Ife university central mosque asks Osun Muslim civil servants to come for handouts

ISLAMIC clerics at the Obafemi Awolowo University central mosque have asked Muslim teachers and civil servants in Osun State to come to the place of worship for material assistance in response to the hardships they are suffering as a result of not being paid.

 

Since the start of the year, several of Nigeria's 36 states have struggled to pay their civil servants, with about 18 of them currently owing their workers' salaries. Osun, is one of the most badly affected states with Governor Rauf Aregbesola's regime owing seven months' salary arrears and not having any hope of paying up.

 

Already, several Good Samaritans have offered to come to the aid of the civil servants, with Bayelsa senator Ben Bruce-Murray offering to donate his wardrobe allowance to then. Over the weekend, the chief imam of the university mosque Professor Abubakar Sanusi, said they will come to their assistance too in response to the current economic hardship faced by workers in the state.

 

Professor Sanusi said: “This is to inform public school teachers and civil servants that the mosque will be offering assistance to them. We realise that you have not been paid for so long and as part of our concerns, we will be providing assistance to you.

 

"All you need to do is to submit your name, phone number, your school and the name of your school principal.” He further appealed to the fasting Muslims to pray for God’s intervention in the issue of unpaid salaries in the state.

 

Meanwhile, the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (Cacol) has blamed the challenge of unpaid salaries on misplaced priorities by the Osun State government. Cacol chairman Debo Adeniran, faulted the state government for not carrying workers’ unions along in the execution of its capital projects despite its dwindling allocation from the federal government.

 

Mr Adeniran said: “As things stand now in Osun State, what needs to be done is for the labour unions to sit down with the governor and fashion out the most appropriate and acceptable means of resolving the crisis rocking the state. If Osun people think that the governor’s projects and programmes are not in tandem with what their expectations, they should speak out.

 

“Our coalition is, however, against the removal of the one-meal-a-day for the primary school pupils in the state because many of the pupils that are not performing well academically are discovered to be lacking in adequate nutritious food. We would rather advise that the government, in order to reduce cost, should look into the direction of the elitist projects like the international airport and roads."

 

He added that the Osun State government should also look into the area of agriculture and get most of the civil servants engaged in the sector. Mr Adeniran then appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to also consider a bailout plan for the states that owe salaries until they could get back on their feet.