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The Katsina State
governor, Ibrahim Shema, has embarked on a final effort charm offensive
in the state as he seeks re-election in under a fortnight’s time.

A member of the
People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Shema watched on over the weekend
as the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) swept most of the
parliamentary seats.

During an
interactive session conducted in Hausa at the Government House
yesterday, Mr Shema swiftly granted several requests of the Nigeria
Labour Congress (NLC) which led a delegation of over 12 labour unions
cutting across pensioners and civil servants in health, judiciary,
education, and other public sectors.

In a bid to pacify
the workers, all demanding for better working conditions, Mr Shema
upturned the dismissal of over 70 state workers discharged for
fraudulent acts in 2003 when late President Umaru Yar’Adua was the
state governor. The present governor, as a goodwill gesture, commuted
their dismissal to retirement to enable the penalised workers obtain
their terminal benefits.

Further aiming to
curry favour with the labour unions, the Katsina State governor gave
out brand new vehicles to the Nigeria Union of Pensioners and the
National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG). He also
promised to look into their requests for more office space.

Journalists too

To appease the
Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) which had long requested for a
secretariat, Mr Shema gave out the old Nigerian Television Authority
(NTA) building for their use. He also promised to look into increasing
the salaries of journalists working in state-owned media organisations.

Mr Shema also
conceded to health workers in the state who had been on strike for over
a month over the implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary
Scheme (CONMESS). An official suspension of the strike was agreed upon
at the meeting.

The governor
listened and promised to address the complaints of the Nigeria Union of
Teachers on delays in the payment of pensions and gratuities,
non-payments of rural posting allowance, bereavement allowance to
members of families of deceased staff, and other allowances. He
promised to extend the benefits given to staff of tertiary institutions
to other levels of education in the state.

Unfair promotions

To complaints of an
unfair promotions process in the civil service, Mr Shema said
promotions would henceforth be based on the length of time staff spent
in a position and no longer on promotion exams. He further promised to
look into the N18,000 minimum wage demanded by the labour unions once
the federal government circular to the effect is released.

In the past week,
Mr Shema has held several meetings with school children,
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other groupings. The
governor’s gesture is largely seen as a wooing tactic to win votes
following the massive defeat of the PDP by the CPC which claimed all
three senatorial slots and 12 of the 14 federal constituency seats
where elections held in the state at the concluded national assembly
elections.