… assures of man-hour reduction, palliatives
… appreciates them for peaceful conduct of protest
His Excellency, Senator Douye Diri, Governor of Bayelsa State today addressed workers in the State who joined a national protest called by labour unions over the economic hardship in the country.
The protest was directed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to all State chapters in the country.
Governor Diri while addressing the workers who marched to the Government House gate in Yenagoa, assured of man-hour reduction stating that it is a national issue that State Governors have little to contribute.
The Governor also noted that the issues of palliatives will be looked into.
“Seeing you protesting across the whole country, the power of government belongs to you the people, that’s why in anything I do, I see the people as number one. In any project I do, in any policy we bring out, we look at the effect on the people.
But I believe that the President will listen to this protest. It is not out of place, you have done this protest for me also and for every other Nigerian.
I can assure you that all of us are not sleeping. If it were something within our reach as governors or as a government of Bayelsa, you would have heard from me by now but it is beyond our reach. It is a national issue.
But be that as it may, I want to assure you that as a worker-friendly government from day one, we will also consider the few issues you have raised here, particularly on the issue of man hour. I am going to dialogue with the Head of Service and the NLC chairman and we will look for the appropriate steps to take to reduce the workers’ man hours so that in terms of paying transport, you can be relieved.
My advice again to our workers beyond earning your salaries, let’s go back to farming, it is high time we also think out of the box, this is the time we need to explore other areas, mostly farming or trading to augment your salaries.
But for now, the issue of palliatives is always there, we will also look at it and address it properly.
Once again, I want to thank you for your peaceful conduct and for the very cordial relationship that we have enjoyed as a government with the workers and the leadership of the workers and let’s continue to sustain that trajectory. Let us put Bayelsa first, let us put our country first,” Governor Diri stated.
In his address, the State Chairman of the NLC, Bayelsa chapter, Comr. Barnabas Simon appealed to those in authority to urgently take steps to revert this ugly economic trajectory before the situation gets out of control.
He stressed the need for interim measures to assuage the impact on workers, as some state governments are considering man-hours reduction for workers and palliatives to cushion the effect.
He also appealed to the Governor to come up with policies that would bring succour to Bayelsa workers.
