GOVERNOR Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State has again called on organized labour in the state to call off their strike, restating his readiness to negotiate with them on the outstanding issues in the implementation of the N18,000 minimum wage.

Speaking through his deputy, Mr. Nsima Ekere, during the Remembrance Emblem launch and inter-denominational Christian religious service for the 2012 Armed Forces Remembrance Day at the Lutheran Church of Nigeria, Obot Idim, Chief Akpabio said he was willing to dialogue with labour in the overall interest of the state.

He described the week-long strike by labour movement in the state as illegal and unfair as his government was the only one in the country to have paid the new minimum wage with arrears from April, last year.

Akpabio said his government was honouring to the letter the minimum wage agreement painstakingly and freely negotiated and signed with labour.

The State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs. Eunice Thomas, urged the public to donate to the emblem launch to enable the setting up of a revolving loan for widows and orphans of the fallen heroes, expressing the belief that the funds would be judiciously managed.

…as deputy urges labour to dialogue with FG
DEPUTY Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Nsima Ekere, yesterday, appealed to labour to embrace dialogue with the Federal Government to resolve the thorny issues in the removal of fuel subsidy in the country.

Ekere who made the appeal when he received a group of Akwa Ibom workers protesting the subsidy removal on behalf of Governor Godswill Akpabio, reasoned that rather than go on strike, it was better for labour to dialogue with the Federal Government to achieve a sustainable solution to the problem.

He described the subsidy removal as “a sacrifice today to safeguard our tomorrow,” adding that the unpalatable impact on the people was only temporary.