News

August 1, 2011

How to avert crisis over new pay, by clergyman

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA
OWERRI — President Goodluck Jonathan has been urged to make provision for supplementary budget to accommodate the minimum wage of all category of workers, as demanded  by the leadership of Labour.

Anglican Archbishop of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province, Most Rev. Bennett Okoro, in an interview, stressed that crisis would be averted if government heeded the advice.

He described as “uncharitable” a situation where  some people received N10,000 monthly, while others go home with N10 million, stressing that the disparity of income was not on the salaries of public office holders but their jumbo allowances.

Commending labour leaders for suspending the planned warning strike, Archbishop Okoro, however, advised the National Salaries and Wages Commission to slash salaries and allowances of political office holders.

He said: “The gulf between the rich and poor is very wide. Many young graduates are hungry, angry and unemployed, while our politicians are parading ill-gotten wealth.

“Armed robbery, kidnapping and violent crimes will be minimised when there is an egalitarian society where everyone is fairly treated.”