Date: 2017-10-26

Senators Sha'aba Lafiagi (Kwara North), Rafiu Ibrahim (Kwara South), Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and other members of the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly have donated no fewer than 1,260 bags of rice to civil servants in Kogi State to alleviate their sufferings. . The disclosure was made to newsmen yesterday by the senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye.

According to Melaye, the donations were made in response to his clarion call on his colleagues to assist in cushioning the effect of hardship the civil servants who were yet-to-be paid their salaries for over 22 months, are going through.

The senator, who added that the donations included bags of fertiliser, said: "You are aware of acute hardship in Kogi State workforce now due to over 22 months of non-payment of salaries.

"At our level, we will continue to do our best to assist where necessary particularly that the situation has led to suicides across the state now", he added.

Melaye said it was necessary that he informed his colleagues about the hardships orchestrated by the present administration of governor Yahaya Bello; stressing that the spate of suicide witnessed in the state was a result of hardship experienced by the workers.

The breakdown according to Melaye, shows that Ekweremadu donated 100 bags of rice while the Senate leader, Ahmed Lawan and Rafiu Ibrahim donated 30 bags each.

Others include, Senators Shaaba Lafiaji (20 bags of rice), Adamu Aliero (50 bags), Danjuma Goje (50 bags), Buruji Kashamu (50 bags), Fatima Raji Rasaki (10 bags), Ben Bruce (10 bags), Jerry Oseni (20 bags) and Stella Oduah (30 bags), among others.

Melaye stated further that his colleagues also donated bags of fertiliser to those who are farmers.

In this category, he mentioned only Senator Philip Aduda who donated 10 bags of fertiliser, though he said other lawmakers would donate more materials within the week.

Senator Melaye, while calling on good spirited Nigerians to also donate relief materials to Kogi State workers, noted that such gesture would help ameliorate their sufferings in "this satanic manifestation of Yahaya Bello's administration.

He therefore, called on the leadership of Nigerian Labour Congress in Kogi State to coordinate the relief materials that would be tripping in to the state.

It would be recalled that, the state NLC had recently written to President Muhammadu Buhari, calling on individuals and organisations to come to the aide of Kogi workers, saying, the civil servants had practically become IDPs in the state.