Benue Journalists Task Ortom On
Salary, Pension Matters
Uzo Chikere
The Benue Journalists Forum of Nigeria (BJFN) has called on
the Executive Governor of Benue State, Dr. Samuel Ortom, to treat issues of
salary and pension with deserved urgency as 99 per cent of the state’s workforce
relies wholly on salary for survival.
President of the forum, Comrade Joseph Saater Undu, made this call at a plenary meeting of the executive members held in Lagos recently. According to him, prompt payment of salaries and pensions would alleviate the plight of every citizen of the state as all the economic forces, which are mostly agro based, depend largely on salaries.
Undu urged the state government to remove bottlenecks that will slow down the disbursement process of the bailout provided by the federal government. He commended the governor for seeking to ensure transparency and judiciousness in the disbursement process through committees, but pleaded that the process be hastened, considering the fact that workers have been starved of their salaries for too long.
“I sincerely urge the governor to give priority to prompt payment of salaries and pensions of retirees. That’s the only way economic activities in the state will be stabilized or improved to a greater degree. Since all the market forces in the state depend largely on salaries, including the rural farmers, I am of the opinion that the state government should treat salary and pension issues with urgency.
“And now that the state has gotten its own share of the bailout provided by the federal government, I suggest that the process of disbursement be hastened because many are already overstretched, having starved too long of their salaries,” Undu said.
Worried by the dwindling agricultural activities in the state and other parts of the country due to climate change, the comrade sought the governor’s bidding on the federal government to initiate projects through the Ministry of Agriculture to salvage the situation.
He also appealed to political gladiators in the state to sheath their swords and embrace peace in order to move the state forward. He said focus must now be on developing the state after it almost crashed with harsh politicking, full of rivalry, thuggery, slander and sedition.
Also speaking, the Vice President of the forum, Mr. Godwin Anyebe, urged the governor to appoint youths into key positions of his cabinet. According to him, the youths are leaders of tomorrow “and there is every need to give them roles in the government so as to prepare them ahead,” Anyebe said.
He also called on the youths to desist from violence and stop abusing the social media by using it to castigate prominent citizens of the state.
President of the forum, Comrade Joseph Saater Undu, made this call at a plenary meeting of the executive members held in Lagos recently. According to him, prompt payment of salaries and pensions would alleviate the plight of every citizen of the state as all the economic forces, which are mostly agro based, depend largely on salaries.
Undu urged the state government to remove bottlenecks that will slow down the disbursement process of the bailout provided by the federal government. He commended the governor for seeking to ensure transparency and judiciousness in the disbursement process through committees, but pleaded that the process be hastened, considering the fact that workers have been starved of their salaries for too long.
“I sincerely urge the governor to give priority to prompt payment of salaries and pensions of retirees. That’s the only way economic activities in the state will be stabilized or improved to a greater degree. Since all the market forces in the state depend largely on salaries, including the rural farmers, I am of the opinion that the state government should treat salary and pension issues with urgency.
“And now that the state has gotten its own share of the bailout provided by the federal government, I suggest that the process of disbursement be hastened because many are already overstretched, having starved too long of their salaries,” Undu said.
Worried by the dwindling agricultural activities in the state and other parts of the country due to climate change, the comrade sought the governor’s bidding on the federal government to initiate projects through the Ministry of Agriculture to salvage the situation.
He also appealed to political gladiators in the state to sheath their swords and embrace peace in order to move the state forward. He said focus must now be on developing the state after it almost crashed with harsh politicking, full of rivalry, thuggery, slander and sedition.
Also speaking, the Vice President of the forum, Mr. Godwin Anyebe, urged the governor to appoint youths into key positions of his cabinet. According to him, the youths are leaders of tomorrow “and there is every need to give them roles in the government so as to prepare them ahead,” Anyebe said.
He also called on the youths to desist from violence and stop abusing the social media by using it to castigate prominent citizens of the state.
No comments:
Post a Comment