hundreds of workers of the local government had marched out in their numbers occupying major roads in the university town to drive home their demand for the payment of their salaries and other benefits, thereby stalling both public and private businesses activities in the area.
While chanting songs of solidarity, the workers display placards with various inscriptions on them, some of which read: “Use the N72m of this month council allocation to pay us for one and half month; Our children are dying of hunger and are out of school; a worker deserves his wage.”
They urged the council’s chairperson, Prof Rose Onah, to pay them one and half month salary with federal allocation received by the council.
Reports are that the workers of the local government are being owed about 17 months’ arrears of salary which has brought untold hardship to them and their families.
In his speech, the chairman of the National Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, in Nsukka council, Mr, George Ugwu decried the non-payment of their salaries as and when due for close to 2 years, saying that the workers decided to carry out the exercise to make the council boss to comply with the state government’s directive to pay them one and half month salary from the N72m received from federation account.
According to him, “The council has N72m allocation this month and it will be enough to pay one and half month salary of the workers.
“But Onah said she will pay us one month only and use the remaining to attend to other council’s problems; this is unacceptable to us.
“The council can use internally generated revenue to attend to other problems”, he said.
But in a reaction the council boss, Prof. Onah said that there was no such directive by the state government as claimed by the workers to pay one and half month salary to them.
She said: “I have always showed the leaders of workers the amount we get as allocation every month; I am surprised that Ngwu will call out workers for protest.
“The NULGE leader did not even give any warning before carrying out the protest.
“Ngwu came to my office this afternoon and dropped note of protest and went out; before I know it, the protest has started,” she said.
The council boss insisted that if she used the entire allocation to pay salary, the council would be grounded financially.
“If they are ready for the one month, the council will pay them, but if they still insist on one and half months, I can’t kill myself for them”, she concluded.
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