FORMER Minister of Special Duties, Ibrahim Kazaure, has assumed office as new Minister of Labour and Productivity. This follows the minor cabinet reshuffle by Acting President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, which redeployed the former minister, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode to the Ministry of Justice, as the Attorney General of the Federal and Minister of Justice.

The Acting Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Buba Gamawa, received the new minister to his office, as his predecessor, Prince Kayode was summoned by the acting president and could not officially hand over his portfolio.

However, Kazaure received his baptism of fire as noted of the Ministry of Labour as he was immediately confronted with trade unions who are already threatening to go on strike.

To the minister’s surprise, members of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPNC), which comprises the eight trade unions in the public service, were already waiting for a negotiation on their planned nationwide strike, while the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) was at the same time addressing a press conference to commence a strike today.

The joint council, led by its Chairman, Comrade Olakunle Olaitan, had, two weeks ago, declared that its members would meet last week to take a decision on when to commence a strike action over the wage disparity in the civil service and other issues.

The former minister had subsequently summoned them to a meeting to negotiate on the issue before his redeployment.

The new minister, Kazaure had to perform his first official assignment as he had to address members of the JNPSNC, which had hitherto begun the negotiation with the former minister.

Comrade Olaitan, who is also the President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), said they had been into negotiation with the Federal Government in the past two years, stating that their grievances centred on the wage disparity between senior public service personnel and other public sector workers.

He said: “We welcome you (Kazaure) to this ministry and we shall address you as honourable minister despite the circumstance you assumed duty. But we were here to continue discussions on an issue that has lingered on for the past two years.

“The union felt it needed to have a word from the in-coming minister so that we could have something to take back to our respective constituencies concerning the salary inequality.

“A situation where a permanent secretary, for instance earns over N1million as salary monthly, while a director may receive a monthly take home pay of a little above N100,000, is grossly unfair to the system. We are all public servants working for the common good of the country. We are fighting for a salary ratio of at least 1:3.”

Comrade Olaitan, while addressing the new minister, said the JNPSNC had resolved to call-out its members to embark on indefinite industrial action if the Federal Government fails to bridge the wide gap between salaries of permanent secretaries and other civil servants.

He accused the present administration of paying lip service to the well being of the workers in the public service and encouraging corruption in the service.

While responding, Ibrahim Kazaure appealed to the JNPSNC and begged other trade unions for more time to meet with relevant authorities, including the Budget Office and Finance Ministry and promised to address the problem immediately.

Kazaure said: “I assure you that this problem has come to an end. Give me more time and I will not sit in my office until those concerned are seated here by Thursday. Anybody that is not here by 10 a.m will be locked out. What kind of discussion have they been having for two years without conclusion? It is not fair.

“I will not sleep until this problem is over. I assure you, you’ve got somebody that will solve this problem. If we can’t solve this problem, who will solve them for us?”