Unpaid Workers’ Salaries Worry Ayade

The Cross River State Gov
ernor, Prof Ben Ayade, has expressed sadness over the inability of some categories of workers under the Unified Local Government system in the state to receive their salary arrears till date.
Some primary school teachers in the state were yet to receive their salaries for the past two or four months, respectively.
A public primary school teacher in the state, who craved anonymity, alleged that there have been selective payment of salaries among the schools shortly after the governor’s directive for payment.
According to the female teacher ,”since the governor gave directives for the payment of our salaries, only few teachers in some schools have collected. They collected only two months’ salary, while in our own school no one has received alert.”
But, addressing the masses at the UJ Esuene stadium in Calabar, during Nigeria’s 56th independence anniversary celebration, the governor acknowledged that some workers in the state were yet to receive only two months’ salary.
Represented by his deputy, Prof Ivara Esu, governor Ayade promised to address the issue shortly.
He said efforts were not only ongoing to correct the situation, but to also sustain the prompt payment of civil and public servants in the state.
“Efforts shall be sustained to guarantee prompt payment of salaries to civil and public servants before the end of every month. I note with pain that some of the staff of the Unified Local Government system in the state are owed arrears of salaries, ranging from one to two months.
“Let me state categorically, that this problem is being addressed with a view to ensuring that civil/public servants at all levels in the state are promptly paid as and when due. This, we shall continue to do despite the dwindling resources from the central purse”, he said.
Earlier, in his address, the governor said the current recession in Nigeria was an eye opener for the country to diversify its economic base, saying Nigeria can no longer continue to rely solely on oil revenue.
He said Nigeria must fully embrace agricultural development and industrialization in order to wither the storm and ensure a vibrant economy.

Friday Nwagbara, Calabar