By Suzan Edeh
Bauchi— Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State, yesterday, lamented over what he described as huge wage bill being paid by his administration, saying salaries of workers had taken the greater percentage of statutory receipts from the federation account by the state government.

Yuguda lamented that the problem was further being compounded by decline in the revenue accruing to the state from the centre in recent months.

This was even as the Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, in the state, Comrade Hasimu Gital, has commended civil servants in the state for their understanding and loyalty demonstrated when they sacrificed 10 per cent of their salaries for a period of four months due to the dwindling resources of the state.

The governor who spoke in Bauchi during the Workers Day celebrations at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, noted, however, that the situation was not peculiar to Bauchi State, but a nationwide phenomenon.

He was represented on the occasion by his deputy, Alhaji Aminu Sagir Saleh.

According to him, some states had already downsized their workforce while others were unable to pay salaries as at when due.

“At this time of dwindling resources, workers are expected to appreciate the situation and identify with the government by making necessary sacrifices to enable government sustain monthly salary payments and proceed with rendering socio-economic services.

“It is on record that since this administration came into being in May 2007, we had consistently paid salaries on or before 27th of every month, including local government staff. There were even instances that salaries were paid in advance, particularly during annual festivities such as Sallah and Christmas,” Yuguda added.

He expressed optimism that the difficult times were temporal and would fizzle out with time, calling on the leadership of the, NLC, to educate and sensitize their members in order to salvage the situation.

Earlier, the state Head of Service, Mr Abdon Gin had said that the decline in the state’s revenue was temporal and called on civil servants to continue to show patriotism during the trying period in the state.

He also urged civil servants in the state to show commitment to their jobs, saying that the service would no longer tolerate laxity towards official duties

Meanwhile, the NLC has decried the growing level of insecurity in the country, calling on security agencies to re-double their efforts in order to unravel their perpetrators.

It also urged the Federal Government to wakeup to its responsibilities and address the challenges of insecurity in the North-East region of the country.

The state Chairman of the congress, Comrade Gital who threw the challenge during the workers’ day celebration, entitled “Building enduring peace and unity for national development”, lamented that the issue of insurgency, kidnapping and killing of innocent citizens has continued to dominate the lives of the people living in the north and not much is being done to avert the ugly situation.

According to him,“It is disheartening that the issue of insecurity continues to linger in this country. The memories of the recent bombing at a bubbling and busy bus stop at Nyanya in Abuja that claimed over 70 lives has brought fear and grief to the nation.

“The recent abduction of over 100 secondary school girls at Chibok in Borno state calls for concerted efforts by our security agencies and all concerned to end this insurgency before it consumes us”

“We condemn it and we expect the government its security agencies to protect lives of Nigerians. The government must ensure that the perpetrators of this heinous act are brought to book without further delay.”
Labour also expressed concern over the high rate of unemployment in the country, saying that over 25 percent of the nation population were unemployed.