The Abia state government approved a 15,000 Naira wage award for public servants in the state for three months from July 2024.
The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu, stated this while briefing the press on the outcome of the week’s executive council meeting, which was presided over by Governor Alex Otti. He stated that the wage award was part of the efforts of the state government to cushion the effects of the prevailing economic hardship in the country.
Prince Kanu, while restating the commitment of Dr Alex Otti’s administration to the welfare of Abia workers, said that the government would soon pay the annual leave allowance to civil servants who observed their annual leave.
“Because of the governor’s commitment to workers’ welfare, he accepted to pay Abia workers a wage award of 45 thousand naira in total but at 15,000 per month over three months. What we inherited was accumulated leave allowances, but all that would be a thing of the past now, given the governor's commitment, which he made even before the meeting with the organized labour.”
“Once any Abia worker is due for leave, he or she would be paid his or her leave allowance”, Prince Kanu stated.
The Information boss noted that the state is cholera- and diphtheria-free, as all 112 suspected cases of cholera recorded in 8 LGAS of the state tested negative after being sent to the laboratory in Lagos.
He added that those in the health sector of the state government are working round the clock to ensure that any emergency is addressed promptly.
“I want to announce to us that Abia is cholera- and diphtheria-free. Between 30 June and 7 July, 112 suspected cases of Cholera were reported, cutting across 8 LGAs. Following the various tests carried out and the samples collected across these 8 LGAs, no deaths or even confirmed cases of cholera were noted. There were some reported cases, about 12 reported cases of diphtheria across the state, particularly in just two LGAs of Osisioma and Umuahia South. Unfortunately, there were three deaths resulting from those suspected cases, but the test did not confirm that there were further cases of diphtheria.”
Contributing, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr Ngozi Azido, said that all suspected cases of cholera collected across eight LGAs tested negative after laboratory tests, adding that they are working with relevant agencies to ensure that Abia maintains cholera-free status and stressed the need for all to imbibe an attitude of good hygiene.
“We, following the protocols, conducted a rapid diagnostic test, and out of those rapid diagnostic tests, only 3 came out RDT positive. We had to send those RDT-positive cases to the national reference laboratory for confirmation, and we are happy that they all came back negative. Therefore, we are cholera-free in this state. However, we will continue to maintain high surveillance levels. We also had a diphtheria scare at the Umueze community, which is very close to Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Aba. We identified 12 people. We treated them, and they are doing well. We also designated Abia State University Teaching Hospital as the treatment centre,” Azodoh stated.
The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu also announced that, having almost completed the light-up Abia project in the major cities of the state, the project will now move down to the other seventeen LGAs in the state.
According to him, such roads include streets like Asa Road to Bata, Osisioma to MCC, Park Road, Georges Street and Constitution Crescent, all in Aba, Naval College Owerrinta, and Bende Road among others. On road infrastructure, Prince Kanu noted that various road projects across the state have continued unabated despite the rains, adding that the zero-pothole initiative of the government has been extended from Abia Tower to the Onuimo axis pending the formal flag-off of the expansion of the road by the state government.
