By Sarah Odelana
I read in the papers that Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has paid the nine-month salaries of workers hurriedly employed without due process by the former governor, Ibikunle Amosun, during the twilight of his administration.
This governor Abiodun has surpassed all expectations. The man is from another planet. When Amosun came to power in 2011, he summarily disengaged all the workers employed by his predecessor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel without paying them a dime after working for four months.
I plead with the governor to also pay the severance gratuity of the political office holders that worked during the Amosun administration.
However, majority of the 1,000 workers engaged by Amosun at the last minute of his government in 2019 were said to be associated with him directly and indirectly. Only a handful of them were said to have been engaged through the normal channel of the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON). The panel set up by new government confirmed the wide scale irregularities but Governor Abiodun was full of compassion.
I have since confirmed how difficult life was during the Amosun government. His political appointees suffered a lot
Kudos to Governor Abiodun for not only retaining the 1,000 workers since they are equally from Ogun State and have families but paying them all their salaries. This clearly shows that Abiodun is different from Amosun.
I appeal to the governor to also pay the severance gratuity of the political office holders that worked during the Amosun administration. A few of them known to me are penniless. They can hardly afford three square meals a day. This is because while they were in government, they were denied most of their entitlements. Personally, I thought my relative who served under the Amosun government was stingy and not telling the truth while in government but I have since confirmed how difficult life was under the last government. These people suffered a lot.
Abiodun has surpassed all expectations. The man is from another planet. He is full of compassion.
Even the civil servants went through hell under Amosun but the new government has now made them happy.
While thanking Prince Dapo Abiodun for his quick intervention through palliative work on Atan/Agbara road, I plead with the governor for a permanent solution to the all-important road.
Once again, thanks to Abiodun for the kind gesture to the workers.
** Sarah Odelana writes from Atan, Ogun State