By Amos Aar
BENUE State governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, has appealed to the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to rescind their plan to embark on a nationwide industrial action.
Governor Alia, who made the appeal on Sunday in his address to the state in commemoration of Nigeria’s 63rd Independence Day celebration in Makurdi, said government was working round the clock to meet workers’ demands and urged the two labour centres to exercise more patience.
Although he noted that his administration does not consider regular payment of pensions, gratuity and public workers’ salaries as achievement, Alia reassured of his administration’s determination to sustain the practice to stabilise welfare package of the state’s workforce.
The governor said the payment for this year’s Senior Secondary School Examination fees of all students in government approved public secondary schools in the state, the purchase of 100 buses to be handed over to Benue Links Transport Company soon, would help cushion the effect of the removal of petrol subsidy.
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On security, Governor Alia, while identifying with the family of the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Hon. Matthew Aboh, and other kidnap victims in the state, disclosed that the government and the security agencies were working tirelessly to ensure the safe release of the abductees as soon as possible.
The governor also noted that the agricultural sector in the state has the potential to boost food security and enhance job creation when fully tapped, saying it was the reason his administration procured 100 trucks of fertilizer for distribution for farmers at subsidised rates shortly after coming into office.
He urged Benue youths trekking to Abuja and other cities to honour certain Nigerians to desist from the act immediately and avail themselves for the ICT training organised by the state government to enable them to become self-reliant in the future.
Governor Alia further revealed that a master plan for peace was being worked out to address communal clashes in some parts of the state to ensure lasting peace, security and safety of lives and property at the state’s border areas.
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The governor said his administration has also created room for innovative ideas and constructive criticisms, adding that corruption and nepotism are already being relegated especially as the administration is poised to foist the flags of merit, equity, equality, justice and fairness in all its dealings.
While appreciating the people of the state for believing and standing by him to deliver good governance, the governor equally saluted the people who made the country’s independence possible, thanking God for keeping the country together despite some events that have in the past, threatened the its peaceful coexistence.
