By VERONICA DARIYA

Some workers of Bwari Area Council, FCT, have bemoaned the hardship they were facing following the ongoing industrial action due to delay in the implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage.

The workers bared their minds in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.

NAN reports that the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) members in the FCT have been on strike since March, due to the non-payment of the minimum wage.

Mr Emmanuel Ishaku, Chairman, NULGE Bwari Area Council, said that the situation had left many workers stranded as they were passing through harrowing experience to feed their families.

According to him, many workers have been unable to cater for their families and have since resolved to living on credit from other sources.

This he said was unhealthy and may leave a lot of people in debt that they may not recover from.

He also said that some workers were yet to pay their children?s school fees in their different schools and a lot more were feeding from hand to mouth daily, a situation, he described as devastating.

?People cannot even go to hospitals when they are sick; everything is just at a standstill. The suffering is too much to bear,? he said.

Ishaku, however, said that he believed that the wages would definitely come, adding that he prays it come sooner to avert a worsening outcome.

Similarly, Mr Yakubu Sale, a staff at the council secretariat, said that he had to park his motorcycle at home and resolved to trekking long distances because he could not afford to fuel it.

?My phone is bad, I cannot even fix it because there?s no money anywhere and now I have to park my motorbike because I cannot afford to fuel it, this is too bad,? he said.

He added that delay in the implementation of the minimum wage was affecting the workers negatively, adding that the money may not have value when it finally comes, as many would have to pay debts with it.

Another worker, Hajiya Amina Liman, a widow and mother of four, told NAN that she was lucky to have a side business that has helped her coped through the ?trying period.?

According to her, I sell women clothing, shoes and bags online and that has been my source of income for the past months. The suffering is quite overbearing, I must say and needs urgent solution.

?It has not been easy but I know my situation is better than others who depend solely on the salaries; God has been faithful to my family. I pray He touches their hearts to answer our prayers soonest.?

Meanwhile, Mr Abdulmumin Mohammed, Chief of staff, Abaji Area Council, confirmed that the council had commenced the implementation of the new minimum wage with April salaries.

?We have implemented the new wage and people have started receiving alerts from yesterday night,? Mohammed said.

He expressed optimism that other area councils would do same so that workers could return back to their offices.

NAN reports that the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, had recently approved the sum of N4.1 billion to the six area councils, for the implementation of the new minimum wage and its arrears. (NAN)

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