The Ogun State governor Prince Dapo Abiodun has commended the organised labour union in the state for their cooperation and collaboration since the inception of his administration in the state
Governor Abiodun made the commendation on tuesday during a stakeholder meeting with the Labour leaders led by the state chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade hammed benco, his counterpart from the Trade union Congress, TUC, Comrade Akeem lasisi and that of Joint negotiating council, JNC ,Comrade Isa olude at okemosan, Abeokuta
The governor noted that the successes recorded by his administration was made possible as a result of the harmonious relationship with thelabour union , promising that his administration wouldnot take such an opportunity for granted by priotising the welfare of the workers and the entire people of the state
Mr governor maintained that the support has also transformed into tremendous achievement as the state economy is growing in lips and bound assuring that more avenues would be explored to generate more revenue to better the lots of the people of the state
While assuring that the state would soon commence the payment of the national minimum wage, Mr governor informed that the meeting called at his instance was part of the ongoing efforts of the state government to interface with the relevant stakeholders on the interventions of the government in addressing the nation’s economic challenges and to seek their continued support for the successful implementation of economic restructuring programs of President Bola Ahmed tinubu’s led administration
The governor explained that the deregulation of the downstream sector, which has led to the over pricing of petroleum products, was done in the interest of the nation while the food inflation in the country would soon fizzle out
The governor pointed out that the introduction and adoption of the universally accepted compressed natural gas ,CNG and the E-mobility motorcycles by both the federal and the state governments was tailored to reduce the importation of premium motor spirit, PMS which he said has made transportation fares to be skyrocketed and also to mitigate the pressure on the the nation’s foreign reserves
Speaking on food inflation, the governor lamented that the attitude of some traders in making high profit usually escalated the prices of foods in assuring that his government would soon set up farmers’ markets across the three senatorial districts to allow the residents to have unfettered access to farm produce direct from the farm without any interference from the middlemen in order to crash prices of foodstuffs in the state
He informed that he would have a meeting with the market men and women this midweek to prevail on them to assist the government in addressing the high cost of food items in the markets
The first citizen of the gateway state stressed that during a similar meeting with the transporters recently, a committee including members from the relevant sectors were set up to monitor activities at the various parks and garages and markets across the state to avoid unnecessary increased in transport fares and food items as a result of the recent changes in the cost of fuel
The governor who assured the workers of a better Nigeria, urged them to see the current economic challenges in the country as a necessary step to put the nation back on the right track stating that the federal government has promised to provide the needed assistance to the state in order to cushion the effects of the hardship
Mr governor assured that he would discuss with the top echelon in the state public service to see to the plight of the workers in the face of the transportation challenges by reducing the days that workers would be at their duty posts
Responding in separate remark, the state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade hammed benco, that of Trade Union Congress, TUC, Joint negotiating council, JNC,Comrade Isa olude and the head of service, mr kehinde onasanya commended the governor abiodun for the various interventions implemented in reducing the hardship created by the economic challenges stating that the.meeting has afforded them the opportunity to understand better about the steps being taken by federal and the state government in addressing the problem
The labour leaders promised to continue supporting the governments at all levels urging the governor to assist students in the state in resolving transportation problems by extending the operations of the state owned CNG buses to other.parts of Abeokuta metropolis like obantoko as resumption for the new academic calendar approaches
