….says salary problem will soon be over
Governor Rauf Areg- besola of Osun, has appealed to workers in the state to be calm, saying their period of hardship occasioned by the delay in the payment of salaries will be a thing of the past before the end of June.
According to Aregbesola, “I urge workers in the state to take heart, in no distant time, at least, before the end of this month, we will all put this terrible experience behind us and hardship caused by the delay in the pay- ment of salaries will in a matter of weeks be a thing of the past.
The governor, who made the appeal while receiving the High Commissioner of the Common wealth of Australia, Jonathan Richardson, who paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House in Osogbo, reiterated that his government is not immune to the pains of workers in the state resulting from the non-payment of salaries.
He pointed out that, as the head of the state’s administra- tion, he is with workers and that he feels their pain.
“We are with them in their pains; we are not immune to any of their pains.
I have not received any salary ever since I became the governor of the state.”
The governor stressed that the state is eager to partner Australia for the benefit that will come to the state and Australia as a country.
He noted that apart from gold and other resources, the state has a large deposit of gemstones. Aregbesola added that the mining licence that the state gave to an Australian company is small compared to the mineral deposit that the state is blessed with.
He said: “We have a lot of potential in mining, agriculture and technology. As important as mining and agriculture are, acquisition of knowledge is quite important to development.
“We look forward to the con- tribution of countries like yours. Whether we like it or not, a soci- ety without skilled people will soon fizzle out. “We are eager to partner with Australia for the benefits that will both come to us.
We are strug- gling hard to develop our state on every facet”.
Speaking earlier, the High Commissioner of the Com- monwealth of Australia, held that his country is ready to offer necessary assistance to develop the economy of Osun.
The envoy commended the people of Nigeria for the peace- ful transition from one civil rule to another, saying the negative view of Nigeria to foreigners is due to lack of information.
He stressed that Australia is ready to partner Osun having re- alised that the state has potential in the area of tourism, agricul- ture, mining, among other areas.
He said: “We think we have a lot to offer in mining, agriculture, tourism. Some of these areas are what we will like to partner with Nigeria with strong focus on public sector and capacity building.
“We are happy to inform your government on how we can help in some of the areas,” the High Commissioner said.
REMI FEYISIPO
