Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has directed all civil servants in the state to resume work on Monday, August 3, 2020.
The directive was contained in a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Simon Uchenna Ortuanya.
In the statement, the state government advised returning civil servants to observe all Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) protocols for the containment of the spread of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), “including handwashing with soap, use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer, compulsory use of face shield/mask and maintaining social distancing”.
It would be recalled that following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the Enugu State Government, directed all civil servants in the state to work from their homes since March 23, 2020, as part of measures to contain the spread of the viral disease.
The state government has been paying salaries of civil servants, as at when due, since the lockdown.
In another story, faced with a depressed economy and the grim reality of an inevitable decline in revenues, this is not the time for knee-jerk decisions or cosmetic measures by state governors wishing to shore up their fast crumbling financial bases.
In converse, there can be no better time for serious-minded governors to introduce innovative, bold and far-reaching measures that will enable them to survive the debilitating upshot of the hard-hitting COVID-19 pandemic.
This is why governors contemplating a slash in salaries as a hedge against hard times should pause and have a rethink. Among such governors are Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, although the last two are only interested in political office holders.
In Nasarawa State, there is a rumbling of discontent as local government workers kick against the non-payment of their salaries in full, while, in Kogi State, doctors have sounded a note of warning against any attempt to slash their salaries by Governor Yahaya Bello.
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