By Bolanle Lawal
Street sweepers in Ekiti have appealed to Gov. Kayode Fayemi to come to their rescue by paying a living wage to them.
They said that the N5, 000 salary currently being paid to each of them is not enough to take care of them monthly .
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports on Tuesday that the street sweepers who are on the government payroll staged a protest against the poor monthly remuneration being offered them.
NAN reports that the protesters displayed placards with inscriptions such as: ‘Stop Paying Lip Service to Our Plights.
‘N30,000 is the acceptable Minimum Wage By Law’, ‘Governor Kayode Fayemi, Please Come to our Rescue.
‘N5,000 is not acceptable Again’, ‘Our Wage Can’t Take Us Home, We Want Living Wage’, among others.
Mrs Titilayo Faweya, the leader of the group, said that they had to embark on the protest to demand for what is right and just for their members.
Faweya said that their action was as a result of the delay in the fulfillment of the promise made by the governor during his re-election campaign in 2018.
She said that the immediate past government slashed their salaries but Fayemi promised that he would increase their monthly take home if elected into office .
” We are not happy. ,We are not being treated well. We are not fighting Gov. Kayode Fayemi or disgracing his government, but we are compelled to act this way because we do not want to die in silence.
“We are collecting the sum of N5,000 monthly. A measure ‘kongo’ of cassava flakes ‘garri’ is selling for N700 and that of rice is N1,000. How can many of us cope with these terrible situations?
“Many of us are widows. In fact, we are really suffering. They promised that things will change, but we are not seeing the signal.
“All we are getting are promises upon promises. It is time for us to get what is commensurate to our efforts in terms of payment,” she said.
Mrs Nike Alatise, another member of the group, said that they started the street-sweeping job in 2003 with N2,500 monthly salary before it was increased to N5,000.
“Many of us have spent close to 20 years on this job. When Gov. Fayemi was campaigning, he promised that he would look into our welfare.
“ Some of us are widows. Some are living in rented apartments so how do we survive with this paltry amount?
“Our job is tedious and things are difficult for us; to survive is not easy . What we want is N30,000 monthly that is in tandem with the N30,000 minimum wage already signed into law in Ekiti”, she said.
The Commissioner for Environment, Mrs Iyabo Fakunle-Okiemen , said that she had taken note of all the demands of the protesting workers and would present them to Gov. Fayemi.
“I have met with them, addressed them and got all their demands, so that I can take them to Gov. Fayemi for necessary action”, she said (NAN)