Ooni deplores states owing salaries

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, has deplored state governments owing workers salaries and described it not good idea.
Ogunwusi, who hosted some management staff of the News Agency of Nigeria in Ile Ife, urged the affected states to think out of the box and pay their workers the outstanding salaries.
He said state governments should not depend solely on monthly allocations from the federation account to run their affairs.
He said: “State governments should also think of what they can do on their own to generate additional revenue to complement whatever comes monthly to them from the federation account.
“All the states have one or two potential that they are blessed with it, they should utilize the opportunities to raise their income.”
The monarch also advised them to launch themselves into the agriculture sector.
They would be able to offset their workers’ salaries from revenue generated from their farm produce, Ogunwusi said.
He added: “Every state has fertile lands that can be cultivated.
“They should invest in cultivating products in which they have comparative advantage.
“The only viable sectors left for us in these country are the agriculture and culture/tourism.”
These sectors, Ogunwusi explained, could not run dry or go into extinction because they are natural resources.
He urged state governments to invest more in agriculture to support the Federal Government’s change agenda.
According to him, agriculture will create employment opportunities for citizens, alleviate poverty, boost revenue and increase foreign exchange earnings.