By Charles Akinbode
As the labour in Osun State on Sunday celebrated this year edition of Workers’ Day, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola has promised to commence appointment of Permanent Secretaries and stopping using Coordinating Directors in Ministries, Departments and Agencies as their substitutes.
The governor at the Osogbo City Stadium, venue of the event, aceeded to some of the labour’s pressing demands from the state government
Apart from his promise to appoint new Permanent Secretaries soon, the governor, in his address, approved for immediate implementation, the cash-backing of outstanding promotions for all categories of workers – 100% implementation of Consolidated Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Salary Structure (CONPCASS) for which the State has already been implementing 90%, as well as the immediate implementation of sixty-five (65) years retirement age for all categories of Staff in the tertiary institutions.
Oyetola also approved immediate commencement of the process of domestication of 65 years retirement age/40 years length of service for teachers in the State, and commencement of the process of reverting from the current Council Manager to Head of Local Government Administration and Head of Department to Director at the Local Government system.
He also gave an approval for the workers’ promotions, nominally from 2019 to date, regularisation, advancement and conversion, among others.
The State Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Jacob Adekomi, in his speech, thanked the governor Oyetola for granting the requests of workers in the State, saying the development will go a long way to further better their lives.
According to him, the express approval of the seven demands of workers was a clear testimony that, indeed, the Governor meant well for the workforce.
Acknowledging the good work of the Gboyega Oyetola administration, he said the governor, indeed, has put Osun on the pedestal of socioeconomic rejuvenation “as seen in the monumental achievements in all sectors.”
He assured the governor of workers support for his government, saying we’re ready to re-elect you for second term.”
The labour leader, who described Oyetola as an epitome of everything that is good, said: “We shall always be grateful to you for having listening ears to our yearnings and for putting balms on our sores.
“We are very happy because Mr. Governor has made our day. He has shown to us once again that he is a promise keeper with the approval of our demands that have been ordered for immediate implementation.
“We shall continue to appreciate Mr. Governor for putting smiles back to our faces and for being a better bridge between then and now.
“Fellow Comrades, it will not be out of place for me to declare that in our State, we already have the antidote to insecurity, restiveness, retrogression, stagnancy and hopelessness and the antidote is none other than his Excellency Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola.
“He is a man who has a plan, the roadmap and the courage to press on till Osun State gets to eldorado; a man who through financial re-engineering is shaking the state, quietly turning the landscape to a spectacle pleasant the eyes to behold; a man who has chosen to get the rainbow in the cloud of Osun and a man who believes enduring positive change happens, one step at a time and a man who remains the rising sun, after the storm that we witnessed as workers in the state.”
In their separate remarks, the state Chairman, Trade Union Congress, (TUC), Comrade Adekola Adebowale, and the State Chairman, Joint Negotiation Council (JNC), Comrade Bayo Adejumo, reaffirmed their loyalty and support for the Oyetola administration.
