The Kaduna State Government has saluted workers on the occasion of the 2020 May Day.
The government praised the resilience of citizens during difficult times and called for sober reflections on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on standards and conditions of work and living.
The state government assured workers that it remains committed to strengthening the public service, raising the capacity of its employees and improving their reward.
A statement from Sir Kashim Ibrahim House noted that the 2020 May Day is being marked in circumstances that are most unusual for all categories of workers, be they in the public sector, the organised private sector, and the vast informal sector.
It reads “The Kaduna State Government has saluted workers in the state on the occasion of May Day 2020.
“The responsibility to protect the vast majority of residents from the danger of widespread community transmission of COVID-19 has compelled the extension of the Quarantine Orders in Kaduna State. But this government has also asked a team of senior officials to begin thinking and planning for a post-lockdown scenario in Kaduna State.
“KDSG is convinced that there is no tension between public safety and economic vitality. Rather both should be conceived as supportive of each other. That is why the lockdown has only been partial, to allow the operations of the most essential sectors.
“Since the imposition of the Quarantine Orders on 26th March 2020, KDSG has always permitted the food and agriculture value chain to function along with essential manufacturing and logistics businesses
“As soon as the epidemiological evidence suggests that infection rates have dropped, the state wishes to be ready to permit more economic actors to safely reopen their firms and businesses.
“Before we get to that point, present conditions require that people with an income undertake acts of sacrifice and solidarity to support those whose livelihoods are challenged by the lockdown.
“The government calls for the understanding of everyone, especially workers in the public sector, of the imperative of sacrifice and solidarity in this moment of emergency.
“Just as it demonstrated by swiftly implementing the new national minimum wage and increasing the minimum pension received by retirees on the defined benefits scheme, the Kaduna State Government remains committed to strengthening the public service, raising the capacity of its employees and improving their reward.
“KDSG appeals to citizens to uphold hope that together we can defeat COVID-19, return to some degree of normalcy and be able to commemorate May Day and other landmark dates with greater optimism.
“This requires the disciplined and consistent exercise of personal responsibility: regular hand-washing with soap and water, wearing face-masks when outside the home, observance of social distancing, and avoidance of large gatherings.” The statement said.