Joy and excitements rend the air among workers in Akwa Ibom State as Governor Umo Eno has made good his plans to implement the new minimum wage.
The Governor had promised that following the receipt of report from the workers verification committee last month, he was going to implement the new minimum wage of 80,000 naira for the State’s workers, 10,000 naira higher than the national minimum wage.
When he made this pronouncement last month, most people did not believe that the payments will come jointly with the arrears of the increment, from November to December, which had earlier been paid with the old salary scale.
According to a permanent secretary in the State, Akparawa James Edet, “over twenty staff in my ministry ran into my office in excitement when they could not believe their eyes at the amount dropped into their accounts.
“They had thought the Government will stagger the arrears into the subsequent months’ salary, as is usually done in most cases.
“But Governor Eno has surprised them by lumping up everything and paying in bulk and we all are so appreciative of this kind gesture”, he said.
Reacting to this, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Ekerete Udoh, said Governor Eno is keeping his promise of prioritizing the welfare of workers.
He recounted that 32 workers in the state, last week were gifted a million naira each, while one got a car gift from the Governor, all as incentives to encourage them to work harder.
The Governor’s spokesman said these actions would spur the State into having a more productive and committed workforce to add value to the ARISE Agenda of the Governor.
