The Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma, has announced a significant increase in salaries for state workers, effectively setting a new benchmark for subnational governance in Nigeria.
The announcement, made during a meeting with state labour leaders on Wednesday, covers civil servants, medical doctors, lecturers, and pensioners.
The most headline-grabbing element is a dramatic raise of the minimum wage for Imo State civil servants to N104,000 per month. This figure more than 25 percent of the current national minimum wage of N75,000.
In a move aimed at curbing the brain drain in the vital health and education sectors, the Governor announced even more substantial raises for professionals.
For medical doctors, the new entry-point salary has been set at a staggering N513,000 per month. This is widely seen as a direct intervention to retain and attract medical talent in the state’s healthcare system.
For lecturers in state-owned tertiary institutions, the new entry-level salary will be N222,000. This announcement is expected to be welcomed by the academic community, which has long advocated for better remuneration.
In a related development, bringing relief to retired workers, the Governor also confirmed that the next batch of gratuity payments for senior citizens and pensioners will commence immediately.
“The next batch of gratuities will start receiving payments from tomorrow,” the Governor stated.
More details are expected later…
Discussion about this post