To reduce the impact of fuel subsidy removal do State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has announced measures to create more virtual classrooms, thereby, reducing the cost of commuting for parents, teachers, and pupils.
The Governor in a statement noted that his government shared the pains of the people and assured them that his administration will stand with them “in these very challenging times”.
He said, “The Edo SUBEB will provide details on this initiative in the coming days. To lower the rising cost of energy on our people, we will continue to work with the electricity companies in the state to improve power supply to homes and businesses. Similarly, fibre optic connections are being made available to help our people work remotely, thereby reducing their cost of transportation.”
Obaseki also empathised with the people of the state in the wake of the rise in prices of goods and services and the overall cost of living occasioned by the fuel subsidy removal by the federal government.
The state government equally announced the reduction of work days from five to three for civil servants in the state.
Obaseki stressed that his administration would do all within its power to ameliorate the sufferings of residents.
” As a proactive government, we have since taken the step to increase the minimum wage paid to workers in Edo state from the approved N30,000 to N40,000, the highest in the country today.
We want to assure you that we will continue to pay this amount, while we hope to increase it even further if more allocation accrues to our state from the federal government in view of the expected savings occasioned by the removal of the fuel subsidy.
“We know the hardship that has been caused by this policy which has radically increased the cost of transportation, eating deep into the wages of workers in the state. Therefore, the Edo state government is hereby reducing the number of work days that civil and public servants will have to commute to their workplaces from five days a week to three days a week till further notice. Workers will now work from home two days every week.”