Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State has announced the release of N1 billion for settlement of outstanding gratuities of retired primary school teachers as part of efforts to cushion the effect of subsidy removal.
Umo Eno also announced the release of N800 million for the payment of outstanding leave grants to workers in the state.
The Governor made this known while addressing members of the organised labour in the state who took the protest against the removal of subsidy on petrol by the Federal Government to the governor’s office in Uyo, the state capital.
He said that the Federal Government has already released some palliatives to states, adding that the state government would constitute a palliative committee, with membership drawn from various sectors including the organised labour and government for efficient distribution mechanism.
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He commended the union leaders for keeping the protest peaceful, adding that the government, in line with the tenets of democracy and the rule of law, was not against the people driving down their demands in a manner permissible by the law.
“I want to commend in a very serious term the leadership of Labor for not allowing criminals to hijack the protest because anything we destroy that belongs to government belongs to all of us.
“This is very peaceful, very commendable, we are in a democracy when people want to express themselves, peaceful protest is allowed, to carry all this placard is allowed but what is not allowed is when it snowballs into criminality.”
He assured the people that the state government, with its economic blueprint as a constant reminder of it’s indebtedness to serve them, was already adopting measures to ameliorate the suffering of the people.
“What we will do is to immediately set up a palliative committee and we will bring organised labour in there, with government so that we can sit together, know what the Federal Government is bringing and what the state will add.
“Give us the next ten days let this committee sit. We will come out and announce clearly the things we are doing,” the governor said.
The governor was accompanied by the Secretary to the State Government, Enobong Uwah, Head of Civil Service, Effiong Essien, Dean of College of Commissioners, Monday Ebong Uko, and other members of the State Executive Council.
The State Chairman Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Sunny James, who presented the workers’ demand to the governor frowned at the lackadaisical attitude of the Federal Government towards the welfare of the people.
Similarly, Chairman Trade Union Congress (TUC), Dominic Abang, harped on the importance of functional refineries to the economy and the need to release palliatives to Micro Small and Medium enterprises to stimulate the economy, salary increments, among others.
The protesting workers carried placards with inscriptions such as “Reverse Recent Hike in Petrol Price,” “CNG mass transit buses for workers,” “Resuscitate Refineries, Salary Award For Workers, Payment of Gratuity to Workers”, among others.
The payment of leave grant and gratuities to teachers has been a contentious issue with the state government saying that it has been making payments to the retired teachers accordingly while unions have often rejected such claims.
