Stop Germany’s vocational trip, NLC, others tell govs

The Nigeria Labour Congress has called on state governors to call off their planned trip to Germany for vocational training.
The General Secretary of the NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, in an interview with our correspondent on Monday, described the trip as laughable.
He stated that it was another joke by governors, adding that it was uncalled for considering the present economic situation in the country.
“We think it is completely uncalled for, potentially unproductive and will yield no real benefit to the citizens they are supposed to govern. We think that this joke should be called off while the governors should face the serious issue of governance and how to ensure that the downturn of the economy is arrested,” the general secretary stated.
Ozo-Eson also condemned state governors  for dismissing calls for the scrapping of their security votes, which, he said, gulped billions of taxpayers’ money every year.
Reiterating the NLC’s position on security votes, the general secretary said they had become conduits to siphon resources that could be committed to develop the country.
He added, “Given the current economic and fiscal situation in the country, with huge amounts of salaries being owed and development not taking place, it is a misnomer that such huge amounts should be committed to the so-called security votes that are not accounted for. We still insist that this has to be changed.
“It is for Nigerians, not just for the NLC, to take a position openly and canvass the correct thing to be done. We believe that the long-term good of the country will be felt by stopping this issue of security votes.”
 On his part, the Secretary General, Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Alade Lawal, said the group would continue to insist on the governors seeing themselves as servants of the people and not emperors.
 He stated that labour unions in the country would work with civil organisations to ensure a drastic reduction “in the much abused security vote.”
Lawal said, “The planned vocational trip by the governors is a jamboree and a sheer waste of taxpayers’ money. They are only confirming our position that most of them do not have business in Government Houses.
“We are closely watching them and at the fullness of time, we will speak through the ballot box by consigning many of them into the dustbin of history.”
Also, a United States-based activist, Smart Awaji, criticised the allocations to security vote, describing Nigeria as “a victim of an all-encompassing tragic failure of leadership at all levels.”
He said, “Who and what are state governors securing when terrorists, who disguise as herdsmen, are on the rampage, killing with audacity innocent citizens in their various states?”
According to him, security votes will continue to be conduits by state governors “to steal and buffet on the treasury.”
He also described the planned German trip by the governors as laughable.
Ajaja stated, “It is a testimony to the quality of leadership that some of those leading Nigeria can boast of. They are not going to Germany for anything productive but to shop as they are known for.”
SOURCE:
THE PUNCH