If the title of this piece sounds somewhat naive, please try to understand because the writer had never experienced non-payment of his monthly salary, though he had been a public/civil servant in three countries – Ghana, West Germany and finally, Nigeria.
It is difficult to fathom why a public or civil servant should not have his/her salary paid promptly on a particular date of each month.
Of late, we have been introduced to a new vocabulary and expression known as “bail-out fund”, which is a lifeline from the federal government to the states, to enable them pay arrears of salaries of government employees some of which stretch up to nine months or more!
Never mind that both the benevolent federal government and the benefiting states don’t seem to know whether what is given is loan, donation or part of the states’ entitlement from the Federal Allocation, our interest here is why salaries are not paid as and when due.
Salaries and emoluments of workers in government departments and parastatals are supposed to be taken care of before any other disbursement of the state – including security!
After all, those who carry the guns and drive the Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) have to be paid their salaries and wages in good time to keep their minds away from being funny.
Those state governors who owe their civil servants arrears of salaries have not explained why the salaries are not paid.
Are salaries and wages not budgeted for and approved every year? How much revenue is generated by each state every month, both internally and from the centre? What do the governors do with the funds that is more important than the salaries of the workers?
According to the G.O. (General Orders) of the olden days, a civil servant was not expected to engage or indulge in any commercial or other profit-making venture outside his/her official duties.
So how do we expect law-abiding civil servants to meet up with their personal obligations, if their salaries are not paid at the end of the month?
Apart from sheer insensitivity and perhaps brazen misappropriation of public funds, there is no acceptable reason or explanation for not paying the civil servants their wages promptly. Let’s assume that revenue receipts from all sources for a state in a particular month were not enough to settle the salary/wage bill, the solution is not to ignore the employees and their legitimate expectations.
In the worst scenario in which the state is not credit-worthy and therefore is unable to borrow from banks to pay workers’ salaries, the government should quickly intimate the workers’ union leaders by opening the books to them and inviting them to proffer ideas on how to move from that point.
Workers can try out proportional payment of available funds.
This formula could be more palatable to workers than outright full payment to some and none to others.
We hear that funds meant for salaries are routinely diverted by some governors into fixed deposits that yield them goodly profits on maturity.
Meanwhile, the employee is denied his/her monthly salary and no explanation is given for non-payment!
Labour as an institution should demand from the employer why salary should not be paid in any particular month.
The workers should be clearly briefed as to why there will be no salary.
Whatever the reason given, there should be unwritten accord that while shortage of funds lasts, both governor and commissioners should do away with wasteful frivolities like endless motor convoys to either see off the governor to the airport or to welcome him from a trip.
An internal austerity measure must be imposed to curtail expenditure and conserve funds.
A fixed day should be agreed for the payment of salaries of the current employees as well as for pensioners.
Any government that cannot fulfil such a basic obligation has no reason answering a government.
The earlier governments and other employers of labour begin to see workers’ salaries as an obligation, and not a favour, the better.
Workers, on their part, should begin to assert themselves and refuse to be toyed with by any government.
They must demand to know why they have not received payment alerts from their banks on their pay-day.
The labour leadership has a duty to find out why salary is delayed beyond one day or two.
An employee needs his/her pay to eat well, dress well and be in good physical and mental mood to carry out assigned duties at the place of work.
The worker has accommodation rent to pay. He has to transport himself to and from work. Medical bills will brook no excuses.
We have merely essayed the scenario of a single employee just getting into a job.
Think of a married person with children at school, siblings to help find their economic bearing and parents to contribute to their welfare.
There are, to this writer, no reasons whatsoever for not paying employees their wages and salaries, and pensioners their stipends when they are due – every month.