Plateau NLC Supports Alli's Restructuring
From Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja
The chairman of the Plateau State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Yusuf Zambul, has upbraided the elders of the state who opposed the reduction of government ministries. He also expressed the Congress's support for the action of the State administrator, Maj. Gen. Chris Alli, (rtd) who carried out the restructuring.
Zambul told newsmen in Jos recently that "as you fragment institutions and society at times, you don't create unity because as you fragment them, people also fragment themselves into different units. So if the restructuring is to bring back the independence of the civil service and the independence of workers, we welcome that one."
According to him, "in the political days, institutions were created and you discover that there are no civil servants who are trained to run such institutions and you find political appointees running them while the independence of the civil service was eroded."
"But if the restructuring is meant to bring back the independence of the civil service so that they could advance the government, we welcome such restructuring because the most important thing is that it was meant to save cost and that is what I think Plateau State needs seriously.
"The issue of extravagance, the issue of people don't have respect for financial rules and regulations. So we support the restructuring. After all, the same Ministry of Works and Housing that have been there for the past 28 years, the Works no longer works and you are creating another ministry out of the one that does not even work.
"For us, we support the restructuring really, that is the basic thing as long as it does not affect the jobs of the civil servants. If it is only meant to strengthen him (Alli) and allow him to do his work, we have no problem with that," he said.
While noting that workers salaries have been paid uptill June, Zambul also disclosed that, "their outstanding leave grants for 2002, 2003 and now 2004, what he (Alli) said was that he would try and see how we can break them into instalments. The real thing is that we have no doubt in our mind, if he said he would pay salary by June and he did that, he has matched words with actions. We want to believe that the issue of leave grants and allowances will also come to pass."
Dismissing the elders who asked the People's Democratic Party (PDP) to restrain Alli from going beyond his mandate, Zambul asked: "where were they (elders) before May 18 if they are really elders? I mean an elder is someone who can call somebody and say do not do that and he stops. So where were they before May 18?
"We are not against the return of democratic norms and institution whenever (federal) government thinks the situation is right and we can take over. I want to believe that if the elders were really elders, none of the unfortunate incidents that took place in Plateau would have taken place. What were their roles between 2001 and today?
"If they are genuine elders, the situation may not have lasted more than six months. That is if they are genuine elders. What role can they play in building peace in the state in future because that would determine what would happen in the nearest future," the NLC chairman noted.
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