For several months now, workers, especially teachers in Kogi State have not been paid salaries, a development that has crippled activities in the state. For many months, the Yahya Bello-led administration carried out screening exercises across the state. The exercise, according to the authorities, was to weed out ghost workers and pay authentic staff. But laudable as the initiative is, it has been rife with complaints. Many workers were made to undergo the exercise several times and even after they were cleared, another memo came out to say that those hitherto cleared had to go through the exercise all over again. Now, apart the stress in queuing up for long hours for the exercise, workers are made to spend the meagre amount that they have. The screening appears inconclusive and that should not be the case. The names of all those cleared should be published and those not cleared should be told why.

Thereafter, all cleared workers should be paid their salaries. It is no longer news that workers in the state are experiencing hardship due to the non-payment of salaries. Kogi is not the poorest state in the country, so there is no reason why its case should be so pathetic. I call on the governor to put a stop to appointments that are not relevant to the growth of the state. Recently, the governor appointed a Nollywood actress, Mercy Johnson, as his Senior Special Adviser on entertainment. I do not think Kogi is desirous of such appointment at this point in time. People are hungry and they will be more interested in policies and appointments that can help to improve their lot. It is true that the country is in a recession, but what happened to the bailout fund and the Paris Club refund? Kogi people deserve better than they are getting at the moment and I urge the governor to do more.

Also, with all the talk on diversification, I have not seen what Kogi is doing to improve internally generated revenue. It needs to look inwards and harness its resources. In the past, people of Kogi were great farmers. Agricultural activities should be revived and the government should provide the needed input to encourage farmers. The government should also set up a committee urgently to come up with a report on solid minerals available in the state and how to harness them for the overall good of the people. The suffering in the state is too much and the government must take urgent steps to address the issue.

Abdullahi Omeje wrote from Dekina, Kogi State