2014 (Ref: GHS/33/XXX/11/100) was also written to the governor. By
April 2015, just before the new administration of Mr. Ugwuanyi was inaugurated,
the verification and posting of these 91 workers were concluded and their
letters of posting to the various ministries to which they have been redeployed
were handed over to them. What remained now was the approval of the governor
for their biometric data capturing to enable them to start receiving salaries
through the state’s e-payment system.
But for reasons that have remained
inexplicable, Gov Ugwuanyi has chosen to sit on the fate of these poor workers,
thereby, subjecting them and members of their families to unspeakable hardship
and trauma. As somebody under employment, it is such a torturing experience
trying to imagine what it would be like not to be paid salaries for a couple of
months. But here are our fellow citizens who have been denied salaries for a
whole 15 months! How heartless and callous could some of our leaders be!
