Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, has vowed to continue the payment of wage awards to workers.
This, he said, will end when the committee on new minimum wage concludes its work.
The Governor who made the disclosure during the Town Hall meeting with indigenes on Saturday at the Old Government House, Enugu, began the payments of the wage award of between N10,000 and N25,000 to state workers last December to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal.
While stating that his government would prioritise workers’ welfare and create values that would help workers to thrive, he said: “Until new minimum wage is concluded, we will continue to pay wage awards.”
The Governor who furthered that his administration inherited arrears of pension and gratuity of retired civil servants, explained that he did not waste time in clearing them.
“Today we are working seriously to clear that of primary school teachers and Local Government workers.
On education, Mbah said his administration identified it as the strongest weapon to fight poverty, saying “This is why we are building SMART Schools across 260 wards which will be operational by September 2025.
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“Our children will now be using tablets to study and teachers smart boards to teach while the student would learn about artificial intelligence, robotics and others that will make them technologically inclined.”
According to him, the government was building level two Primary Health Centres across the 260 wards to reduce infant and Maternal mortality in the state.
Mbah said that it had already awarded 30 contracts for the health centres and was about to award 100 more.
On electricity, he disclosed that the State was working to generate and distribute electricity to provide power for homes and businesses in the state.
“Electricity being the major infrastructural requirement for the private sector to thrive, we took advantage when the Federal Government removed it from the exclusive list to the concurrent list by establishing Enugu State Electricity Commission.
“There shall be no monopoly as people will be allowed to buy and sell electricity,” he added.
