For Ondo state government workers, it was a cheery piece of news. Their December salary will soon be paid. The state governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, assured them at the Annual Prayer Meeting with Public Servants on January 2, the first working day in the year 2023. Some weeks ago, Governor Akeredolu had promised his government would pay all the salary arrears before the end of year 2022.

Now, the governor has fulfilled his promise. Within ten days in December, the state government workers received their October and November salaries as well as their leave bonus. One can imagine the amount of joy this would bring to their various homes during the festive period.

The Akeredolu government would have also paid the December salary before the end of the outgone year. But the wisdom of the state labour leaders prevailed. Students will soon be back to school. And it will be time to pay school fees. If the December salary was paid before now, it might go with the festive season. And if it had gone with the festive period, it would be difficult for some of the workers to meet the new year obligations. So, the labour leaders advised the state government to delay the payment.

Governor Akeredolu believes in the saying of the Scripture that “the labourer is worthy of his wages.” Testimonies from some of the workers and their leaders affirm this. In 2022, 8,415 public servants were promoted with financial benefits in the state. This was disclosed by Pastor Kayode Ogundele, the State Head of Service.

Appreciating Governor Akeredolu’s prioritisation of workers’ welfare, Ogundele said: “Thanks to Arakunrin’s commitment to workers’ welfare in ensuring the payment of all outstanding salaries. The present administration, in a bid to reduce shortfall in the workforce, has continued to recruit fresh hands in the critical areas of need.

“For instance, 52 temporary staff of the Ondo State Emergency Medical Services Agency (ODEMSA) were recently given permanent appointments. Moreover, Ondo State workers and retirees have had a new lease of life under this Administration.

“For instance, a number of staff of the Owena Press Limited who retired long years ago received their gratuities last month. The Orange Health Insurance Scheme (ORANGHIS) was inaugurated to give public servants and their immediate family members access to qualitative health care in preferred health facility of choice at low or no cost.”

Here is another testimony from Comrade Oluwole Sunday-Adeleye, chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the state: “Let me say this clearly with every pride in me, on behalf of workers of Ondo State, that Arakunrin Akeredolu has spent 70 months and one week as the Governor of Ondo State, and he has paid 76 months salaries.”

Most Nigerians have a penchant for using wickedness to explain the inability of government to meet certain obligations. Towards the end of the year 2020, it became a tall order for governments in the country to pay salaries of their workers. It was as a result of the onslaught of Coronavirus on the economy and health of the world. Ondo state had no natural or supernatural power to insulate her from the fierce attack of the pandemic. So, the state could not be a tranquil and insulated Island when the disease was ravaging the whole world. This is what most people have failed to realise.

When it was a difficult challenge to pay the salaries of the state government workers, the uninformed and mischievous explanation of some people was that Governor Akeredolu was wicked and insensitive to the welfare of the workers. They forgot that the Akeredolu government inherited seven months salary arrears and had paid six out of these before the Covid-19 pandemic unsettled the entire world. As rightly observed by Sunday-Adeleye, Governor Akeredolu has only spent 70 months and one week in the saddle. But his government has paid 76 months salaries. Could any wicked soul have done that?

Our dear country needs a genuinely educated, enlightened and well-informed citizenry to move out of the woods. Most Nigerians don’t know what goes on around them. They easily submit to emotion instead of reason. Government also cries. This is a fact we should all realise.

For us to know how heavy is the burden of governance in Ondo state, let us listen to the State NLC chairman again: “If we are saying we don’t know the inflow of money into government and the percentage salary is taking out of it, we’ll be deceiving ourselves.

“We are not unaware of the chunk salary is taking out of the inflow to the state. Of course, civil servants are signatories to the account. We are aware that almost 80 percent of what comes in are expended on payment of salary, which we normally term recurrent expenditure. Ordinarily, there is no way recurrent expenditure should be more than capital expenditure but because of your policy and determination to see that you do not owe workers, you even paid the ones you inherited. That is why, today, we are enjoying this leverage.”

The state government expends 80 percent of its revenues on salary payment. Such is the burden. Yet, our people want free or cheap education and healthcare. We want all roads to be tarred. We want every good thing of life. But we don’t care where the money will come from.

It must be noted here that trust deficit is one of the greatest governance challenges in the country. People don’t trust their government anymore. Can we blame our people for that? No. We have failed promises and profligacy of the past to blame for it. If government keeps its promises, it will build public trust. This is where one can see the significance of Governor Akeredolu’s fidelity to his promises. He only promises what he can fulfil and fulfils what he promises. That’s why he is called Mr-Talk-And-Do.

Ojo Oyewamide is Senior Special Assistant to Governor Akeredolu on Media and Publicity.