… Hail Wike On Judges’ Quarters, Others
Judiciary workers in Rivers State have appealed to the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, to promote them, effect their N30,000 minimum wage as well as pay gratuity and other entitlements to retiring staff in the state judiciary.
The workers, who made the appeal under the auspices of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Rivers State in an interview in Port Harcourt said they have been denied promotion for a long time in spite of working hard to keep the courts and the system functional in the state.
The Chairman of JUSUN in Rivers State, Comrade Wachukwu Anthony, while addressing newsmen on behalf of the workers said denying the workers promotions for a very long time was a source of de-motivation, and pleaded with Governor Wike to do the needful in that regard.
He further noted that while other civil servants in the state on Grade Levels 01 to 13 were asked to stay at home due to the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic, judiciary workers were still working in their various offices, thereby risking their lives, adding that it was an indication that the state government considers their services as essential.
According to him, there was also the need for the government to treat the welfare of the workers as essential by promoting them and attending to their other entitlements.
He also averred that other staff apart from Judges and Magistrates were also part of the state judiciary and therefore equally deserve the kind of attention that was being given to the judicial officers by the Wike administration, and commended the Governor for paying workers’ salaries regularly and promptly.
His words, “What I have to tell you is that the state government is doing its best, at least, it is paying salaries promptly. It has not been owing us but the only issue we are still appealing is that the minimum wage should be properly effected. Promotion is another issue. We have been talking with our management and they have been promising that they are going to do it in the nearest future, but how soon, we don’t know. Promotion issue is such that if you raise it among our members, they frown their faces seriously. We have been denied promotion for a very long time and that has been a major source of de-motivation. We are not happy about it.”
The JUSUN Chairman further underscored the need for the welfare of the workers to be given the attention it deserves because according to him, they are as important as Magistrates and Judges.
“If you take care of the Judges and the Magistrates and the staff are complaining, if they withdraw their services, justice will crumble; justice will not prevail. Work will die. So, the staff are very important. I am using this medium to appeal to the will die. So, the staff are very important. I am using this medium to appeal to the state government to do something because the workers have long been neglected. Nobody is talking about us. I am using this medium to cry out to the whole world to tell government to please, think about the staff of the judiciary because we are doing our best,” he said.
Anthony also decried a situation where the workers are under-retiring because of lack of promotion, and appealed to Governor Wike to reverse the ugly trend.
“If they said we are essential workers, our welfare should be seen as essential too. Let the government do something about our promotion. That is the only thing we expect. Some of our workers are retiring and they are under-retiring. Those who are supposed to retire on Grade Level 12 for instance, they retire on Grade Level 8, among others. This is a source of de-motivation. The union is saying please, promote us, release our promotions, it is long overdue,” he said.
While commending Governor Wike for building befitting quarters for Judges and providing other incentives to them, Anthony appealed to him to also pay retiring judiciary workers their gratuity to help them start life afresh when they finally retire.
“The Governor is trying in the area of pension but he should pay gratuity that is the major thing. If anyone retires and that money is paid to him, he starts a new life from there. We know you are trying, but please, pay retirees their gratuity and remember the judiciary staff,” he pleaded.
