From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
The Edo state commissioner for Trade industry and Co-operatives, Hon Afie Braimoh, has described the decision of Governor Godwin Obaseki to increase the salaries of state workers as rare and commendable.
She said this via a press release that was personally signed by her and made available to newsmen in Benin.
Hon. Braimoh in her statement said “For being the only state governor among his peers who braved the odds and took sides with the suffering state workers by shooting above the national threshold and fixing the minimum wage for the state workers at N40, 000 monthly, against the nationally negotiated N30, 000, is “rare and commendable”.
According to Braimoh, the decision by Gov Obaseki to show some kind of “human face” in the act of governance is a rare attribute and enjoined the state workers not to forget to show their gratitude to the governor and his benevolent administration in the fullness of time when they begin to enjoy their “windfall”
Braimoh further said “That singular gesture by the governor has placed Edo workers in the top bracket of jumbo salary earners, at a time other states are grappling with meeting up with the N30, 000 national wage baseline.
She said as she has continued to make efforts to grow the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), packaging and selling the state’s local brands, the governor on the other hand, is helping to make her job easier by creating the conducive atmosphere for her and other cabinet members to thrive.
Earlier, the state Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, through his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Crusoe Osagie had said the increment of the state’s minimum wage from N30, 000 to N40, 000 and the payment of the harmonised pension to retirees was meant to provide succour to the workers and pensioners who were already overburdened by the weight of the economic realities in the country.