Its yet another xmas season across the globe, xmas is a time when people feel happy, reunite with their families and friends, merry, holiday and party, but the last two Christmas seasons in Abia has been that of sorrow and tears for Abians especially the civil servants, the pensioners and their dependents, but sadly enough a greater percentage of Abia families depend on salaries and wages to feed, pay their bills and carry on with other domestic needs.

The Christmas of 2015 was a very frustrating experience for Abians, as they had to face the ugly reality of spending their Christmas without being paid their salaries that they worked hard for and rightly deserved, majority of Abia families who have no body outside of the state to assist them financially had to celebrate the xmas in agonizing hunger, tears and full of regrets for being an Abian especially with the public knowledge that the neighboring states of Ebonyi, Cross River, Enugu and Anambra are paying their civil servants the 13th month in the spirit of the season knowing how important we as Christians attach to the Christmas season.
2016 Christmas season was another nightmare for the Abia populace when the state government had to consciously issue cheques that were rejected by banks to certain class of civil servants especially the teachers, after publicly announcing that they have been paid and 80% of the civil servants celebrated the yuletide without even a cup of rice to share with their families.
It’s rather unfortunate that the Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu administration has not shown concern towards the welfare of the Abia civil servant as much as his predecessors and the governors of other neighbouring states have done by not only giving their civil servants bonuses but will still go on to give them gifts as demanded by the spirit of the season.

The last two xmas seasons under the Dr. Okezie victor Ikpeazu administration, despite all the intervention from the federal government in form of bailout funds, first and second tranches of Paris club refunds directed at ensuring that workers are being paid, had seen only the governor and his team having fun during the xmas season with loads of gifts and enough money to celebrate while the Abia civil servant, pensioner, contractors and their dependents celebrated the season in uncertainty, hunger, sorrow and tears.

My Governor, I am appealing that you should please follow up your promises with action this Christmas season by ensuring that salaries and pensions are prioritized with the 3rd tranche of the Paris club refund, so that for the first time in the life of your administration the civil servants, the pensioners, their families and Abians in general will join our neighbours in the states of Anambra, Ebonyi ,Enugu,Cross river and Akwa Ibom states whose governors are not only upto date in salary payment but have gone ahead to pay the civil servants bonuses of 13th month salary to merry and have fun in this yuletide.

Aguoru
Writes from Umuahia