Private company workers and some state employees paid mid-month – but local government level workers say they did not receive their December salaries at all.
The exorbitant cost of living is taking its toll on Borno State’s children, many of whom will not be starting school on Monday, January 8, because their parents simply cannot afford the fees and learning materials.
Schools have been closed for the past four weeks for the holidays.
Schools are expecting a low turnout of pupils because the cost-of-living crisis is affecting most parents.
Non-state workers were paid early, about mid-December, but after Christmas and New Year celebrations they say there is not much money left in their pockets.
There are two levels of government workers. Those who work for the state government got paid on December 18. However, those who work at local government level did not receive their December salaries at all.
Public servants were hoping leave grants – otherwise known as bonuses or 13th-cheque allowances – would help to see them through the tough “Januworry” times and enable them to send their children to school. But, much to their dismay, leave grants have not been paid.
Some parents who spoke to RNI said the early payment of salaries and, in many cases, the non-payment of salaries and leave grants had left them virtually penniless. They said they did not know how they would make ends meet until the end of January when they would receive their next pay cheques.
Most said they did not think they would be able to scrape together the required money to pay for their children to return to school on Monday.
Those who were expecting leave grants had been relying on these to get them through to the next payday but now they don’t know how they are going to manage.
Yakaka Mustapha, 40, a mother of five and a civil servant working at local government level, said: ‘‘Life has become extremely expensive. The cost of all commodities has increased and most of us are just trying as hard as we can to cope in these exceedingly harsh times. We need the government to give us some support because we really need it.
“It’s already a week into January and we still have not received our December salaries. How are we expected to manage? We are appealing to the government to pay us our December salaries at least so that we can pay school fees for our children. We want to send our kids back to school but no salaries will mean no schooling.”
Lawan Bukar Bintube, a civil servant working at the state government level, said: “Right now we are not making any plans to send our children to school. Our salaries were paid on December 18 and we have spent all the money we received on Christmas and New Year celebrations. We thought we would be getting our leave grants at the end of December so we were relying on that money to get us through January. But we haven’t received any grants and that has affected my plans to send my children to school. At this stage I think I will be able to send my children back to school only at the end of January when I get my next salary.
“We thought that, in his New Year speech, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would give us positive news, something to look forward to in the coming months. But he ended his speech without providing us with hope for a positive future that would resolve our many problems.
“Prior to the fuel subsidy removal [which was announced when Tinubu took office at the end of May and implemented from July 1], I drove my four children to school every day. Since the subsidy removal I have left my car parked. I do not use it anymore because of the exorbitant cost of petrol. My salary is not enough to take care of my family and put petrol in my car. Obviously, my family comes first.”
ADAMU ALIYU NGULDE
