Ikpeazu Legacy Of Wickedness: Abia Workers Begin Indefinite Strike Tuesday Over Four Years Unpaid Salaries, Pensions

Abia State, with the facts on ground, can be described as a failed State not because of its hard working citizens but for the lack of governance by successive wicked leaders.

Under Theodore Orji and Okezie Ikpeazu, Abians have witnessed the highest level of slavery as they Labour without any reward and this has brought so much untold hardship to the people of the state.

It is for the this reason that the Abia Health workers have downed tools even as most of the Specialist Doctors had long left the country for greener pastures in the foreign land.

Today, the Nigeria Labour Congress in Abia State said it has concluded plans to commence an indefinite strike today (Tuesday) over several months and years of pensions owed its members by the out-going state government led by Okezie Ikpeazu

The state chairman of the NLC, Pascal Nweke, disclosed this to newsmen Monday, saying, “By midnight tomorrow, Abia workers will begin an indefinite strike over non-payment of salaries and pensions.”

Nweke explained that Abia NLC had met with the state government and an agreement was reached and signed by both parties but “after that, nothing was done.”

“They invited me and our Secretary and explained that they had problems with their banks. We gave them time to solve their bank problems and later, nothing happened.

“Last week to our surprise, the state government embarked on discriminatory salary payment by paying the Local Government staff their March salaries, whereas, others are owed more than 36 months’ salaries,” he added.

In his speech during the 2023 Workers Day celebration in Umuahia, Nweke listed the indebtedness to Abia workers to include, Senior Secondary School Teachers – 28 months’ salary arrears and 14 months and half salary arrears, Junior Secondary School Teachers – Teachers salary structure of 27.5 per cent not paid since over 10 years, 10 months’ salary arrears and four months half salary arrears.

Others include Abia Line Network – (36 months’ salary arrears) non-implementation of minimum wage at the Local Government level – (even the ten thousand naira across all level consequential adjustment was not implemented too), November and December 2020 salary to the Local Government Staff still outstanding, Hospital Management Board (16 months’ salary arrears), ABSUTH Aba (27 months of salary arrears), ABSU (12 months of salary arrears), Abia Poly, Aba (43 months’ salary arrears), ASCETA Arochukwu — 32 months’ salary arrears and ASUBEB Headquarters (seven months of salary arrears and non-implementation of minimum wage); amongst others. 

The incoming government of Alex Otti will be faced with litany of problems that boarder on infrastructural deficit, years of unpaid salaries and pensions with psychological trauma of the citizens whose means of livelihood and investments have been be swallowed up by decay of roads and other social amenities.