*Blame govt not heeding earlier warning

By Ndahi Marama

MAIDUGURI—BARELY two weeks after all the five Borno State-owned tertiary institutions embarked on an indefinite strike over non-payment of their entitlements, civil servants on the pay of the state government, as well as those in the 27 local government areas of the state, have been instructed by the state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Garba Ngamdu, to join their counterparts in the strike beginning from today  following the inability of the state government to address some of their pressing demands.

The NLC Chairman in the state, at a press briefing which took place at the NLC’s office in Maiduguri, said the industrial action became necessary in view of the deprivation being faced by the civil servants in the state under the present administration of Governor Ali Modu Sheriff.

Comrade Ngamdu stated that the decision to embark on the strike was because of the earlier warning the union gave to the state government last week, where it stated that if government failed to meet their demands, it would lead to total closure of government offices in the state.

He said, to their dismay, the state government failed to even consider how to resolve the issue at stake. He, therefore, ordered all members to stay away from work from today and that any worker who fails to join the strike would have him/her- self to blame.

Broken promises

He lamented that the Borno State government had ailed to implement the agreement entered into with labour unions in 2008 to offset some backlogs of unpaid wages as well as the establishment of structures that will guarantee the welfare of the Borno workers.

Some of the demands which the Borno State government was said to have failed to meet despite a signed agreement between both parties in 2008, are: constituting a Local Government Pension Board, implementation of Local Government Scheme of Service, and payment of one-month salary arrears to five local government areas, which are Askira-Uba, Biu, Bayo, Kwaya-Kusar and Hawul council areas.

Another agreement that was said to have been flouted by the Governor Ali Modu Sheriff administration was the, “immediate payment of promotional/annual increment benefits to local government and primary school teachers’ arrears of October, November and December 2009; and payment of HATTIS IV 22% to animal and health workers in the local government areas.