It was a sad day in Benin, the Edo capital, on Wednesday, as a civil<\/p>\n
servant slumped and died during a protest march over the refusal of the
\nstate government to pay salaries of local government workers.<\/p>\n
The workers, all dressed in black, blocked sections of the busy Ring Road
\nholding placards and chanting anti-government songs while lamenting their
\nplight. No Edo local government worker has been paid in 2016; with the
\nworst hit being Egor LGA workers who are being owed 18-months salaries.<\/p>\n
It was in the midst of the protest march that a middle-aged male
\nprotester, Peter Ayewoh, from Esan North-East local governemnt council
\nslumped and gave up the ghost. His body has been deposited in Uromi after
\nthe hospital certified him dead.<\/p>\n
As news of his death filtered through the crowd, protesters boiled in
\nanger and the mood went sour. Some labour members made a move to attack a
\ncampaign vehicle belonging to the APC governorship candidate, Godwin
\nObaseki, but were restrained by their leaders.<\/p>\n
During the protest, labour leaders and members took turns to condemn the
\nactions of the Edo state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, a former union
\npresident.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came from us but he has used and dumped us,\u201d said Comrade Edward Young
\nIlenikhena, the state chairman of the National Union of Local Government
\nEmployees (NULGE), to the protesters. \u201cBut there will be no retreat, no
\nsurrender until he pays us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oshiomhole has said he will not pay the local government workers because
\nlocal councils in the state are autonomous and not his responsibility. He
\nalso accused local government employees of corruption. Oshiomhole said
\nthat workers are being sponsored by opposition politicians to stage
\nprotests at this time because of the upcoming governorship poll in the
\nstate.<\/p>\n
The workers however dispute the governor\u2019s claims, describing him as
\n\u201cwicked\u201d and a \u201cliar.\u201d The state and local governments share a joint
\naccount from which the governor made deductions in the time of boom but
\nrefuses to take responsibility now that there is a shortfall in revenue.<\/p>\n
Oshiomhole\u2019s claim of local government autonomy is unfounded. No local
\ngovernment area in Nigeria has autonomy. A 2015 move to amend the
\nconstitution and grant them autonomy failed as majority of state
\nassemblies opposed it.<\/p>\n
National president of NULGE, Ibrahim Khaleel, was also in Benin in
\nsolidarity with the Edo workers. He slammed \u201cthe inhuman policies\u201d of
\nOshiomhole and said that the national secretariat of the union has been
\nrelocated to Edo state.<\/p>\n
Khaleel disclosed that a meeting on Thursday between labour leaders and
\ngovernment officials ended in deadlock because of the \u201cblackmail,
\nintimidation and lies\u201d by Gov. Oshiomhole.<\/p>\n
He condoled labour members in the state over the death of their colleague
\nin the course of the protest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was a sad day in Benin, the Edo capital, on Wednesday, as a civil servant slumped and died during a protest march over the refusal of the state government…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n