Varsity Mosque Aids Unpaid Muslim Workers

The Obafemi Awolowo University Central Mosque has asked teachers and civil servants in Osun State, who are Muslims to proceed to the mosque for assistance.

The Chief Imam of the mosque, Prof. Abubakar Sanusi, made the announcement after the weekly Jumaat prayer at the university mosque.

According to him, the move is necessitated by the current economic hardship faced by workers in the state.

He further appealed to the fasting Muslims to pray for God’s intervention in the issue of unpaid salaries in the state.

He said, “This is to inform public school teachers and civil servants that the mosque will be offering assistance to them. We realise that you have not been paid for so long. As part of our concerns, we will be providing assistance to you. All you need to do is to submit your name, phone number, your school and the name of your school principal.”

Meanwhile, the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders has blamed the challenge of unpaid salaries on misplacement of priority by the state government.

The Executive Chairman of CACOL, Debo Adeniran, in a statement on Saturday, faulted the state government for not carrying workers’ union along in the execution of its capital projects despite its dwindling allocation from the Federation Account.

He said, “As things stand now in Osun State, what needs to be done is for the labour unions to sit down with the governor and fashion out the most appropriate and acceptable means of resolving the crisis rocking the state. If Osun people think that the governor’s projects and programmes are not in tandem with what their expectations, they should speak out.

“Our coalition is however against the removal of the one-meal-a-day for the primary school pupils in the state because many of the pupils that are not performing well academically are discovered to be lacking in adequate nutritious food.

“We would rather advise that the government, in order to reduce cost, should look into the direction of the elitist projects e.g. the International Airport and roads. Government should also look into the area of agriculture and get most of the civil servants engaged in the sector.”

The coalition, however, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to also consider a bailout plan for the states that owe salaries until they could get back to their feet.