By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye
The recent N400 billion bailout
approved for the states by President Muhammadu Buhari to offset the backlog of
salary owed to civil servants would certainly bring immense relief to the
affected workers and their families. It is difficult to imagine how these
Nigerians were able to survive the trauma and pain of existing for several
months without salaries, especially, when one considers that even when these
salaries were paid regularly and as at when due, they were hardly enough to
solve even the basic needs of these public servants. In some cases, we have
husbands and wives as state employees, and one is sincerely scared of imagining
how life has been for them and their children these past few months.
*President Buhari and some governors
One hopes that as this money is
released, the story we would hear from all the states is that these hapless
Nigerians have been paid ALL the arrears of salary owed them to enable them see
the extent they would go to sort out their horribly battered existence – lives
that have been heartlessly messed up by the gross irresponsibility and
unspeakable callousness that now constitute the enduring character of
governance in this part of the world.
Considering that we have just emerged
from an election in which many state governors were squandering money as if all
they did to get loads of it was just to walk to their backyards and pluck them
from some trees that generously grew them, Nigerians deserve to know the exact
reasons why these governors were unable to pay salaries.
In a place like Osun State
