Last week, Governor Willie Obiano, as usual, flagged off the annual ritual of distribution of bags of rice to civil and public servants in Anambra state. Governor Obiano did the flag off during a parley with the state workforce at the Jerome Udoji Secretariat Complex, Awka.

The governor, during the occasion, also honoured seven workers from Anambra state who received the Nigeria Public Sector Leadership and Productivity Award of the federal government. The recipients were the MD/CEO of ABS, Chief Dr. Uche Nworah; Dr Emmanuel Ude-Akpeh, Mrs Carol Njaka, Mrs Stephnie Keri-Uzo, Ngozi Onuorah, Adebayo Oyejinka and Mr Uchenna Ezeani.

It would be recalled that Governor Obiano himself was honoured by the Federal Government of Nigeria last year as the winner of that year’s Award as the Most Outstanding Governor On Workers’ Welfare. The award was organized by the Office of the Secretary to the Federal Government (The Presidency), Abuja, in collaboration with the House of Representatives Committee on Governmental Affairs.
Akpokuedike was recognized out of others in the thirty-six states in Nigeria and Abuja for his “labour-friendly policies, prompt payment of wages and salaries, as well as commitment to human capital development”.

No doubt, every rational thinker should applaud Akpokuedike, bearing in mind his outstanding and exemplary disposition to the welfare of workers and pensioners in the state. It would be recalled that the multiple award-winning governor, soon after his inauguration on March 17, 2014, keyed into the vision of the United Nations by recognizing the imperative of a motivated workforce. This, he proved, by increasing workers salaries by fifteen percent in 2015, the increase he repeated in subsequent years.

In addition, his administration formulated an unprecedented policy of ensuring that on or before the twenty-fifth of every month, workers smile to the banks to receive their salaries. This feat has made workers to nickname Governor Obiano as the “alert governor”. Furthermore, Akpokuedike has demonstrated in unmistakable terms that workers’ welfare is sine–qua-non to enhanced productivity by ensuring that every year their leave allowances are paid along their December salaries, which he promised to repeat this year.

Also, workers are given a bag of Anambra rice every December. No other state government in the federation has achieved this feat. Governor Obiano equally ensures that promotions are in line with the civil service rules. More so, the present administration procured many mass transit buses to ply the Onitsha, Ekwulobia, Nnewi and Otuocha routes. The essence is to convey workers to work from their places of residence at highly subsidized rates.

In addition, the governor approved the scheduling of the Anambra Broadcasting Service and the Anambra Newspapers and Printing Corporation Staff into the Pension Scheme as well as liquidated the arrears of gratuities and pensions owed their retired staff. Teachers handling core subjects and those in hard to reach areas earn higher than other workers as Akpokuedike gives them additional incentive as motivation.
The irony of this rare show of commitment of the governor to the workers in the state is that it is happening at a time in the nation’s history when some states still owe their workforce some months of arrears of salaries. While some state governments in the federation are involved in one faceoff or the other with the labour unions in their states, the labour unions in Anambra State maintain a high level of cordiality with the Obiano administration.

In fact, most labour unions in the state have at different occasions given the governor The Most Workers-Friendly Governor in Nigeria award for showing strong and positive disposition towards the welfare of the workers.

The Obiano administration has indeed extended its hands of fellowship to workers in the state. The best he can do for workers is to put mechanisms in place to ensure that the foundation he laid will be sustained by his successor. Workers, on their part, should reciprocate the gesture by being more alive to their responsibilities.

By: COM. GODDY IBEKWE

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