RE- PARASTATALS SALARY ISSUES AND ABIA STATE: MATTERS ARISING
~~~~~~ By Kennedy Onyenma

The challenges arising from non-payment of workers’ salaries in Nigeria are horrendous. Hardly is there any state, in Nigeria, without allegations of indebtedness. The case of Abia state is just as troubling, though, with some moral elements that make for fluid narrative.

In Zamfara state, for instance, it is alleged that the state has never implemented 18,000 minimum wage. While in Benue State they accused the governor of disregarding backlogs of unpaid salary accepting to pay from 2018.In oil rich Rivers State, Some pensioners are allegedly owed arrears of pension just as agencies like RSSDA and few others are allegedly owed for over a period of 2 years. In the very wealthy Lagos state, just recently, Governor Ambode, while addressing organized labour during the just concluded May 1st (workers) celebration, struggled to exonerate himself from allegations of indebtedness to Lagos civil servants. Also in the South East, Ebonyi state, in particular, is accused of paying only the basic salary of workers leaving out the allowances and incentives. What about Imo State…?

No doubt the preponderance of labour disputes, with the government, are not far from issues relating to workers’ wages. It is indeed a national emergency! Notwithstanding President Buhari’s attempt to provide reprieve through bailout funds, the issues of non-payment of salaries still lingers.

Regardless, Abia State indebtedness to her workers, when compared to other states of the federation, is underscored by relative subtleties.

For example, it is on record that the government of Dr Ikpeazu has not faulted in payment of salaries of the civil servants. The ‘core’ civil servants if you like. He ensures that their salaries and entitlement are paid promptly. It has not also been disputed that subventions to the parastatals and Agencies are not released monthly. What is in dispute, surprisingly, is what the managers of those parastatals do with their subventions plus the internally generated revenue, hence are unable to pay her workers’ salaries!

An objective mind will agree that the issues of Pension arrears resulted from underlying economic contraptions that are not, in any way, traceable to Dr Okezie Ikpeazu nor peculiar to Abia State, call it a National imbroglio -you are not mistaken. The panacea to the Pension challenge is to re-design a, redemptive, financial plan that will be sustainable and dependable. An overhaul of the retirement portfolio: plan, procedure and compensation structure, will be instructive. While installment pay, already canvased by the government of Abia state, will be sustained.

In the case of Secondary school teachers, the governor has repeatedly admitted that he overrated his government’s capacity to shoulder the responsibility of the junior and senior secondary teachers out of sheer humanness. In his words, “I must also confess that I have a problem with secondary school teachers because I owe them …the major problem is that we took much more than we can bite…we were supposed to unbundle the junior secondary school teachers because they are under UBEC. In other states, they are paid by local governments but we took them up thinking that our fortune could carry so that we can allow more money in the local government system for them to do some projects”. How forthright  could a leader be ! His intentions are unambiguous, nevertheless, he still took responsibility of his miscalculation.
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An objective mind will agree that the issues of Pension arrears resulted from underlying economic contraptions that are not, in any way, traceable to Dr Okezie Ikpeazu nor peculiar to Abia State, call it a National imbroglio -you are not mistaken. The panacea to the Pension challenge is to re-design a, redemptive, financial/funding plan that will be sustainable and dependable. An overhaul of the retirement portfolio:method, procedure and compensation structure, will be instructive. While installment pay, already canvased by the government of Abia state will go a long way to cushion the hardship our aged pensioners(including my parents) are going through.

In a well-articulated exposition on issues of the non-payment of parastatals salary in Abia State, the cerebral Finance   commissioner, Mr Obinna Oriaku, x-rayed the dynamics of a government, vis-à-vis the conflict of relative sentiment and sound judgment. Foremost in the readers mind could be that non-payment of salary, by some state governments, may seem intractable, but it is not insurmountable,especially, in the case of Abia State, thanks to the proaction of the visionary governor and his Finance manager.It will indeed be preposterous for anybody to believe that a responsible government will chose to subject his citizen to suffering and penury.

The Nigerian system ironically thrives on an effete and complicated structure that cannot easily be salvaged just by a whim. It will take a profound thinker and a pragmatic planner to maneuver such a befuddled system like ours. Today Lagos state is reference point, of a virile economy and sustainable development, owing to her dexterity and knack to follow due process. One should be optimistic that given a genial environment Dr Victor Ikpeazu will deliver on all his promises because he possesses the requisite credential of an achiever.

It will take the combination of rugged will and courage to drive the sustainable policy needful to enthrone fiscal responsibility and prudence, especially, in the civil service.It has never come easily.Such policies must therefore be deliberate, without recourse to political solicitude, but solely propitious to the masses.

Dr Okezie Victor Ikpeazu understands the foregoing when he insists that the managers of the parastatals and Agencies must be responsible and accountable. His stern insistence on probity and accountability will, in the long-run, benefit majority of the workforce to the extent that government entities will be self-sufficient with or without subventions from the government.

Professor Ikonne’s ABSU and Dr Agbazuere’s ASPIMS are therefore notable models to emulate.