NLC hails Governor Sule over workers’ welfare

The Nasarawa State Chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, has applauded Gov. Abdullahi Sule’s administration, for growing the civil service structure and improving workers’ welfare.

According to the state chairman of NLC, Mr Yusuf Sarki-Iya, ” the union wants the governor to do more for the workers in the state”.

Sarki-Iya made the appeal while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lafia, on the just concluded celebration of the governor’s 100 days in office.

Sarki-Iya said workers in Nasarawa State had continued to grow in geometric progression when compared with the previous governments in the state.

He added that Gov. Sule had not only restructured the civil service, but re-positioned and given hope to the workers in different ways inspite of the lean resources available to the state.

“Recently, the governor constituted a committee comprising prominent sons and daughters of Nasarawa State, who served and those still serving to look inward and restructure the civil service.

“We passed a vote of confidence in Gov. Abdullahi Sule for his affection for workers within 100 days of his administration in the state,” Sarki-Iya declared.

He disclosed that the governor had instructed the salary bureau to implement the workers promotion, which had been hanging for 11 years and directed that the three months arrears be implemented immediately.

He added that civil servants at the local governments who were before now receiving salaries in bits now collected their salaries in full.

“To me, this is a credit, which we did not see during the previous administrations. It was very difficult to see governors but I’m telling you that since he came on board, I have encountered the governor five times.

“His level of labour relations and his zeal to reinvigorate the civil service is unprecedented.”

According to him, apart from agriculture, within his 50 days in office, the governor distributed fertilizer to farmers and made it clear that fertilizer should be sold for N3,500 to farmers in the state.

“He warned against selling fertilizer to those who are not farmers”.

He noted that the governor had entrenched an agriculture programme, where civil servants are now allowed to venture into farming.

“I am a farmer, I harvest up to 300 to 500 bags of rice, presently I have 10,000 tubers of yam, so I appreciate him for that.

On education, he said Sule had also performed creditably well by ensuring that teachers at both state and local government levels were paid their salaries promptly since assumption of of office.

“I am an eyewitness and also a beneficiary of glasses that were distributed to over 3,000 citizens of Nasarawa state who were with various degrees of eye problem, and over 10,000 persons were operated under the governor’s outreach programme.

According to the NLC boss, “the guesture has not only removed the health challenge faced by the people, but has added value to the citizens in terms of health provision”.

He said Sule had empowered the youth and women with assorted grinding machines and a host of other tools to improve their living conditions.

“In the area of civil service and labour relations, the labour chairman scored the governor 99.9 per cent, for setting up a committee to review the civil service structure.

According to him, this shows that the civil servants are dear to his heart.