The timely, swift and quick response to the heartbreaking report on the arbitrary deduction of staff salary by the state civil service commission is both heartwarming and commendable. For one, such heartwarming result achieved through a constructive engagement with a system many have written off seems off-kilter.
In fact, what happened within the space of one month into the issue of inconsistent and arbitrary deduction of salary seems strange, alien, and utterly ‘unNigerian’. keeping in mind that it took the courage of some affected staff to speak out against all odds about the scale of systemic injustice and rot that continue to clog our Nation’s wheel of progress.
In a way, the messages of appreciation shown to this columnist is overwhelming and massive. And it further reinforces the change we can effect in our own little ways without fear or favor or being driven by material things or pecuniary gains.
Before I continue, let me specially thank someone, a leader, a true unionist who called me immediately that story went online. I won’t mention that person’s name because I haven’t sought his permission. But I hope he’s going to read this. For close to thirty minutes, this gentleman walked me through the curves and contours of issues around payment of salary and the tough battle government continue to confront in the face of revenue shortfall and dwindling allocation from the federal government. He told me the ugly scenarios in states like Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Ogun and even Lagos.
He added that it is only in Oyo in the entire south West where workers are being paid thirteen months salary; and that an economically buoyant state like Lagos hasn’t even done that in years. He furthered by stressing at an instance in Kano where the state government has slashed workers salary in part because of the inconsistent allocation from the federal government.
Similarly, he commended the effort of this columnist saying there is need to have more community driven people who will stand for what’s right and ask that what’s right be done at all time. Although, he expressed his reservation for the approach employed by the affected staff, he nonetheless promised to dig into the matter and ensure the right thing is done.
The result of his efforts I assumed is the complete payment of salary in the month of March. Others like him who took up the matter and ensure it was speedily addressed, thank you and let’s keep working to make the system efficient in service delivery. This kind of efforts borne of our passion to stand for what’s right shows that we can still effect as much change as possible by deploying internal mechanism while exploring various ways to resolve lingering issues between the system and affected workers.
“Thank you Mr. Gbadegesin, your story went viral because what you did wrote is nothing but the truth” one affected staff texted me after receiving her monthly take home. Another one wrote “Your courage to tell the story of injustice shows we can still rely on people like you to speak true to power, thank you for showing up for others at a time it was difficult to do that”.
As Buddha beautifully captured it: only three things cannot hide for long: the moon, the sun and the TRUTH.
OYO101, Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion on issues affecting Oyo State, is published on Saturdays. He can be reached via muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com and 09065176850
