Civil servants in Kwara State, on Monday, heaved a sigh of relief as the state government announced a reduction in working days from five to three days.
The measure was taken by the state government to cushion the effect of the astronomical hike in transport fare, following the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government.
Some civil servants who spoke with Leadership correspondent said the reduction in the number of working days will reduce the subsidy removal- induced hardship on them and their families.
Both Malam Dauda Lawal of the State Universal Basic Education Board and Ramat Ajia of the Ministry of Education, commended the state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for his thoughtfulness in reducing the number of working days to three.
They described the measure as humane, and a welcome development.
For his part, the state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Murtala Olayinka said:” The reduction in the working days to three is a welcome development. At least, it will reduce the amount of money that the civil servants are spending on transportation.
“We thank the state governor for feeling the pains of the civil servants. But, beyond that, we want the government to immediately approve the N30,000 minimum wage consequential adjustments for the pensioners in the state. We have been making this demand for sometime now.
” We also want the government to increase the workers salaries. We discussed these and some other issues during our meeting with the governor (on Monday). Although, we know that the issue of salary increment will be done at the national level.”
The statement signed by the press secretary to the state’s Head of Service, Murtala Afoyebi, read:
“The State Head of Service, Mrs Susan Modupe Oluwole announced today (Monday) that the State Governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has directed that the work days be reduced from five days to three days per week for every worker.
“She explained that the measure was to relieve the state workers of the hardship being experienced as a result of the fuel subsidy removal announced by the Federal Government.”
At a meeting later on Monday with leaders of labour unions, Governor AbdulRazaq appealed to them that the recent removal of fuel subsidy was done in good faith to curb further damage to the economy.
“Removal of subsidy is definitely a painful decision that the government had to take in the larger interest of the country. It is the cheapest and most sustainable option available to curb criminal bleeding of the resources at the expense of the larger public.
“Now that subsidy has been removed as there is no provision for it in the budget anymore, the government is open to veritable ideas from the labour unions on how to redirect the savings for maximum public benefit, including pay rise,” the governor said.
