By Emeka Samuel, Uyo
Akwa Ibom state government has paid gratuities and entitlements worth ₦150 million to former staff of Akwa Palm Limited, 17 years after the factory was shut down.
It also paid ₦180 million in six-month salary arrears for workers of St. Gabriel Coconut Refinery in Mkpat Enin Local Council.
Commissioner for Labour and Manpower Planning, Mr Ikoedem Ekong, who stated this during a Ministerial Media Briefing on the activities of his ministry yesterday in Uyo, noted that over ₦100 billion of the ₦111 billion gratuity liabilities inherited by the Eno-led administration has also been paid.
Ekong explained that the governor subsequently approved two additional months of salary arrears for the coconut refinery workers beyond their initial request.
He said the ministry also resolved industrial disputes involving the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Akwa Ibom State; Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria; National Union of Agriculture and Allied Employees; and transport-sector unions through dialogue and mediation, preventing disagreements from escalating.
On workers’ welfare, Ekong said that beyond the ₦80,000 minimum wage implemented since 2024; the state government has also been faithful in the payment of the 13th-month salary, settlement of outstanding 7.5 per cent contributory pension deductions for affected workers; health insurance for public servants; teachers’ wardrobe allowances; and 2026 leave grants for civil servants.
Other interventions included training and retraining, provision of modern working tools, brand-new sports utility vehicles for all permanent secretaries, and the integration of airport workers into the State Civil Service, with their existing salary structure retained and promotions commenced.
He added that through partnership with Dakkada Skills Acquisition Centre, 310 indigenes, comprising 10 from each of the 31 local government areas, received annual skills training, while other capacity-building initiatives involved the Office of the Special Adviser on Labour-Related Matters, JEK Consult and the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Labour Matters, Comrade Udo Kieran disclosed that salary adjustments had covered workers in the education and health sectors, alongside the resolution of a 12-year dispute over the Domestic Servants Allowance.
The allowance, he said, was extended to university workers and teachers in line with comparable public institutions, at ₦400 monthly per beneficiary, while approved increases included 30 per cent for professors, 25 per cent for academic staff and chief lecturers at the State College of Education and Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, and 20 per cent for non-academic staff and other eligible categories, including staff of the School of Technology.
According to him, workers in the Local Government Service also benefited from allowance increment, while doctors received 40 per cent salary increase and 30 percent of other medical personnel, as immediate health-sector interventions
Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State Council, Comrade Nsibiet John, commended the consistency of the engagement and called for the criminalisation of selling employment slots to non-indigenes by companies operating in the State, with a view to protecting qualified indigenous applicants and curb corruption.
