Minimum wage must improve productivity, Obi tells workers

 BY VINCENT UJUMADU

AWKA-ANAMBRA State governor, Mr. Peter Obi, said yesterday that the new minimum wage for workers must go with maximum productivity on the part of the workers.

The governor, who spoke while handing over cheques to presidents-general of the various town unions for renovation of schools in their communities, regretted that most of the people asking for minimum wage did not take their work seriously.

“Many civil servants now work for only three days (Monday to Wednesday) and use the rest of the days in the week to attend burials and still want government to pay them for the days they were unproductive. These are also the people that are in the forefront of asking for wage increase,” Obi said.

He also observed that teachers were even worse as they often absent themselves from classes and wondered how such teachers should produce students who could pass external examinations.

Obi urged the various communities to assist government in supervising teachers posted to their areas and report those who played truancy to government for disciplinary action.

According to him,communities who received cheques are those that accounted for the first tranche they were given.

The governor commended such communities for their efforts in meeting the aspirations of the state government.

Commissioner for Education, Dr. Kay Onyechi, had said while most of the school projects were progressing in many communities, others were yet to start, even when they had collected money and urged them to take the projects as their own.

She commended the governor for his interest in education, recalling that he had been reconstructing schools in the state through the presidents-general who supervise the jobs.