At a time the Federal Government alongside the majority of state governments in Nigeria are entangled in a protracted minimum wage (or call it a living wage) debate with members of the organized labour, Edo State, under Governor Godwin Obaseki, appears to be sending positive signals. Also newsy and of course commendable is the fact that all initiatives, policies and efforts by the Edo State government to better the socio-economic life chances of her workers are not mere declaration of intent but visibly backed by positive actions.
Now, this is the point; recall that sometime in May 2023, when the fuel subsidy was newly removed by the Federal Government, Governor Godwin was the first state governor that as part of efforts to cushion the effects of the rising cost of living in the country, triggered by the recent removal of subsidy on petroleum products, gave various forms of palliatives such as free bus ride, reduced working days, etc.
Also heartening within that era was the awareness that the workers were permitted by the governor to work from home twice a week and show up in the office three days per week, measures the governor noted were taken as the state’s immediate response to the stoppage of petrol subsidy payment by the Federal Government, which pushed up food costs and petrol price.
Before the dust of excitement raised by the governor’s magnanimity could settle, another was up; this time around, Obaseki again raised the minimum wage for workers in the state from N40,000 to N70,000. Like the previous increase in the past, Obaseki’s action came at a time when other state governors were still foot dragging over the N30,000 minimum wage.
To further demonstrate the state governor’s sincerity, a recent report that following the meeting held Thursday, June 13, 2024, between the Health Unions, including the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, the Nigeria Medical Association, the Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria with the officials from Edo State government, including the Head of Service, Permanent Secretary, Hospital Management Agency, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, and the Permanent Secretary, Human Resources, it was announced that the governor of Edo State has implemented demands regarding remuneration. The Enhanced Basic Salary and Hazard Allowance Review of CONHESS/CONMESS, as an equivalent of N70,000 minimum wage of Edo workers has been approved with a financial implication of about N229 million.
The statement further stated that due to the directive from the governor of Edo State on 12th June 2024, that salaries are paid to all Edo workers on Friday, 14th June 2024, in light of the Sallah celebration, health workers will receive their old salaries in June 2024. The new salary structure and Enhanced Hazard Allowance implemented in June 2024, it was added, will be paid during July salary payment, including arrears for June 2024. The memo ended.
Conversely, as Edo civil servants rejoice while the debate ‘flourishes’ in other states of the country with hope for their workers, the truth must be told to the effect that Governor Obaseki has set serious examples for his fellow state governors and of course the Federal Government.
Separate from demonstrating that we are poor as nation not because of our geographical location or absence of Mineral resources but because of the policies public office holders make, the Edo state Governor has through this singular action exemplified that he considers Edo state civil servants as equal ‘generals’ in the state’s developmental army.
From Obaseki’s example, the hour has come and it is urgently true that if we are to remain as one united Nigeria, those in the position of authority must stop creating second class citizens. Our governor must internalize as well as recognize that ‘power properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve a purpose. That power is the strength required to bring about social, economic, political, cultural and religious changes.’
What is also needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. That power at its best is love implementing the demand of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love’. That until workers in the country are provided with the right incentives, care and encouragement, the nation will never conquer obstacles needed to assist in achieving developmental goals and objectives.
Thus, as the excruciating pains arising from high cost of living continues to fester, what Obaseki, in my view, is telling other leaders is that to avoid failure, a leader must develop his vision according to a strict timetable, because delay and procrastination are the enemies of success. That many leaders lost crucial battles because they did not make the right decisions at the right time; when they finally did, it was too late – the situation had changed and potential victories turned into defeats.
Without doubt, Obaseki may not be a saint or an angel, but what got this piece fixated on him is that his action coincided with the nation’s era of visible shortfalls in dedicated and courageous leaders reputed for promoting the principle of ‘greater good for greater number’.
This fact becomes overwhelmingly valid when one remembers that this is not his first impressive and exemplary people-focused leadership provisions.
Take as an illustration, a few months ago, precisely in January, 2023, it was in the news that under his watch, the Edo Modular Refinery commenced operation at its 6,000 barrels per day (bpd) plant in Ologbo, Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of the state, with plans underway to complete the phase II of the project, and after which, its production capacity will jump from 6,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 21,000bpd.
The modular refinery going by media reports, is a fully funded project undertaken by AIPCC Energy Limited in a joint venture between AFCOM Oil & Gas and Peiyang Chemical Equipment Company of China, but was developed by Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited (ERPC) with support from the state government through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Remarkably important is the fact that Obaseki’s people-oriented and development focused leadership in the state is coming at about the same time when other state governors in the country cannot revitalize infrastructures in their states or incubate new ones. Also worth underlining is the fact that the referenced refinery1 which had the capacity to produce 50percent of diesel (500,000 litres), 25 percent of naphtha (300,000 litres) and 200,000 litres of Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO), is not the first, but the second attracted to the state by the administration of the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, to boost investment inflow and drive industrialization in the state.
Through Governor Obaseki’s efforts in the state, it was reported that thousands of direct and indirect jobs for the good people of Edo State have been created-men and women, young and old alike while the coming of the refinery have increased the state’s revenue base.
Even as this author joins Edo civil servants to celebrate Obaseki’s leadership benevolence with accompanying request that he do more for the people of the state before his departure, it also necessitates the call on all Nigerians to recover their moral and strategic ‘health’ to stand again for freedom, demand accountability from their leaders particularly their state governors for poor decisions, missed judgment, lack of planning, lack of preparation and willful denial of the obvious truth about serious and imminent threats that are facing their states. The time is ripe for Nigerians to reject the false and horrendous reasons being offered to them by their clueless state governors as an explanation for why their states are not yet developed.
The above initiative aside from addressing the scary unemployment levels in his state through productive partnership with key players in the nation’s private sector, this piece holds the opinion that one useful lesson other state governors must learn is that to survive as a nation, leaders must creatively support industrialization of their various states as failure to do so, will see the state continue to find itself faced with difficulty accelerating economic life cycle of its people.
Utomi is the programme coordinator (media and public policy), Social and Economic Justice Advocacy (SEJA), a Lagos-based non-governmental organization
