By; FUNMI ADERINTO, Kaduna
Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani on Monday, assured that whatever decision the state will take will be in the interest of the workers, hence they will certainly carry them along.
Governor Uba Sani stated this at a meeting with a delegation of various labour unions across Kaduna State on the issue of fuel subsidy removal and to proffer solution to mitigate its effect on the citizens of Kaduna State, held at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House in Kaduna.
The governor, who spoke in an interview with newsmen after their meeting, thanked various leaders of organisations of the labour congress organisations who came to Government House to meet with the leadership of Kaduna State Government.
He said, “we had very sincere discussion, I have been involved in the struggle for the rights of workers in Nigeria in the last thirty years.
“I am have fought for democracy, rule of law, justice, equality, rule of law, I know the situation better than anyone.
“As a Senator, in the last four years, there is no even provision in the current budget for subsidy from 1st June, so fact remains complicated because the current President Bola Tinubu is left with no option than to announce the removal of fuel subsidy.
“But the most important thing and the reason that I called the labour leaders here is because, I know the crisis that will face the downtrodden, the mases because it is something that is sudden.
“As a leader, it is our responsibility to come with very important and robust palliative arrangement and I believe we cannot do that without the support and the cooperation of labour leaders.
“That is why, they are here, and we had a very important and very sincere meeting, where we all came together to give our own position and I am really happy with their own submission, advice and their input.
“That is the reason why, I have decided, quicky to announce a committee that comprises the labour leaders and government to fashion out immediately a kind of arrangement where we will reach out to the downtrodden in terms of supporting them with palliatives.
“But we cannot sit down as government to make decisions alone, the labour leaders are the people that are closer to the people, they know the concerns of the people, they know the kind of palliatives we need to come up with, we cannot decide alone as government.
“I assure the state that, whatever the decision we take, it has to be in the interest of the workers, we will certainly carry them along.
“As you are aware during our campaign, the number seven of our agenda, in our manifesto is to upscale, the engagement with the general public, non-governmental organisations and that is what we are implementinv today.
“We will continue to run an open government, where we allow the public and the leaderships of non-governmental organisations and labour to be involved in the decision we will be taking.
“I have no doubt in my mind, Kaduna State will not experience any protest, by the grace of God, we don’t want to sit here and look at what other states are doing.
“We want to address our issues together with our labour leaders, and by the grace of God, we will have their support and there will never be any strike in Kaduna State,” he said.
The governor, speaking on the removal of fuel subsidy, said: “The subsidy in the last decades, just few Nigerians that have been benefitting from so called subsidy and also it has really affected our economy.
“Particularly, economy of the downtrodden and the middle class, for that reason, removing the subsidy there will be hardship at the begining, that is why the government has to come up with palliatives to support the people so that they will not suffer.
“But in the long run, I have no doubt in my mind, everybody will be very happy because there will be more infrastructure, there will be a lot to support the masses, to support economy, to support our farmers, also small businesses will be supported because we will have more money,” the governor assured.
