By Moses Mbaiorga, Gboko
The Proprietor, Excel Grace Academy, Akaajime, Gboko Local Goverment, Pastor Emmanuel Apeh, has called on employers of labour, especially school owners across the state to create soft landing for their staff to attain higher heights in life.
Pastor Apeh made the call recently in his office while interacting with the press on contemporary issues, including Workers’ Day commemoration, insecurity, sports amongst others.
According to Pastor Apeh, monthly renumerations given to average Nigerian workers, especially teachers and to a larger extent those in the private sector is not commiserate with the work done, as such, their employers should help them engage in other ventures to augment their monthly take home.
When asked how he has been supporting his staff he said, it is on record that there is no teacher that worked in his school for five years and above without having a new course in his life to celebrate.
He said many of his staff have been supported to acquire higher certificates including bachelor’s degrees and masters degrees while others were also assisted to acquire plots of land and even built houses among others.
He added that May salaries were paid on 4 May, 2021 to enable staff use weekend and leisure time to go to farm in order to supplement their teaching job.
While urging those in government to also care for workers and pensioners, Pastor Apeh said they should bear in mind that they too will retire.
Pastor Apeh was also of the opinion that salary increment is not a solution to workers’ woes, rather government should create a fertile ground for local producers and manufacturers as well as encourage locally made products to reduce high dependency ratio on foreign goods.
In his analysis, once workers’ salary is increased everything increases in the market too and when a nation over depends on foreign products, such a state is invariably controlled by foreign forces at the expense of its currency cum economy.
Lamenting over the state of insecurity across the nation, the Excel Grace Academy boss said he is troubled because nowhere is safe and all are living in fear.
He further accused federal government and its agencies for supporting Fulani herdsmen through its actions and inactions, noting that there will be a turn around of things if the federal government deemed it fit as it has both “the yam and knife.”
He said it is a known fact that those herders and the likes carrying out banditry, kidnapping and terrorism acts especially in the North and North Central Nigeria are not bona fide Nigerians, they are foreigners hired for yet to be known assignment.
Pastor Apeh commended Governor Samuel Ortom for standing firm in defence of Benue territory and urged Benue citizens, especially those in his kitchen cabinet to never allow their personal agrandizement land the state in trouble.
