My joy was short-lived, evaporating like morning dew the moment the sun fully awoke. Splashed across social media, bold and confident, was the headline: “Sheriff Approves 13th-Month Salary for Workers.”
The moment a colleague forwarded it to me on WhatsApp, I knew, instinctively, that something was off. Before calling any authority in government to verify, the story had already betrayed itself. The red flags were waving enthusiastically.
The first was right there in the opening paragraph. The faceless authors claimed that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori approved the 13th-month salary just days after granting automatic scholarships to the best-graduating students of state-owned universities. That claim alone was a lie wrapped in haste.
Between December 4, when The Pointer published the verified scholarship story, and December 9, when this piece of fiction on the 13th month surfaced, there was no State Executive Council (SEC) meeting, contrary to the tale spun about approvals at “the executive chambers of the governor.” One wondered if the authors believed SEC meetings were convened on WhatsApp groups.
But they didn’t stop there.
In their second paragraph, the writers descended further into creative writing. They boldly quoted the Head of Service, thanking the “result-oriented governor” and allegedly declaring, “Our Santa Clause came early, and it means more prosperity for civil servants.”
At that point, even satire would have blushed.
For starters, Dr (Mrs) Mininim Oseji, an accomplished medical doctor and administrator, is far too educated, refined, and detailed to spell Santa Claus as Santa Clause. That single spelling error spoke louder than a press conference. The authors attempted to crawl into the mind of the Head of Service, but their disguise slipped badly.
Then came paragraph three.
Apparently dissatisfied with their own lead, the writers abandoned it midway and opted for a sudden human-interest angle, without fixing the contradictions already piled up. The result was a disjointed, hurried, and unprofessional narrative that exposed the story’s lack of veracity.
Next, they dragged in the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr Kingsley Eze Emu, curiously quoting him from a “statement” rather than situating him at the so-called executive chambers where the approval allegedly took place. Again, the plot thickened poorly.
Dr Emu, a meticulous academic known for precision, was reduced to a mere mention of the N77,000 minimum wage, hardly the kind of detail one would expect in a landmark announcement like a 13th-month salary, especially as it was supposed to be the first in the state’s history.
Even more baffling was what, or rather who, was missing.
In a properly structured administration like Oborevwori’s, announcements of this magnitude pass through the Commissioner for Information, the official custodian of the government’s communication architecture. Yet, the authors conveniently skipped this reality. No attribution. No briefing. No press release. Just vibes.
At that point, the story collapsed under its own weight.
The claim has since been officially confirmed as fake. But beyond its falsehood lies a more troubling question: What was the motive? Was it an attempt to blackmail the governor? To arm-twist him into making an announcement he never made? If so, it was a poor strategy aimed at the wrong man.
Governor Oborevwori has consistently shown sensitivity to the plight of civil servants. He didn’t need social media blackmail to approve the new minimum wage, nor was he bullied into clearing pension arrears running into billions of naira, multiple times. He did those because he promised to do MORE.
When organised labour, through the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), made demands during Workers’ Day celebrations, the governor quietly granted most, if not all, of them. No drama. No noise. No hashtags.
So why the desperation?
Yes, comparisons have been made with other states that pay a 13th-month salary. But it is equally important to acknowledge that Delta State does not owe salaries. By the 26th of every month, civil servants are already smiling at their phones as alerts pour in like harmattan dust, unavoidable and plentiful.
Beyond salaries, the infrastructural transformation across Delta State is visible even to the blind. Roads, flyovers, bridges, and public facilities stand as evidence that governance is not happening only on paper.
On welfare and human capital development, the administration has not forgotten the vulnerable. Widows receive stipends. Pregnant women, children, and senior citizens benefit from free healthcare. These interventions remove heavy burdens from working families, burdens that even a 13th-month salary might struggle to offset.
Still, if the governor has seen this kite flown, albeit mischievously, perhaps he may, in his characteristic magnanimity, consider it someday. After all, Christmas is sweeter when workers get paid twice in December.
But until then, facts must prevail over fantasy. Governance is not run by fake news, and leadership is not bullied by badly written fiction. In December, Nigerians may dream of two months, but only one is real.