By Denrele Animasaun

“An empty stomach is not a good political adviser.” ? Albert Einstein

It is disturbing that in this day and age, people can work and not get paid and yet, it is expected, I mean, it is demanded that they continue to work and there is no promise of payment.  Only in Nigeria! Nigerian mentality is oxymoronic.

The logic is; you should be grateful, that you have a job, never mind that you have not been paid.  This is cruelty of the highest order. This is brutal, how could some people say that they are in same boat while others starve and their children go to bed hungry? This logic is beyond me and it smacks in the face of common sense and decency.

Many years ago, I worked as sessional worker in a radio station in Nigeria. I was young and naïve, but the lure of working at a radio station was a giddy experience. It quickly  began to  lose it allure  when, I  and others  were  informed that after many  months of  working, that we  either  put up  or shut and stop asking  for when will we get paid in fact  we  were  held  over  a barrel;  you either  get  paid  now, and get  fired or  you  get  paid  whenever in the future and  remain  working. Hobson’s choice: it was one option we had to either take it or leave.

I did the latter but that’s because I had other options; many didn’t.   This is the mentality of the Nigerian, the feeling of helplessness and gratitude never mind the fact that you have the right to expect a pay for a decent day’s work. No, you have to be grateful that you have a job at all, never mind that you are not paid for months. The last time I looked, slavery was abolished so why does it feel that it exists and thrives in Nigeria?

The employer behaves like the plantation lord and tells you, that you should be grateful and do not rock the boat. They say don’t bite the hand that feeds you, but you have been starved and told not to bite! If you do, you will be replaced and the worker in turn, sucks it up and continues to suffer in silence. This is not the plantation and we are Nigerians, we are deserving of respect, pride and integrity. If I ramble on, it is, because I am trying to prove a point that is known by many and acknowledged by the very few.

Gov Aregbesola

It is disturbing that in many states, workers in local authorities have not been paid for months. The excuse made by many of the accused states was that the federal government deliberately withheld funding to pay the monthly salary of local government staff.

This is shocking beyond words, one month delay has a knock on effect but  months of  arrears,this  is deplorable and  inconceivable that these  state governors that expected their staff to  go without, should truly be ashamed of expecting people to  be  productive  while they are starving . This  is cruelty in its rawest form and  unbelievable that a  crass excuse; that the federal  government deliberately withheld allocation payment cannot and  should not   wash while  some  are over indulging in  feast  while  others starve.

So, when some well-meaning people from the Christian Associations of Nigeria(CAN), called on  churches  to organise  food banks where  people  can collect food parcel for civil  servants  who  have  not  been paid  for  several  months, shows that things have  got that bad that the  church is  giving back! Osun is one of 22 states that are owing salary arrears to their respective workers.

Hunger, they say is a poor political adviser,  no one can  function on  an  empty stomach and no  administration should sit back  and watch while many are unable to feed their families and  still expect them to  be  productive. I know that GMB has instructed the states to pay their workers from the allocation that they had received from the federal government.  But the states insist that they are short of funds to pay salaries. Something is wrong here. Where is the money?

Speaking about the delay in payments, Reverend Elisha Ogundiya, chair of the Osun State chapter of CAN, called on church leaders to rally aid to assist them. He said that the church should go beyond feeding congregations with spiritual food especially at this time but should also rally round to offer them succour. He went on; “I talked about Christians and Muslims and others who are passing through hardship in Osun State because of the non-payment of their salaries for months.

Workers are passing through hardship and some who have retired have died because of lack of money to take care of themselves. He went on that “We Christians have to emulate the action of the Good Samaritan in the Bible who assisted somebody he should not assist ordinarily, so, we should assist our brothers and sisters. I urge church leaders and local government chairmen to go back home contribute food and other items to assist all these people who are in need.”

This is not the job of the church to feed the workers in as much as that is laudable and altruistic to do so.   I believe that if you work for an honest day work, that you should expect to be paid for your work. There is no quibbles here, you work, and you get paid.

Although the Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, described the  situation as “ very painful” the inability of some states to pay workers’ salaries, it is cold  comfort and there should have been  some contingency plans in place to  provide relief for this prolonged hardship.

Aregbesola, went on to say that the challenge of unpaid salaries should not be seen as opportunities by some to pillory either his government or any other facing the same challenges. With all due respect, this means nothing to those who go to bed every night on an empty belly. I am sure it will be a different story if the state representatives pay was delayed by a day, there will be a solution post haste.

One worker described his experience: “It has been very difficult to survive without salary for months. We cannot even afford to pay the school fees of children in private schools, while we also trek to the office sometimes”.   This is not how a civil society operate and you cannot expect a society to function if the gap of the “haves” and “have not” is so wide.

As a health professional working in psychiatry, I have seen the impact that poverty has on a person’s emotional health; the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness, the impact it has on the individual and extended family. I see that in some of the personal stories resulted from the protracted salary arrears. It is devastating and unjust. One of the cases is that of Ojo Owolabi, a senior civil servant in Obokun local government area of Osun State, who attempted suicide by drinking a large quantity of insecticide. The  case of  Owolabi  moved  me  and I  can only  imagine the desperation he had been enduring to want to  end his  life because he could no longer cater for his family as a result of this debacle.

Owolabi, who is a sanitary officer at the council, and depending on how you view this, he was lucky to have survived.