Challenges before the new labour ministers

Labour issues in Nigeria are often in the front burner and affect the living standard of every Nigerian. In recent years, labour issues are very sensitive and affect every aspect of the economy. In work relations, most of the issues and problems emanate from inequity and unfair labour practices. The Federal Ministry of Labour and […]

Labour issues in Nigeria are often in the front burner and affect the living standard of every Nigerian. In recent years, labour issues are very sensitive and affect every aspect of the economy.
In work relations, most of the issues and problems emanate from inequity and unfair labour practices.
The Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity which has just be renamed Ministry of Labour and Employment,  even  though the ministry had at various times bore the present  “Labour and Employment’’ status.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment as it is presently known has been in existence since 1932 and has undergone several changes in nomenclatures, structure and functions. However, the core function has been to ensure cordial relationship between the social partners engaged in the production of goods and services in both the public and private sectors.
This core function of the ministry will surely be the main challenges the ministry’s new ministers in persons of Senator Nwabueze Chris Ingige, and State counterparts, Barrister James Ocholi will be confronted with.
The ministers will also have to work hard to address the knotty issues of accumulated salaries areas being owed workers in most of the states in the face of dwindling economy caused by the fall in the prices of crude oil.
Also, agitations by workers over cost of living allowances, fear of naira devaluation, subsidy removal and threats of strikes here and there will definitely take Ngige and Ocholi more than rhetoric and the usual parley meetings with labour unions to tackle.
President of Nigerian Labour Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba when contacted by Daily Trust to give his views on the expectations of Nigerian workers from the newly appointed ministers said that the appointment of Dr. Chris Ngige as the Minister of labour and Employment was coming at a time of many challenges in the country.  He said that the ministers have a lot of daunting roles to play because the ministry they manned is a unique in the sense that it handles industrial relations matters and therefore have the duty to ensuring industrial peace and harmony in the country.
He said that the ministers must as matter of urgency address what he called “the prevalent cases of casualization and outsourcing of workers”  which a number of employers have resorted to as a means of cutting costs of human resources and maximization of profits which cut across both public and private sectors.
“There is also the need to sufficiently equip the ministry’s factory inspectorate division to function optimally.  The ministers will also have to address the issue of massive unemployment in the country.  Ministry of labour is a specialized ministry because it deal with issues of industrial relations, labour treaties and convention and it’s a tripartite platform and therefore they need to understand the workings of the ministry.  Over and over people just thought that ministry of labour is just about managing   strikes, no, it goes beyond that it is about managing people. The greatest asset that we have is the human resources and therefore it is the most viable asset outside capital in fact labour is more  important than capital  because you can have the capital if you don’t have the mix of  expertise, human resources, the labour components certainly your resources will not produce the  desired result  and that’s why all over the world labour is taken  as a very important component of development.” 
Wabba argued that casualisation and outsourcing of workers are burning issues which must not be left unresolved by the present administration.
He said that employers have resulted to casualisation and outsourcing because they don’t want to pay terminal benefits and decent wages.
“They don’t want workers to work in dignity.  So because of these reasons most establishments now are outsourcing their services to other agencies because our labor law provides that once you have workers up to 25 its mandatory for you to implement the Pension Act, it’s mandatory for you to also allow union to operate so that the condition of service of these workers can also be determined. This is one issue in Nigeria, it’s not that we don’t have people that are working but they are working poor. They are working but they cannot sustain themselves, the salaries in most cases cannot even take them home.”
Also  speaking on the challenges before the new ministers,  Secretary-General of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria(TUC),Comrade Mohammed Lawal said  that the appointment of Dr.Chris Ngige as the Minister of Labour and Productivity,was not a bad idea on the part of the Federal government.
He said Ngige,who was once a governor and civil servant would bring his experience to bear on the labour sector especially now that the sector is stewed in crisis due to minimum wage issue in the country.
He said the Labour and Productivity Minister would therefore be challenged by the need to stabilize the relationship between labour and the Federal government.
He also mentioned that another challenge of Dr.Ngige is how to resolve backlog of crisis due to the controversy arising from the planned reversal of minimum wage by some state governments in the country.
According to him,the new minister would also be challenged by the need to use the labour sector to promote the change mantra being championed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He assured that the TUC is ready to partner with the new minister with a view to resolving labour issues and promoting the nation’s economic growth.
When Daily Trust contacted the Deputy President, National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Comrade Ntukubes Mbang  to give his views on the union`s expectations from the ministers,
he said the appointment of Ngige as Minister of Labour and Productivity was a square peg in a round hole. He premised his argument on the fact that Ngige as a trained medical doctor, lacks the finesse and skills on how to resolve or manage labour crisis.
He, however, said the new minister would be challenged on how to tackle the hydra-headed problem of casualization and outsourcing in the nation’s labour sector.
He also said Ngige would be challenged with the raging issue of payment of minimum wage in the country.