“Seyi tun ti se’yi o!” was the message on a notification on a WhatsApp group I belong on Thursday, 25th July,2019. The message was from a member who might had hitherto had a mixture of trust and doubt on the capability of the State administration, under Engr. Seyi Makinde to pay salaries, pensions and allowances every 25th of each month.
Not up to ten seconds, I got an alert from my bank, notifying me of a credit deposit which was my own salary. I was also elated, not just because I would be able to meet financial demands, but also that workers in general would again have the opportunity of having savings power through their cooperative groups and personal investments.
Civil servants in Oyo State have started getting used to this ritual of having a fully charged mobile phones handy, especially every 25th of each month and again, creditors can be rest assured that civil servants are credit-worthy.
Oyo State has a varying overhead cost of #4.5 to #5billion monthly, especially in the last eight years, which included, pensions and allowances of political office holders.
The State gets an average of #2billion and #2.5billion from the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC). Of course for the month of June, Oyo State got #2,105,441,605.76 (over two billion naira).
The fear of the cynics could be given some air of reality when you look at the need to take care of other areas of governance apart from salary overhead, but we have seen a governor who has shown his readiness to utilize a renewed vigour in maximizing new frontiers in foreign investments and expanded internally-generated revenue.
As at the 25th of July, 2019, some might still have the fear of a reverse of situation to the old whenever Commissioners and other appointees assume office, but like in other areas where this governor had promised to make a change, I have assurance that the jinx of late salary payment has been broken!
Governor Seyi Makinde promised to stop any form of payment by pupils and students in public primary and secondary schools. Today, that has been put to history as doable. As I am writing, a powerful monitoring team , led by the Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr. Nureni Adeniran is moving around schools where reports were rife of the school authorities defied government order and sent pupils out for not paying fees.
That is the nature of human. Like some cynics will believe, the jinx of late salary is still strongly clamped around civil servants’ necks, some will also think free education is never going to be accomplished in Oyo State.
Let us look at the merits of prompt payment of salaries, pensions and allowances. A civil servant that is paid as at when due, especially at a predictable day of the month will be eager to put his utmost into bettering his or her job. Efficiency and optimal delivery will be his or her goal as he will always has it at the back of his mind that he will be ungrateful to an administration that has fulfilled its own side of the bargain.
Savings power and small scale investment will be on the rise and this will in turn boost local investments while crimes will reduce, as we all know that money has a phenomenon of moving like powerful flood within any society when each and everyone has something to do at work.
The governor has made a promise which he has fulfilled and we pray that God give him the intellectual power to sustain his fulfilments in all strata of governance.
Somebody asked about government’s payment of 13th month salary to its civil servants and I answered the fellow that it was a gesture of appreciation, not the salary accrued to them for services rendered throughout the month.
Only prompt salary payment will return financial power to the individual worker for him to send his wards to higher institution of learning and engage in other things that will promote his living.
Again, while I pray that God empower our governor to do more in governance and in fulfilment of his electoral promises, It is also my prayer that the evil of late salary never visit Oyo workers again.
Alhazan Abiodun Rilwan is the Head of ICT and Editor at Oyo State Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.
