Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Kola Oluwawole has again appealed to striking workers in the state civil service to consider the holy month of Islamic fasting, Ramadan, to make peace with the state government over the issue of their unpaid salaries.
The appeal was contained in a Ramadan message the Speaker issued through his Special Assistant (Media), Stephen Gbadamosi, in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, on Tuesday.
According to Pastor Oluwawole, “this is an auspicious moment for our Muslim brothers and sisters all over the country and, particularly, in Ekiti State to go into supplication before Allah for the sake of our ailing nation. I am made to understand that Allah answers prayers most during Ramadan. Such rare opportunity must be seized to seek the face of God for our nation.
“In the same vein, that is why I am appealing to workers in our dear state to, in the spirit of this month of peace, show some understanding with His Excellency, Governor Peter Ayodele Fayose. Let us return to work and continue with meaningful negotiations on how we can get out of this current financial logjam.
“I am sure that most of us know that this problem is not peculiar to our state. Over 30 of the 36 states of the federation are having difficulties paying workers’ salaries. Some of us also know how worker-friendly Governor Fayose is. We know his antecedents. Indeed, it was his dissenting voice recently that seemed to have made the other governors to drop the idea of reducing staff strength which some of them had been canvassing as the way out of this problem. He is a friend of workers and the masses.
“Now that there is a problem, what we need to do is to put heads together to find a lasting solution to it. Confrontations will not help us.”
Oluwawole also said he felt concerned about the workers’ plight, “particularly those that will be fasting now that Ramadan has come. Though it is naturally a time of self-denial in most things, particularly food, it is also reasonable that when they want to break the fast, they should be able to afford good and nutritious meals to do so.”
The Speaker, therefore, urged religious leaders to appeal to members of the state workforce to allow for industrial peace during and after the month of Ramadan, praying that all the rewards God has promised Muslim faithful during the month will not evade them.
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