Former governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers, Dr Dakuku Peterside has called on Governor Nyesom Wike to set aside his unnecessary pride and negotiate with the organized labour in the state to avert avoidable controversies and industrial action.
Both Rivers State government and organized labour have been at loggerheads over what the labour says is the governor’s neglect of workers in the state in terms of promotion, payment of new minimum wage, pensioners’ dues, arrears of salaries and hounding of labour leaders in the state.
Dr Peterside, who spoke at the weekend, wondered why Governor Wike’s administration was treating workers with so much levity and disdain, giving the fact his government will rely on these same workers to achieve its programmes.
He tasked the governor to look into the genuine concerns of the workers, who he says deserve to be remunerated like their counterparts nationwide following the passage of new minimum wage into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Wike should come down from his high horse and listen to the genuine concerns of the workers, who have worked and deserve to benefit from their sweat. What will it cost the governor to negotiate with workers who are Rivers people and who contribute to the state’s purse? A serious Governor should know that workers are the engine room of governance.
“It is a shame that Wike is now running around courts to stop the organized labour from demanding for their rights. This is the same governor that went round begging the workers to support his re-election bid barely a year ago, what manner of a governor does this to his own people?
“Our senior citizens who have spent the best part of their life working for the state and who retired from the civil service have not been paid their gratuities and pension since Wike became governor in 2015, just as not a single Rivers son or daughter has gotten bursary or scholarship from his administration.
“This same Wike has shut down both the Labour and Trade Union Congress Houses built by Rivers State government, his agents have also gone ahead to disrupt labour meeting at another location in Port Harcourt, yet he is not seeing that his actions are reckless and irresponsible. It is embarrassing that we have descended this low.
“Labour leaders in Rivers State are now living in fear under a democratic dispensation; this is simply a manifestation of a despot and ruthless leader who wants everybody to bow before him and sing his praises.
“However, let Wike know that Rivers people have never been cowed or conquered. The governor’s descent to authoritarianism will be challenged at the appropriate time; he can take that to the bank. The workers must remain steadfast in their agitation to get what are their rights and privileges,” he stated.
Peterside, who is also a former member of the National Assembly called on elders and Rivers people to mount pressure on the governor to meet with the organized labour and avoid an unnecessary crises in the state.
