The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on
Sunday appealed to workers in Kogi State not to see suicide as a way out of the
current hardship imposed on them as a result of non-payment of their salaries.
The
state Chairman of the NLC, Mr Onu Edoka, who made the appeal in Lokoja warned
the workers against taking extreme actions because the tough time would soon be
over.
Edoka,
who was reacting to the suicide of a director in the state, Mr Edward Soje on
Oct. 16 as a result of financial hardship, insisted that taking one’s life
should not be an option.
The
deceased’s wife has yet to be informed of the tragic death of her husband.
A
source close to the family said a team of pastors and relations who visited her
at an Abuja hospital to break the news were advised by the management against
it due to her state of health.
Edoka,
however, disclosed that many workers and pensioners had died due to non-payment
of their salary and pensions by the state government.
According
to him, many workers in the state have had their ailments aggravated as a
result of lack of salary.
He
said that high blood pressure and diabetes had become common among them.
Edoka
said that the organised labour had started compiling statistics of workers and
pensioners that have lost their life in the last one year, adding that figures
of victims would soon be made public.
Edoka
appealed to relatives, friends, religious organisations and good spirited
individuals in and outside the state to come to the aid of the workers to stem
the tide of untimely deaths.
The
NLC Chairman again called on President Muhammadu Buhari to come to the aid of
workers in Kogi State by sending foods, drugs and other relief materials to
them through the National Emergency Management Agency.
He
also pleaded with the presidency to set up a fact finding committee to come and
ascertain the true situation of things with workers in the state.
The
Chairman expressed displeasure with the state government for taking to the
pages of newspapers to publish the names of workers and their salaries.
He
explained that the figures quoted by the government was not correct and urged
the governor to invite the workers to the negotiation table.
Also
a statement jointly issued by the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC)
described the publication of workers names and salary figures as a wrong step.
“The
security implication of this very wrong step is that criminals could get hold
of this document and begin to trace the workers whose names government has
published.
“Workers
are walking the streets of Lokoja like beggars because their salaries and
allowances have not been paid for a period of three to twenty-two months by the
government,“ the statement said.
The
statement signed by Mr Olakunle Faniyi and Mr Kolawole James, state secretaries
of NLC and TUC respectively called on the state government to publish the names
and the amount being owed cleared workers and pensioners in the past 21 months.
The
unions expressed shock on the death of Soje and prayed God to grant his family
the fortitude to bear the loss.
No comments:
Post a Comment