Now that Gov Hope Uzodimma has started to pay over 14,000 workers he declared as ghost workers, how should we react to him? Should we applaud him or disparage? In the opinion of many the sudden stoppage of salary payment by Imo government to thousands of its workers which it declared ghosts is a clear aberration and height of wickedness.
Recall that shortly after assuming office Uzodimma promised to be paying salaries and pensions every 25th monthly but that promise is only observed in breach since then. He embarked on fresh screening of workers following which he claimed he is now saving 2bn naira monthly from ghost workers. From March 2020 till a few days back over 14,000 Imo civil servants were not paid.
After his verifications following which he took out hard earned tax payers’ money to publish his cleared workers, and the others he declared as ghosts who fraudulently entered the system. Funny as it is some of these workers have spent over 25 years in service and have scaled through many series of screening under the previous governments.
These workers bore their pains for so long and after series of fruitless documentations and screening they took their destiny in their hands and last month confronted Uzodimma in a protest action at his government house. The governor we learnt voted with his legs through the back door as he lost courage to confront the workers he labeled ghosts. It became real to him that he owed real workers.
It was like wise counsel prevailed over the governor as he made a volte face to honour his obligations to the workers by one month. It was exciting to the teachers at Ikenegbu Primary School when two of the affected teachers owed over 12 months salary got their one month pay. It was celebration galore as they danced, raised their hands in praise of God, while others joined in chorusing the praises.
I was not moved one bit. While they celebrated they also heaped curses at Uzodimma who they likened to wicked Jezebel. I took pity wondering at the heartlessness of politicians who had turned themselves to demi-God determining who should benefit from the resources of the state which they have earned out of their sweat.
So many questions ran through my minds. Why would politicians deliberately chose to punish the people they are supposed to care for? At what point did Uzodimma find these people genuine workers to be paid their salaries. How did he arrive at the decision to declare them ghost workers? What did he do with the salaries that they would have earned? How would they be compensated for the inconveniences that they have suffered so far?
Is Uzodimma aware that many of them have lost relations and some died because of the absence of the paltry sum that would have kept them going through their challenges? How is that compensated for? What is the level of efficiency of the Consultants domiciled in the governor’s charged with paying workers emoluments which is now rumuored to be another honey pot for fraud. Who is checking the activities of the Consultants who are reported to be paying people over 600k monthly and negotiating for sharing of the deal
Can Uzodimma now apologize to these poor workers he has owed and caused serious stress in the last one year? Can Uzodimma quantify the loss of productivity Imo state has suffered because they were demotivated? Labeling the workers with the tag of ghosts is the most uncharitable thing to do by a government that claims to care and share prosperity or is it poverty now.
It is a complete admission of failure to discredit workers as fake only to turn round to pay them. There is much more to it than the eyes can behold. The government needs to speak on this issue rather than sweep it away with silence. Imo people deserve a better deal than the pummeling they are getting from this government. There is need for accountability. The politicians are the real problem of the Nigerian society and it has been properly demonstrated in this matter. The situation appears worse in Imo.
Rains are here, Uzodimma where is the Craneburg on our roads?
The rains are here already and the few moments the heavens have opened up have provided us the sad reminder that we will soon be grappling with the effects of bad roads. There is so much noise about the governor and roads in the state which some sycophants have not spared us.
Aside from the already marked out roads by Gov Emeka Ihedioha around Chukwuma Nwoha Street and a few others in the capital city Imo people indications appear are still going to suffer again when the rain comes on full steam. Even in the capital city some of the residents are already feeling the effect. The Umuguma road to the local government appears abandoned. Deposits of sands litter the roads and wasting from washing away by rains and commuters yet no work is going on there for months.
It is worse with our rural roads that have remained in a state of abandonment ever since and dating from the Okorocha era. Even the much hyped Craneburg Construction firm trumpeted to bring magic to both Orlu and Okigwe roads are nowhere to be seen. I have traveled so frequently in the past few days along Okigwe road with no visible presence of the construction giants leaving one to wonder.
It brings to memory the earlier jubilation that engulfed the state when it was announced that world renowned construction giants, Julius Berger was coming to fix Imo roads. It turned out a hoax with no explanation to Imo people on why their hope was dashed. In February some kind of construction seemingly widening the roads from Akabo to somewhere around Anara was taking place. It never showed any sign of a serious activity going on. Yours sincerely struggled to capture the domicile of the construction yard of the firm but saw none.
Even activities at some of the roads are going on at snail speed, some abandoned due to failure of government to honour its obligation. Gov Uzodimma, please do something urgently to reduce the burden.
