The Nation Newspaper

Category: Labour

  • ‘Need to encourage investments in refineries’

    To encourage private  investments in refineries, there is need for the Federal Government to provide conducive environment, the National Public Relations Officer, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Seyi Gambo, has said.

    Gambo said there are some key issues that still confront the nation and that is the reason why the Federal Government should provide the right environment for private investors to invest in refineries and other businesses.

    He said more than 10 per cent of Nigeria’s total crude oil production, which translates to about 200,000 barrels of crude oil is stolen every day, adding that this is almost double the total production of Ghana.

    “The nation therefore, loses about $6billion yearly to crude oil theft and another N165billion to theft of refined products. As if this is not enough, there is also the brazen vandalism of pipelines, which has adversely affected the supply of crude to the refineries resulting in low or no output from our four refineries,” he said.

    He said because of oil theft and pipeline vandalism, there is insecurity of lives and property in Nigeria. His words: “Terrorism ravages the north while kidnapping and armed robbery reigns in the south. Life in Nigeria has become nasty, brutish and short with general insecurity of our members, our families and other citizens. This general insecurity has also seriously increased the cost of doing business in our industry and impacted negatively on each one of us as our collective bargaining results in the last few years will attest.

    He said: “You will recall that we made a strong worded statement when Boko Haram killed some young Nigerian pupils in their hostels some months back. It’s a pity the security challenges is becoming a monster today. I will continue to hold the northern elites in particular and Nigerians in general responsible for the advent of Boko Haram. There is abject poverty in the north that does not reflect the decades northerners ruled Nigeria.

    “Today we have millions of northern youths who are disillusioned, they are willing to work but there is no work. All the industries are dead, no textile factories, cotton and groundnut pyramids are things of history.

    “Millions don’t know where their next meal will come from, and they see our military and political elites perpetuating corruption, going free and throwing it at you. These youths are easy prey to many influences including illiterate clerics and mischievous politicians.

    “If we cannot protect the industry that gives us more than 80 per cent of our revenue, what can we then protect? Ethiopia’s major source of income is the Ethiopian Airline. Irrespective of the government in power, the smooth operation of that airline is never disrupted. But what do we have here? Instead of the Navy to patrol our territorial waters and arrest illegal vessels freighting our crude away, we resort to giving contracts to patrol such a sensitive space to Tompolo, an ex militant”.

    On divestment by oil multinationals, he said the combined effect of insecurity, oil theft and pipeline vandalism made the international oil companies (IOCs) to review their business strategy.

    “You will recall that in 2003 many of these companies planned to massively invest in the upstream oil and gas sector for the period 2004-2010. This was based on an ambitious aspiration by the Nigerian government to increase national oil reserves from about 30  billion barrels in 2003 to 40billion barrels in 2010, and daily national production from about two million barrels per day to  four million barrels per day in 2010. However, from February 2006, the militancy in the Niger Delta escalated and forced many of the multinational oil and gas companies to shut down many operations in the Niger Delta. The planned investments by some of these companies, some of which had kickedoff, could no longer be realised. As militancy reduced, oil theft and pipeline vandalism became the order of the day,” he said.

    Gambo also decried the delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), saying: “The PIB was presented to the National Assembly (NASS) in July 2012. Public hearing was concluded by the House of Representatives in July 2013 and the Senate in November 2013. From then till now, not much has been done by the NASS.

    “Meanwhile, investors have continued to adopt a wait and see attitude, refraining from making any new investment pending the passage of the bill. Since 2009 when the Yar’Adua government first introduced the PIB, no new final investment decision (FID) has been taken on any oil and gas project in Nigeria, not even on the government-promoted Brass LNG project.

    “While we are dithering in Nigeria, there are new oil discoveries all over Africa, drawing in investors just as new technology is making hitherto unreachable and uneconomic hydrocarbon deposits accessible in Europe and North America thus attracting investors to those environments. Pass the PIB and let everybody know the rules of the game”.

    He said tied to the non-passage of the PIB is government’s undue interference in the purely commercial activities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) thus, opening it up to unfair allegations of cottuption by legislators and the public.

  • NDE sensitises staff on anti-graft

    The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) organised a sensitisation workshop on anti-corruption for NDE staff.

    In his address, the Director General of the NDE, Mallam Abubakar Mohammed said the workshop is to acquaint his staff  with the activities of the EFCC and how to carry out their  activities without falling foul of the law.

