Date: 2015-10-10

The Kwara State government recently declared in a statement that salaries of the state workers have been paid. On its part, the Committee of Unions in Tertiary Institutions (CUTI) owned by the state government first issued a 21-day ultimatum, then issued another for 14 days, to the government to pay all arrears of workers’ salaries or face industrial action. The unions are academic and non-academic staff of Kwara State colleges of education in llorin, Oro, and Lafiagi as well as the College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies in llorin. 

Although, the Kwara State Polytechnic is expected to be part of the institutions affected, a source at the polytechnic disclosed that the workers have no issues with salary payment as the institution used the internally generated revenue to address it even when the subvention that usually comes from the government has been stopped for some time now. Some of the affected staff who narrated their ordeal to Daily Trust, described it as a terrible situation that has led to the death of some of their members. 

The state chairman of the unions, Comrade AbdulKareem Amuda-Kannike, said the claim that the state has paid all workers is misleading, stating that the affected staff were owed four months’ subvention while September salary is yet to be paid.  

“Plus or minus, we are being owed five months of salary and it is subventions that are meant for the payment of salaries. So if the government didn’t release subvention, how would they be claiming to have paid salary and that is why I said it is misleading and false,” he explained.  

“Maybe the government’s spokesman was not in the direct information unit to have known the difference between subventions and capital grants. It is only capital grants that government released to institutions to be able to provide infrastructures and we are talking about subventions that are meant for the payment of salaries and it has not been released,” Amuda-Kannike added. 

Speaking of the possibility of a strike, he said: “We have issued a 2-day ultimatum which has elapsed and we have equally issued another 14-day ultimatum which will elapse on Wednesday, 14th October and if nothing is done, then we will go to the next stage.”  

He said many affected staff have died while many cannot pay their children’s school fees. 

“Some of us even lost our children. Some of our members’ children couldn’t write WAEC because of this. Many of us also live in darkness because we couldn’t pay our electricity bills and we have become objects of mockery before our landlords because we could not pay our rents. 

It is devastating,” the chairman said. Amuda-Kannike added that if the government refuses to pay them, the worst may happen, saying that the state head of service had invited them for a meeting where he promised to discuss the matter with the governor. 

The chairman, Colleges of Education Staff Union, Mr. Saba Mommoh Daniel, said they are demoralised and have been surviving on loans which they can no longer get as banks have turned their backs against them, insisting on the repayment of the ones already advanced to them. 

“When people are hungry, they can be angry and it has paralysed commitment and effectiveness at work. We are frustrated, you can see how haggard some of us are looking,” he said. Najeem Anas Chairman, Non-Academic Staff Union, College of Education Ilorin, said: “Since the beginning of this year, except in August and September, we have been losing our members because they cannot afford their medical bills. 

The situation has got to a worrisome extent. We have lost 13 of our members from the beginning of this year. Many of them died as a result of application of self-medication because they cannot afford hospital bills.”  

For the staff of College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies (CAILS), Ilorin, the situation is beyond explanation because the state government has seven months backlog of 2013 salary arrears to offset and owes them another five months this year, according to the Chairman of Academic Staff Union of CAILS, Comrade Muhammed Umar Faruk. 

“My institution is the most affected because even before now the institution was owing us seven months arrears of salaries in 2013 and all along we had been taking 70 percent of our salaries before the salary got stabilised but when it got stable, they promised that our salaries will be paid from the internally generated revenue but now the government has taken up collection of the IGR according to our management. 

We have stopped receiving subventions from the state government and they now owe us five months salaries and other institutions,” he explained.  The State Head of Service, Hajia Zahra Oma, when contacted over the issue, said she was too busy to speak with Daily Trust just as the permanent secretary in the ministry of education neither answered nor returned telephone calls made to her. 

It was however, learnt that the salaries of Kwara State Polytechnic have been paid up to September while some lamented over what will become of them since the state government will start handling collection of IGR from the institution. Meanwhile, Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed, last month in a statement claimed to have paid the salaries of majority of state and local government workers, including primary school teachers. The statement which was signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, said those that were yet to will receive their salaries by Monday September 28 after Sallah celebration as Thursday 24 and Friday 25 were public holidays.  

The state government said there was therefore no reason for anyone or group to spread negative rumours or incite trouble on any account as the governor had approved the payment.  

But the governor during the monthly media chat in Ilorin on Thursday confirmed that salaries of state and local government workers have not been paid and explained that the delay in the payment of primary school teachers and local government workers was because the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has not release the N5 billion bailout fund meant for the payment. 

He however, said that, the release of the funds would soon be approved by the CBN and reiterated that those tertiary institutions were expected to pay their salaries from their IGR because they are among the revenue generating agencies, including the state owned media houses. 

“It was the responsibility of local government council chairmen in the state to pay the primary school teachers and council workers in the state. I want to challenge the teachers in the primary schools and council workers to ask the council chairmen in the state for non-payment of their salaries because it is not my responsibility to pay them,” the governor said. 

“We will review what we used to give revenue generating agencies and our tertiary institutions because the federal allocation kept reducing and as soon as the federal allocations improve, they will all receive their salaries,” he added. 

While expressing concern over the dwindling federal allocations to the state for the past few months, the Governor Ahmed said the state has commenced moves to boost its IGR so as to meet its financial obligations. 

Students’ union leaders of the affected institutions have appealed to the state government to attend to their lecturers’ plight and vowed to support staff of the institutions if the issue degenerates into industrial action.