As the NLC engages the new administration

It is an open secret that most workers across the country have had it rough in the last couple of months arising mostly from non-payment of salaries and other allowances. By the beginning of July, some states owed more than six months salaries, with governors claiming they don’t earn as they used to; oil receipts […]

It is an open secret that most workers across the country have had it rough in the last couple of months arising mostly from non-payment of salaries and other allowances. By the beginning of July, some states owed more than six months salaries, with governors claiming they don’t earn as they used to; oil receipts have dwindled.
The situation is complex. This is so because it is a new administration and even though workers will never forfeit their entitlements, they are willing to give the new guys on the block a little honeymoon period before they “forcefully” demand for what is theirs, one of them told a gathering of reporters recently.
For long, Nigerian workers have felt underpaid and underappreciated and have fought many government policies they considered inimical to the masses but pundits believe the main culprit has always been the refusal of government to fulfil its part of agreements it willingly entered into with organised labour.
Incidentally, there is also a new leadership at the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) but at the top of this group is a battle tested labour veteran who had fought many wars in the interest of workers and the Nigerian masses.
Today, Muhammadu Buhari is the president and many Nigerians believe that workers will begin to reap the fruits of their labour, especially going by his campaign promises during this year’s general elections. Therefore, the new trio of Muhammadu Buhari, Senate President Bukola Saraki who chairs the National Assembly and the NLC President Comrade Ayuba Wabba are now saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that Nigerian workers and citizens get their entitlements as and when due.
Observers believe that honest communication between labour and government remains the panacea to not only workers’ problems but the problems of all Nigerians.
“After every strike, accusations and counter accusations, conflicts are always resolved on the table. Why not just settle it on the table rather than cause harm to our people and our economy and still end up on the table after so much damage has been done?” one stakeholder asked recently after a strike threat by one of the labour unions.
In line with his avowed determination to “engage before any other action,” Comrade Wabba has reached out to the National Assembly with a plan of action on how to not only avoid labour disputes but also to positively impact the lives of Nigerians.
During his meeting with Senator Bukola, Wabba who said it was an opportunity for “frank and blunt” talks about issues workers feel strongly concerned about said Nigerians are looking forward to the Senate to impact positively on their lives.
He urged the Senate to strengthen existing anti-corruption laws so that people who steal “our collective wealth can be brought to justice far much quicker than we presently have,” stressing that corruption will reduce once people know that there is no hiding place for those who perpetuate it.
He said once corruption is tackled, mass poverty will reduce, adding that “how far we are able to consolidate our democracy is tied to how well and coordinated dividends of democracy trickle down to the masses of our people; and most significantly, how we have been able to free our people from the bondage of poverty.”
The NLC president called for drastic action on the high cost of governance at the local, state and federal levels, pointing out that “as far back as 2009, the RMAFC put the salaries and allowances of certain political, public and judicial office holders, numbering 17,474 at N1.126 trillion annually.
“This indicates that the earnings of political office holders were such a big drain on the revenue of the country and were clearly unsustainable. The level of financial expenditure were such that a Senator and a Representative earn more than 100 times what a graduate on grade level 8, step 15 earns annually. The ratio, when compared to what a level 17, step 9 officer in the federal civil service earns annually, was more than 20 times.”
Wabba reiterated organised labour’s opposition to the removal of subsidy at the meeting, noting that government must tackle the corruption in the system, while expressing hope that President Buhari will retain a sanitised subsidy regime.
He said it is baffling that “some otherwise intelligent people are now arguing that on account of the inherent fraud and corruption in the subsidy regime and the oil industry as a whole, Nigerians should be made to suffer on account of the activities of these fraudsters by removing the subsidy. This is hardly rational.
“For us, those trying to take advantage of the subsidy situation, and have committed fraudulent acts, should be tracked down, caught and made to face the full punishment for their nefarious activities. Our main point that Nigeria cannot, as an oil producing country, continue to be dependent on importation of petroleum products for our internal consumption remains unassailable. The one sustainable way for us in the NLC as we articulated in the Deregulation Report is that we must make our four refineries to work at full capacity, and build new ones to take care of the shortfall, which the current refineries working at full capacity, are unable to meet.”
Speaking on youth unemployment, which, according to him, in some estimates, has reached over 50 million, he urged Saraki to play a role in ensuring that required legislations are put in place to provide the enabling environment for job creation in both the public and private sectors of our economy.
He made a case for the review of the National Minimum Wage Act 2011, saying the five-year circle, during which the Act is due for review, is here and that the devaluation of the naira from N150 to $1, to about N242 to $1, underscores the grim situation for salary earners in the country, bearing in mind that Nigeria’s economy is import-driven.
According to him, the devaluation, in simple economic terms, means that the purchasing power of the ordinary Nigerian wage earner is grossly devalued.
“As a result of this grim economic reality,” he informed Saraki, “Congress will soon submit a New Minimum Wage demand, which we hope will be negotiated by the traditional tripartite negotiating team of government, employers and organized labour. Our hope is that when the end product of the negotiation is brought before the National Assembly for legislation, it would be treated with dispatch.”
Nigerians will agree that the engagement between organized labour and the legislature is a good omen, especially considering the fact that the heads of both institutions recently assumed leadership and will use the opportunity to restart the relationship on a clean slate.
Just as it did with the legislature, the NLC will do well to reach out directly to President Muhammadu Buhari and also discuss frankly on issues of concern and those not settled by the immediate past administration.
It is only through honest communication that lasting industrial harmony can be achieved and many Nigerians are looking up to all the parties involved for success in the sector.