Ajaokuta steel workers owed six months salaries again

And the man died, not because he could not realize his dreams of seeing Nigeria become a major steel producer.  Rather, Engineer Ngwoke died because he could not afford to treat himself of an undisclosed ailment.  He could not go to hospital because he had no money as his employers (ASCL) refused to pay him […]

And the man died, not because he could not realize his dreams of seeing Nigeria become a major steel producer.  Rather, Engineer Ngwoke died because he could not afford to treat himself of an undisclosed ailment.  He could not go to hospital because he had no money as his employers (ASCL) refused to pay him for the past six months. The fate that befell Engr. Ngwoke is the lot of most staff of ASCL and graphically illustrates the unremitting sufferings they are daily encountering due to irregular salaries payment.  It is on record that staff and family members are dying daily due to inability to handle medical challenges arising from non-payment of salaries.  More worrisome is that academic programmes of children and dependants are stalled for lack of finances.

Many commentators have attributed the sporadic salaries payment to “the executive recklessness of the Honourable Minister of Mines & Steel Development, Mrs Deziani Alison-Madueke”.

Others are of the opinion that policy inconsistencies and lack of direction on the part of government over the years have crippled our dream of becoming a major steel producing nation and in turn, technologically advanced country. Part of the fallouts experienced now and again is the ugly situation in which trained staff of ASCL and their innocent dependants are subjected to each time government deliberately fails to provide for their salaries for at times 13 months while still in the employment of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Experts argue that the recent ordeal of ASCL workers could be traced to the termination of the concession agreement with the Indians (GIHL) by the Federal Government in April, 2008 in which staff salaries were left unpaid until November 2008 when they were only paid eight (8) months salary arrears covering February – September 2008 out of the ten (10) months owed them.  As a result of this, staff and family members suffered a great deal.

Going down memory lane, we remember that Mrs Deziani Alison-Madueke came in at the point as Hon. Minister of Mines & Steel Development, taking over from Ademola Seriki who ensured the earlier payment.

Sadly, Madam Minister (Deziani) failed to pay workers and ensured that ASCL and NIOMCO (National Iron Ore Mining Company) personnel emoluments were omitted from the Budget 2009 and thus, staff of the two parastatals remained unpaid for upward of 13 months until the supplementary budget passed in July 2009 which covered only 10 months salaries and some allowances.  Only the 10 months salaries excluding the allowances were paid staff in late October 2009.  Even then, the payment of the allowances to staff was not achieved up to date.

The approved allowances were for furniture and transport as requested by the same minister in the 2009 Supplementary Budget which was appropriated by an Act of the National Assembly and promptly released by the Ministry of Finance but withheld by the Hon. Minister of Mines & Steel Development.

It is on record that a total sum of N3,320,497,756 was appropriated in the 2009 Supplementary Budget to pay the arrears of salaries and allowances for both ASCL and NIOMCO workers but the Minister released only N3.1 billion for the payment.  She unilaterally refused to pay the arrears of furniture and transport allowances due to staff of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, thereby short-changing them to the tune of N200 million.  What a reckless and arrogant abuse of power!

To date, the Minister has not considered it humane enough to release the withheld allowances to staff to assuage their present predicament caused by the unpaid six months salary arrears which resulted from her deliberate policy not to propose fully for the staff in the 2009 Supplementary Budget.

It is regrettable that since the payment of 10 months salary arrears (October 2008 – July 2009) to ASCL workers, their salaries from August 2009 to date, i.e., six months running remain outstanding.

Though personnel emoluments for ASCL and NIOMCO are reflected in the 2010 Appropriation Bill and hopefully, when passed into law, will take care of staff salaries for year 2010, but what about the five months arrears of August – December 2009 and the sum already released to the Ministry to pay the allowances from February – April 2008 whose main salaries had been paid by the Federal Government while the allowances for the same period are withheld by the same Minister?

Even the Technical Audit of ASCL which N1 billion was appropriated in the 2009 budget has only commenced in January 2010 by REPROM Company of Ukraine.  The ASCL staff who had over the years protected their beloved multi-billion dollar steel plant from decay and technical obsolesces, greasing, idle-running, draining flood waters have yet joined the expatriates on the technical audit to determine the correct status of the plant, without monthly salaries paid them.  They continued to work on empty stomachs!

Another issue agitating the minds of ASCL staff is the shoddy implementation of the Pension Reform Act, 2004, otherwise called the Contributory Pension Scheme.  It is incontestable that the staff remain at the receiving end as far as this scheme is concerned.  For instance, their monthly contributions deducted from the paid salaries have not been adequately remitted into their Retirement Savings Account (RSA).  And since the start of the scheme which ASCL joined in March 2006, only 12 months remittances were recorded into staff’s RSA via their PFAs.  What then is happening to the remaining contributions expected to even yield interest to contributors (employees)?

Another apprehension staff grapple with stems from the fate of ASCL retirees from year 2006 to date who have been subjected to as none of them has been paid by PENCOM, either from the Contributory Pension Scheme or the terminal benefits made up of gratuity as per the Federal Government bond accruable to a retiree account.

It needs reiterating that the hardship and excruciating life-experience staff and family members are going through could only be imagined now than the real thing they contend with as loved family members were lost owing to inability to access medical facilities. Indeed, the last is yet to be heard about ASCL and its employees.

Obaka, an economist writes from Jos. (08056830074 – SMS only)