Federal workers suffer in silence, frustrated, sorrowful, lose confidence in FG, NLC, TUC, Tinubu

Federal workers in Nigeria, under the aegis of Federal Work Force (FWF), have cried out over unlimited suffering in silence, including frustration and living sorrowful life since the removal of subsidy on petrol by President Bola Tinubu in May 2023. The Federal workers lamented that there has been no consistency in the payment of the N35,000 wage award to federal workers by the President to cushion the harsh effects of the subsidy removal.

Emblem of Federal Work Force

The workers at a meeting where they evaluated the staggered implementation of the wage award, agonizing conditions of the federal workers, excruciating hardship in the country, and the dehumanization of workers, declared loss of confidence on the federal government, Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), and President Bola Tinubu, raising alarm that they have deliberately ignored the plight of the federal workers.

The Federal Workers Force in a statement by the National Coordinator of the FWF, Comrade Andrew Emelieze, former Chairman of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Oyo State Council, after an online meeting at the weekend, lamented that the general submission at the meeting was that “the federal workers have been shortchanged, cut off from acceptable social life and our family structure has been badly affected, since the removal of fuel subsidy.”

They lamented that government had promised a palliative package through a wage award to mitigate the sufferings caused by the subsidy removal, unfortunately, the wage ward is not paid promptly.
The workers decried that most workers were only paid once, and that was in September 2023, lamenting that they are owed three months arrears, increasing to four months.

The Federal Workers in the communique, declared: “It has been a tale of harrowing experiences from the federal government workers in Nigeria.

“The workers have been suffering in silence. “Federal government workers are frustrated and sorrowful.
“Live has been made meaningless and hellish since the removal of subsidy on petrol.

“The daily rising cost of living has made everything worthless resulting in monumental hardship being visited on the workers.

“What is surprising in all these is that the response of labour, the federal government and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is nothing to write home about.

“The federal government has derailed in the payment of wage award to workers.
“It is getting to the fourth month that most of the federal government workers have not received any wage award.

“The payment of the wage award has been staggering, while a very few just got the second month, out of the six months promised in September 2023, majority of the federal government workers are yet to collect the October, November and December arrears.

“It is so bad that protest letters against the non-implementation of the wage award has emanated from the military and paramilitary. “The general feelings of workers on the wage award payment is that of being defrauded by the federal government. Workers are now of the notion government don’t care about us.”

They maintained: “Workers are fed up, the sufferings is unlimited.

“It is as if government deliberately tortures the federal employees.

“Workers have gone borrowing in order to survive. What is more surprising is the response by the Tinubu led Federal government pretending that all is well while the federal workers are starving .”

The federal workers, therefore, declared that they are “really very disappointed in the federal government and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for not making provisions for the survival of federal work force after the removal of fuel subsidy.”

The workers added: “We the federal government workers are more disappointed in labour, the NLC/TUC is a disgrace.

“Labour has abandoned the Nigerian workers. “The NLC and the TUC have gone to sleep while workers and, indeed, the the citizenry wallow in abject misery.

“Workers have lost hope in labour, more so now that the Trade Union Congress and the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) are parading a retiree (Tommy Etim Okon) as its vice president and president, respectively.”

The workers, declaring that they have taken their destinies in their hands, accordingly, made the following resolution:

1. That all the outstanding wage award arrears be paid within the next fourteen days.

2. That the government should investigate the delay in the payment of wage award, which we see as an act of corruption.

3 That all outstanding promotion arrears and many other pending arrears owed workers be paid.

4. That all pending arrears owed the federal universities workers be paid.

5 That salaries be paid latest 28th of every month.

6. That the federal government look into and implement our earlier demands concerning free education to the dependents of all federal government workers in all federal government owned schools across all levels..

7.That the federal minimum wage should not be less than three hundred thousand naira (300k)

8. That all federal government workers be ready to react at the expiration of the two weeks ultimatum giving to the federal government if our demands are not met.