The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Saturday, declared that his administration would commence the payment of the N70,000 minimum wage once the issue of consequential salary adjustment has been addressed.
This was contained in a statement made available to journalists by his Special Adviser on Media, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, in Ibadan, the state capital.
Makinde also announced the extension of the N25,000 wage award to workers and the N15,000 wage award to pensioners for another three months.
He noted that the extension was to cover the period that the negotiation on the consequential adjustment would last, adding that the payment of the wage award would stop upon the conclusion of negotiations to effectively implement the minimum wage.
“On the minimum wage, negotiation will start next week and we will pay the N70,000 minimum wage. But the consequential adjustment is about to be negotiated. The NLC and our team will sit down to discuss it.”
The governor, who lauded teachers in the state for their massive support during the last election and their immeasurable contributions to building the state, said his government would continue to prioritise the welfare of teachers and all civil servants in the state so that they would continue to be productive.
Noting that education remains one of the major pillars of his government, the governor promised to improve more educational infrastructure so that teachers could continue to impart knowledge in a conducive environment to guarantee a better future for the state.
“I want to say kudos to the teachers. Everywhere I went during the campaign, you mobilised yourselves and supported us wholeheartedly. So, I appreciate you, and I say thank you.
“We are going through challenges as a country. We have issues of minimum wage and fuel prices, but I want to appeal to you to remember that tough times don’t last, but tough people do. We will outlast these challenges we face.
“Any country that wants to develop must educate its people. So, for us in the state, we will continue to take special care of our teachers because they are shaping our future.
“You teachers have to be placed where you belong. So, I thank you for your support and dedication to duty. We still have a long way to go.
“When we came in, with the UBEC grant and matching fund we used to provide, we were spending about N3 billion every year on infrastructure. So, over the past five years, we have spent about N15 billion, but it is not enough—just like a drop in the ocean.
“The gap we have to fill, when we did the analysis a few years ago, was around N40 billion, but I can tell you now that it will be close to N70 billion.
“If we continue to spend N3 billion yearly for the next 15 years, we still won’t cover the gap on the ground. So apart from SUBEB, we will have education intervention funds of a minimum of N10 billion every year towards bridging the infrastructural gap in education.
“And of course, we will employ more teachers and provide them with a conducive learning environment that would guarantee better outcomes for our students.”
The governor, while commissioning a block of 10 classrooms built by the NUT at the NUT Model School, maintained that his administration’s commitment to fixing inner roads remained on course and that it would work on inner roads within the Owode Housing Estate.
Earlier, the state NUT Chairman, Raji Ismail, thanked the governor for his “unprecedented achievements in the education sector and for being mindful of teachers’ welfare through his encouragement of career progression for primary school teachers, regular payment of salaries, promotions, payment of leave bonuses, and healthcare insurance, among others.”
