Nigeria Labour Congress in Plateau State on Wednesday accused the state government of not living up to its responsibilities in payment of workers' salaries and allowances.
The state NLC Chairman, Mr. Jibril Banchir, stated this at the May Day celebrations at the Rwang-Pam Township Stadium in Jos, saying the development was the cause of the litigation between the workers and the state government.
He said, "Our reward from the Plateau State Government as workers is to be taking us to court, each time we complain of non-fulfillment of government obligation to us. We are been either denied our entitlements, or paid half salaries after a long period."
Banchir, who also said the state was lagging behind in other human endeavours, regretted that its leaders were only paying lip service to the welfare of citizens and development of the state.
He noted, for instance, that in education the state had suffered the worst deprivation, stressing that the state was three years behind in the academic calendar.
He said, "While our counterparts in other states had graduated three sets of students in the last three years, Plateau State is still battling to amend the last academic calendar and this, for us, is unfortunate."
Governor Jonah Jang, who was represented by the Head of Service, Mr. Ezekiel Dalyop, pledged the state government commitment to paying workers their due.
In Awka, Anambra State, the celebration took a dramatic turn as workers heckled and booed the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Oseloka Obaze, as he addressed them.
Obaze, who represented Governor Peter Obi, stopped his speech and threatened to walk out on the workers if they continued to boo him.
However, the state government promised to continue to meet the needs of the workers as well as the plight of those disengaged from the services of Abia State Government.
Meanwhile, labour leaders in Bayelsa State disagreed with the decision of the state government to dismiss, demote and suspend some teachers, declaring the action as arbitrary and undemocratic.
The leaders, under the aegis of the state chapter of the NLC, asked the state's Universal Basic Education Board to reverse immediately the decision.
The State Chairman of NLC, Mrs. Ebiowou Koku-Obiyai, who spoke in Yenagoa during the May Day celebration, said the action of SUBEB was capable of impeding the educational system.
