Workers in Osun state civil service on December 27, 2017, embarked on an indefinite strike. The strike according to the labour unions was premised on non-payment of pensions, non-promotion of workers and lastly the issue of half salary.

To close watchers of events in Osun it is evident that the main reason the working class decided to embark on a strike was the sudden and unexplained decision to halve payment of their monthly salaries, a decision the state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola explained was as a result of statewide financial constraints. The purported financial constraints in Osun is so dire, as many workers have not received a full payment for than two years now. The Governor has given various reasons why salaries can’t be paid and why it has to be modulated for some staff before they could pay.

This is especially disheartening considering Osun state’s public service was one of the best paid in the country since the creation of the state twenty six years ago. When Aregbesola assumed office in his first term he sustained this trend, but with nothing to lose in his second, he has decided instead to divert funding for salaries to other projects.

It got so bad that as at the time he was campaigning for re-election about five months salaries were being owed, despite that, the workers went ahead to vote him in. That was their first mistake, the Osun workforce had enough members to significantly sway the polls and lose Aregbesola the elections, but they chose not to.

The second own goal happened when he got re-elected. After owing salaries for several months, the state government negotiated a partial payment of salaries with the workforce, an unrealistic expectation in a country where the minimum wage barely sustains anyone. The leadership of Osun state’s public service, for reasons we cannot fathom, agreed to this sham of a compromise, allowing the state to skip its contractual obligations due to fall in oil prices. However the salaries of the state’s House of Representatives and politicians within the executive are paid in full and on time. This was the line sold to the workers by the state government and they swallowed hook, like and sinker, driven to desperation by the alternative.

The state has paid modulated salaries for about a year and a half now. The industrial action came as a result of the state Governor’s decision to continue payment of modulated salaries after the receipt of the latest tranche of the Pairs refund which the labour force vehemently disagreed with.

The disagreement eventually led to this strike, which has now been called off, three days after it was started. It was a great move, but one that Aregbesola could have easily predicted and compensated for. Perhaps this will move the workers of Osun state to voice their displeasure with their votes rather than other more reactive avenues.