Labour leaders warn FG on growing employment crisis

Soji-Eze Fagbemi, Abuja

Labour leaders have urged the Federal Government to partner with the Labour in the country in its effort at strengthening labour standards for workers this year.

Specifically, the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) wanted the government to proffer lasting solutions to the growing employment crisis in the country. The two bodies warned that the Vision 2020 agenda woux=-ald remain "a huge joke if the President Umaru Yar’Adua-led government does not begin to build the structure of the economy around employment generation, infrastructural development, human capital development, as well as friendly macro-economic policies.

The President of the Nigerian Labour Congress,Comrade Abdulwaheed Ibrahim Omar said, "it is not enough for the president to admit that employment creation is one of the challenges confronting the nation in recent times". He called for true partnership between government and labour to plan a framework for genuine employment opportunities for Nigerians.

His words: “Given the seriousness of the employment crisis, government needs to partner with Labour to prepare a framework that would come up with innovative short-term intervention measures, especially investment in public works. Above all, the nonsensical policy of retrenchment of the last administration should be terminated forthwith.”

Comrade Umar said further that there was urgent need for a general employment review mechanism to solve the current crisis.

He said: “The current global economic recession makes it more imperative for us to remind the Federal Government on the need for quick and proactive action in resolving the employment crisis.”

The President General of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Comrade Peter Esele,in his own reaction, called on the Federal Government to enlist the services of labour movements as a necessary condition to resolving the growing employment crisis. “TUC insists that Labour should be brought in as full partners with the government to establish a new regulatory framework for the growing employment crisis in the country.

“The organised Labour wants to ensure that there is decent work and core labour standard for workers in the country and, not the other way round. Unions will not be satisfied with any new regulatory framework that does not achieve that goal”, he added.

According to Esele, "the Federal Government may not have foreseen the magnitude of the current employment crisis, nor its impact on working people in Nigeria , but the time is not too late to fight the crisis headlong.

“We want the government to appreciate the experience and expertise of the labour movements, which for some years, have been warning about the dangers this employment crisis, posed by lack of decent and core labour standards for workers in Nigeria.

“We therefore wish to use this opportunity to call on government to expedite action on the release of the N70 billion textile revival fund promised by the administration of President Obasanjo, to restore the lost hope of the textile industry that is currently facing extinction.”

ILO to partner Nigeria on social security

Soji-Eze Fagbemi, Abuja

ILO D-G, Juan SomaviaTHE Director General, International Labour Organisation (ILO), Mr.Juan Somavia has pledged that the ILO would partner and support Nigeria in the area of social security.

Somavia declared the ILO’s intention to support the initiative of Labour, especially on social security, through the ILO Social Security Specialist in Dakar, Christine Bockstal, who paid a courtesy visit on the Minister of Labour, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, in Abuja.

Prince Kayode used the occasin to seek ILO’s support for Nigeria and said that he was very passionate about the welfare and social security of the Nigerian workers.

The minister stated that the issue of social security was number one priority for him as the labour minister and promised to pursue this with relentless vigour and dedication.

The minister craved the indulgence of the ILO to assist Nigeria to overcome her problems with its competence and verse knowledge in combating issues of social security, unemployment and poverty.

Christine Bockstal, who conveyed the greetings of ILO Director- General, Mr.Juan Somavia from Geneva, declared the readiness of ILO to enter into real partnership with Nigeria on Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), in order to bring the issues of social insecurity to its lowest ebb.

Please, give me back my job to save my family - Man appeals to Adeyemi College

Soji-Eze Fagbemi, Abuja

Labour Minister,
Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, Sacked unjustifiably and unexpectedly by the management of Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, living has become very unbearable to a man whose hope from his young age has been to model the younger generations after him through sound education. After watching his parents for years doing same, Mr. Adeyinka Olumuyiwa Abe solemnly resolved, even in his days at the primary school, to take after his parents and teach the younger ones.

After years of burning night candles however, he successfully got the required education and certificate to do that but it dawned on him that Nigeria as a nation could no longer give, even the most serious and determined Nigerian who is brimming with knowledge and high expectation while graduating from school, the leverage enjoyed by his father and mother in those days. Muyiwa, as a fresh graduate, had to wait for some years to get a teaching job that has remained very germane to him. The job did not come on time but his hope to teach tomorrow’s leaders remained, throughout that period, unshaken.

Succour came the way of Mr. Abe when, on 29 December, 1994, the Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, offered him a probationary appointment. Being a hardworking young man then, and with such rare opportunity, he grabbed it with a vow not to disappoint his old parents, himself and the institution that offered him the lifeline.

“When I got the letter, I couldn’t believe it. I vowed not to disappoint myself first, my God who has made it possible, my aged parents who are relying on me to be there for them in their old age, and again the management of the school who placed so much trust on me. I took my job seriously and worked very well because this is what I have been interested in since I was growing up, but I was surprised that I was not treated equally by the management. It is really a very pathetic story, and it gave me the impression that hardwork and obedience are not recognised in this part of the world”, Muyiwa told LabourToday.

The appointment letter with reference number ACE/DSS/ABE/18 and signed by the Registrar, Mr. I. O. Adesulu, said the appointment “will be for 2 years in the first instance with effect from 1st January, 1995 when you assume duty in the school.

