For the umpteenth time, commercial activities were partially grounded in Owerri, Imo State capital on Tuesday, the last day of June, 2020, no thanks to the resumed protests by retirees over unpaid salaries.
Yours truly was among road users that encountered another nightmarish experience on the major streets of Owerri on Tuesday while trying to access Okigwe road from Assumpta Avenue/Bank Road.
The decision of the protesting retirees to anchor their staged demonstration at the Government House Roundabout that joins Okigwe Road, Bank Road and Whetheral Road turned out to be an unexpected hindrance to road users which led to breakdown of commercial activities.
What however disturbed residents was that within two weeks, the ageing retirees have decided to confront the state government on two occasions over their entitlements.
One remarkable aspect of the pensioners display during the protest was a threat to the government of the day under Governor Uzodinma.
According to the protesters while reading out their grievances to the public, they may be forced to occupy Government House, Owerri if their entitlements were not paid.
A good observer of developments in Imo will not hesitate to agree that the civil service in the state has been at the receiving end of untoward policies from successive governments prompting them to always take to the streets to express their grievances.
The misery afflicting the pensioners and workers in Imo boomed during the tenure of Rochas Okorocha.
While retirees never ceased to take over the streets to demonstrate untold hardships visited on them during non-payment and deductions, the workforce lamented slashing of salaries and unspecified deductions.
The jigsaw between government and workers got to an alarming stage when the retirees dragged the Okorocha administration to court and won the legal battle over the 40% payment schedule payment. Apparently dissatisfied with the decision to have all their arrears paid under 40% agreement, the pensioners went to Industrial Court to seek redress. They became victorious, yet the Okorocha government was adamant on full payment. For the workers, they had no option than to accept 70% after repeated protests proved abortive in the same regime.
The coming of the short-lived Emeka Ihedioha administration opened another vista in the relationship between the government and their employees.
From what was gathered, normalcy was regularized in the payment except for the medical sector where those of the Hospital Management Board decried non compliance to 100% payment. They kept protesting that Ihedioha still adopted the 70% arrangement of Okorocha. Pensioners too were not left out in the turn around program as the once excruciating pains they continuously underwent during screening exercises was settled in one program, thereafter, their alerts started beeping on their phones. But that was three months after Ihedioha was sworn in. Before the regularization of the process by the ousted rebuild Imo of Ihedioha, the retirees had battled hunger and deprivation arising from non-payment.
The coming of Uzodinma brought brighter hopes and smiles on their faces when the governor in his maiden speech promised to cater for the interest of the workers and retirees. It was a cheering news for them when the governor went further to state that non-payment of salaries shall become a thing of the past as he would ensure all employees receive their salaries before the 25th of every month.
Uzodinma’s earlier posture on prompt payment no doubt gladdened the hearts of the state workforce and the retirees. But more than five months after that maiden broadcast that projected him as the expected “Messiah”, the workers and retirees have started singing a different tune.
What further gave away Uzodinma as the man that could be the savior government employees and retirees require is the watchword of the APC governor anchored on “shared prosperity”. Without mincing words, there is no gain saying the fact that both the workers and retirees would be the greatest beneficiaries of the 3R government of Uzodinma.
From latest developments and words oozing from the serving and retired workers, the reverse is the case in terms of “Shared Prosperity” as the state government can be said to be giving an impression of “shared poverty”.
When the pensioners first took to the streets last week Tuesday sending signals of more protests in the near future if they are starved, a representative of the governor who addressed them, Cosmas Iwu, the Secretary to the State Government SSG, gave a promise of payment before the end of that week. Unfortunately, nothing happened to their accounts forcing the retirees to stage another demonstration two days ago.
It was disheartening that instead of responding to the needs of the hungry and aged pensioners who defied the Covid 19 prevention protocols to embark on street protest, what the spin doctors found more interesting was churning out a feeble release that is lacking in tactical depth by claiming the Nigeria Union of Pensioners,NUP, the umbrella body of the retirees and Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC were not aware of the protest. Therefore, those who took the streets were “Ghost Pensioners”
As part of what could be termed as self deafetist approach to contain the “damage control”, the “spin” doctors of the state government incharge of the governor’s image handling in spurning decency turned mouth piece of the Labour Unions without noting that those who embarked on the protest came under a body known as Pensioners Intervention Committee, PIC.
Another disturbing scenario that could give away the state government of being insensitive to problems of the retirees and the adverse effects of the protests on the image of the state government was the pattern of defense applied by appointees and e-goons of Uzodinma who pointed accusing fingers at the opposition camp without remembering that the SSG who addressed the protesters agreed that the government is owing the pensioners and would pay before the end of that particular week.
The decision of certain appointees of Uzodinma who went on air to declare that those who embarked on the protest were either ghost pensioners or sponsored agents of the opposition perhaps sparked off the second protest of Tuesday and subsequent threats of occupying Government House, Owerri, if nothing happened, is nothing but part of the self destructive tendencies exhibited so far which has pitched the aggrieved retirees against the government.
Except the government of the day decided to use the word “shared prosperity” to hoodwink the masses into developing likeness for the Uzodinma government without empirical evidences to show commitment, it would have known that the people should be the greatest beneficiaries of the current mantra.
The earlier the state government settles the pension matter the better for its image than engaging in shadow boxing with the opposition.
Protesting workers in the State who either have neither been paid for months nor had their complete salaries paid fully for undisclosed reasons from another source of worry that challenges the efficacy of the “Shared Prosperity” mantra.
The office of the Accountant General of Imo State in Owerri has been playing host to several categories of workers lamenting non-payment of salaries and arbitrary slashes when paid. Higher institutions and paraststals are mostly affected. For instance, those in Imo State University IMSU, and Imo State Polytechnic, Imo Poly, who received their salaries through the various Micro Finance banks operating in their schools have been declared “ghost workers” and denied payment since February this year.
The last salary those affected workers were said to have received was that of January 2020. From February till date, irrespective of the harsh condition necessitated by the Covid-19 lockdown, the staffers undoubtably are battling with hunger and starvation due to non-payment of salaries.
It would be recalled that staff of the Imo State House of Assembly witnessed agonizing moments late last week when the alerts they received showed slashed salaries without proper explanations from the government about what necessitated the deductions.
In similar vein, teachers and staff of the Secondary Education Management Board, SEMB and few other parastatals are yet to know what are called salaries under Uzodinma. If the “shared prosperity” watchword is meant for the people of the state, the crying civil servants and pensioners should be the greatest beneficiaries. A stitch in time saves nine.
