By Ehichioya Ezomon
As majority of Christians, and many non-Christians prepare to mark the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ this Christmastide, let’s spare a thought for the Nigerian workers and retirees at the state and local government levels, who may not join in the revelry due to non-payment of (arrears of) salaries and/or pensions.
Their condition typifies what the legendary reggae maestro, Robert Nesta ‘Bob’ Marley, describes as the “Rat Race” in which “In the abundance of water, the fool is thirsty.” Although Nigeria’s workers are no fools, as those in authority may want to portray them, they, nonetheless, go hungry in the midst of plenty.
So, in the sobriety of this season, we should think about them, considering the unbecoming attitude of some state governors, who blame the current economic crunch for their failure to meet obligations to workers, and yet continue to live a life that puts a lie to their cries of scarce resources.
If not downright insensitivity, how could $86.5 million of the N522.74 billion refunds from the over-deducted London-Paris Club loan find its way into an account of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum; N19 billion paid to alleged governors’ proxies as consultancy and legal fees for securing the refunds; and some billions got to National Assembly persons, who are not members of the Governors’ Forum?
And why did the governors give cold-shoulder to the gentleman’s agreement they had with President Muhammadu Buhari, that the states would use 25 per cent to 50 per cent of the refunds for payment of outstanding salaries and pensions? So many “hows” and “whys” and yet no answers!
Since the Buhari administration was heralded by an economic recession that was only technically exited a few months ago, the Federal Government, to keep the states afloat, has practically been acting as Santa Claus (Father Christmas), doling out trillions of interventions, especially for the payment of salaries and allowances to workers, and gratuities and pensions to retirees.
For instance, in his October 1 broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 57th Independence anniversary, President Buhari said that besides statutory monthly allocations shared by the federal, state and local governments, his government, as part of measures to stabilize the polity, had released N1.64 trillion to states and local governments between 2015 and 2017.
These were in the form of State Excess Crude Account loans, Budget Support Facility, and Stabilization Fund Release to state and local governments, as follows: N200 billion in 2015, N441 billion in 2016 and N1 trillion in 2017, totalling N1.64 trillion.
“This was done to enable states to pay outstanding salaries, pensions and small business suppliers, who had been all but crippled over the years,” the president said.
Despite the various interventions by the Federal Government, state and local government workers continue to grumble and protest over unpaid salaries and allowances, prompting President Buhari to wonder how state governors could go to sleep while their workers were unpaid.
On October 17 in Abuja, in one of several visits by representatives of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum to the Presidential Villa, Buhari queried: “How can anyone go to bed and sleep soundly when workers have not been paid their salaries for months? I actually wonder how the workers feed their families, pay their rents and even pay school fees for their children.”
Noting that the challenge in payment of salaries in states “has taken a toll on the people,” the president said the Federal Government and state executives would “need to work closer together to ameliorate the situation of workers across the country,” a proposal an obviously stunned Governors’ Forum Chairman, Abdul’Aziz Yari, concurred with.
The Zamfara State governor said the governors “are concerned with the situation in our states,” and that the bailout funds, and part of the London-Paris Club loan refunds “were judiciously utilized to alleviate the plight of workers,” even as he urged the Federal Government to do more to get the states out of the woods.
Like the fabled Oliver Twist, who was never satisfied, the governors, this time, want full refunds of the over-deducted loan, employing subtle blackmail, such as reminding President Buhari about the agreement they reached with him for the balance to be paid after reconciliation; and for them to factor the refunds in their 2018 budget estimates, without specifically mentioning payments to workers and retirees – a point that didn’t escape the president, and which he noted when he finally approved payment of the refunds to the states.
“This (refunds) should be done (applied) not only for next year’s budget, but for this Christmas,” Buhari said. “For Nigerians without sources other than their salary, I am concerned that workers should be able to pay rent, school fees, buy drugs and take care of their families. I am so much concerned that people should have something to eat at Christmas.”
Well, I hope the president’s appeal, which now sounds like a broken record, will not fall on “deaf ears” once more because, no sooner the bailouts and the first tranche of the London-Paris Club loan refunds were released to the governors than they reneged on the promises made to the president to pay their workers and retirees.
For once, let the governors spare a thought for their states’ present and former workers who, as labourers, deserve their wages (Luke 10:7; 1 Timothy 5:18).
* Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