“The appointment will be confirmed to the age of 60 years after 2 years of satisfactory performance. The school operates a staff contributory pension scheme; you will be required to contribute 5% of your basic salary and the school will contribute 10%. At the end of appointment, returns will be made to you.

“The probationary appointment is subject to the laws/regulations of the Adeyemi College of Education, Demonstration Secondary School, Ondo and to such conditions governing appointments generally as to have been made or may be made by the Board of Governors from time to time.

“The appointment is a whole time appointment and no paid work or other continuous work with parties outside the school may be undertaken without the consent of the Board of Governors previously obtained.”

Mr. Abe said he took his job and the rules and regulations very seriously and worked very hard to justify all he got. To confirm this, his appointment was confirmed in 1998. A letter from the Registrar titled: Confirmation of appointment and dated 25th February, 1998 read: “Please refer to our letter Ref. No: ACE/DSS/ABE/18/11 dated 29th December, 1994, offering you appointment as a class teacher.

“I am pleased to inform you that the Administrative Staff Committee at its meeting of 27th January, 1998, confirmed your appointment with effect from 1st February, 1997
“The appointment will now be to the retirement age.”

The last paragraph of the letter assured him that the job will be to the retirement age, which, according to the agreement between them and the rules and regulations, should be 60 years.

His dedication to duty and hardwork was not only recognised, his responsible attitude and moral values were applauded. Muyiwa was between 1999 and 2004 promoted twice under two different registrars. The first promotion was on 10th August, 1999 through a letter from Mr. Adesulu; while the second promotion came on 3rd June, 2004 with a letter signed by the Registrar, Mrs. V.O. Akindehin.

But the unexpected came on 23rd August, 2007, when his appointment was terminated under the guise of “College Reform Programme”. According to Mr. Abe, the development nearly drove him mad but for God.

The sack came without prior notice, no offence committed; no query issued and met him unprepared because the rules and regulations of the institution did not permit him to do anything outside the school. The sack letter titled, ‘Severance’, was signed by another registrar, Mr. F.E. Aderinboye and it simply stated that his services were no longer required in the college.

Since then, Muyiwa has been fighting the battle to get justice, appealing to the authorities to review his case. After he had written so many letters without success to get himself back to his work, he told LabourToday that his condition and that of family has again forced him to cry out.

He wrote the Provost of the College on 11th September, 2007 for the school to redress the injustice. In the letter titled: ‘Re: Severance – An appeal for clemency’, he made “a passionate appeal for reinstatement to my job.”

He said: “When this letter of severance came, the whole world became shattered in my own perspective as it took the prompt intervention of my wife, aged parents and my neighbours to resuscitate me after I had fainted. The one and only question that has been dropping in my heart since then is: ‘Where do I go from here?’ I have not been able to find any satisfactory answer to this question.”

Mr. Abe explained that he is married with children, his aged parents are living with him, while his 12 years of service at the college seemed to be wasted. He regretted that he has not been able to fend for himself and his many dependants.

“I am appealing to you to use your good office to restore me back to my job otherwise, I am afraid I may not be able to recover from the consequence of someone losing his means of livelihood”, he pleaded in his letter to the provost and the school.

Responding to this appeal of Mr. Abe, Mrs. K. O. Oluremi-Oyarinde, on behalf of the registrar, said the position of the College Council still stands on his sack.”As at now, there seems to be no reason for the recall of any staff”, she stressed.

However, Mr. Abe did not rest as his ordeal could only be appreciated by someone in his position. He told LabourToday that he would continue pleading as there is no money for him to start anything, expressing the fear that his children may soon start to see him as incapable of performing his role as a father.

After the registrar’s response to his latter to the provost, he wrote another letter where he pleaded that age was no longer on his side, and only reinstatement to his beloved job could end his present ordeal.

Mr. Abe called on Nigerians, governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and especially the Minister of Labour, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, to intervene in his case and come out with pragmatic policies that would give the poor Nigerian masses job security and adequate security in their old age.

He pointed out that many in his type of problem are forced to go into various forms of crime, including drug trafficking, 419 and robbery, to make ends meet.

He also appealed to the management of the Adeyemi College of Education and the Nigerian government, as well as well-meaning Nigerians, that he doesn’t want to die untimely leaving his children and aged parents to suffer, and without fulfilling his childhood dreams.

You can't toy with my ministry - Labour Minister ,Kayode

Soji-Eze Fagbemi, Abuja

Adetokunbo Kayode,
Labour Minister.THE Minister of Labour, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, has maintained that the Ministry of Labour and Productivity is one of the most important ministries that no nation can afford to toy with.

Prince Kayode made the remark during his meeting with directors and representatives of middle and junior officers, including the union executives, in the ministry.

The minister described the labour sector as the engine room of the economic development of any nation.

He commended the management and staff of the ministry of labour for their dedication to duty and charged them not to relent in their efforts to ensure that Nigeria becomes one of the 20 leading economies in the world by the year 2020.

The minister stressed that with the cooperation and commitment of the entire staff of the ministry, he was ready to work tirelessly with all stakeholders to take the labour sector to the next level.

He assured the staff that the office accommodation problem of the ministry would soon become a thing of the past.

In his response, the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Suleiman D. Kassim, who spoke on behalf of the entire staff of the ministry, commended the minister for his plan to reposition the ministry in terms of accommodation, finance and general staff welfare.

He assured the minister of the staff's loyalty and harmonious working relationship.