    “The collaboration will bring home to officers of the directorate the intricate workings of the EFCC. Officers will be better equipped to play a more supportive and proactive role in the fight against corruption.

    “In 2002, the NDE by the mandate of the Federal Government, through the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) established at its headquarters, the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit, otherwise known as ACTU-NDE,” Mohammed said.

    He added that 10 months later, all NDE formation in the 36 states and Abuja set up local ACTUs, due to the fact that NDE programmes are mainly implemented in the states.

    On his part, the EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, commended NDE leadership for partnering with the EFCC to fight corruption.

    “The cankerworm of corruption feeds fat on poverty, ignorance, unemployment, ignorance, unemployment, and fear of the unknown. These are subordinate monsters that the NDE is uniquely placed and empowered to deal with. That is why EFCC considers the NDE a key partner in the war against corruption,” he said.

  • SMEDAN appoints Anyikwa Southeast Zonal Coordinator

    As part of the on-going decentralisation of its services and mass deployment of personnel, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has appointed its Deputy Director (Corporate Affairs), Mr. Levi Chukwuemeka Anyikwa, as the new Southeast Zonal Coordinator of the agency.

    He is to head the Zonal Office in Enugu from where he will anchor the programmes and services of the Agency in the five states of the Southeast geo-political zone, namely: Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia.

    The appointment was conveyed to him by the Management of the Agency vide a letter dated April 23, this year, saying: “I am directed to inform you that approval has been granted for your deployment to the Southeast Zonal Office at Enugu as the Zonal Coordinator with immediate effect.”

    Anyikwa, who was born on March 27, 1965, hails from Umuchu in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State.

    He attended the (CMS) Primary School Umuchu from 1972 to 1978; Boys’ Secondary School Umuchu from 1978 to 1983; Anambra State Polytechnic Oko (now Federal Polytechnic Oko) from 1984 to 1986 and then Anambra State University of Technology (ASUTECH) Enugu, known as Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) from 1986 to 1989.

    He later attended the University of Lagos, Akoka-Lagos, between 1994 and 1996.

  • Labour seeks tougher action against terrorists

    A larmed by the killing of more than 90 Nigerians by Boko Haram terrorists in Abuja, the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has urged the Federal Government to take a tougher action against the sect.

    More than 250 others are lying critically ill in various hospitals; about 25 vehicles were burnt; and 14 luxury buses were destroyed in the inferno that resulted from the bombing.

    Expressing disgust at the attack on defenceless citizens, at the Nyanya mass transit park, Abuja, ASCSN National President Bobboi Bala Kaigama said there was the need for security agencies to intensify intelligence gathering.

    “Improved intelligence surveillance will assist a great deal to unveil the sponsors of the group so that they and the murderers who masquerade as religious crusaders, can be brought to justice for the genocide and other crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.

    “As we noted in our previous press statement on the killing of 30 innocent students at the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, Yobe State in February, this gang of goons cannot claim to be carrying out any divine doctrine because no religion sanctions the killing of human beings,” he said.

    The Union called on the Federal Government to mobilise the entire citizen no matter the differences to fight against the insurgents.

    “This is surely not the time to play politics or trade blames, but instead do the needful by fishing out the perpetrators of this dastardly act, including their sponsors and bring them to justice.”

    Also, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) called on all the political parties, civil society groups, the labour movement, prominent citizens and religious leaders to unite against the Boko Haram insurgents in order to stop their nefarious activities.

    “It should be clear to the terrorists and their principals that no society can improve the welfare of its citizens if it is enmeshed in violence, not to talk of a country like Nigeria where the populace is denied basic social amenities by the ruling elite even when there was peace across the length and breadth of the country,” Kaigama said.

    He expressed the union’s heart-felt condolences to all the families of the bereaved and wished the injured ones speedy recovery.

  • TUC members disagree over National Conference

    Some affiliates of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) have disagreed over some decisions taken by the leadership of the National Conference (CONFAB), saying some of them were bypassed.

    But, the Congress has refuted the allegations. It said some of the affiliates that refused to pay check-off dues were trying to blackmail the Congress by distributing mischievous information to create unnecessary crisis in the organisation.

    TUC’s President Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama urged Nigerians to disregard the allegation, saying: “It is unfortunate for the affiliates to have uttered such things.”

    He said some of the affiliates were yet to pay their dues, adding that their allegations were baseless.

    “All affiliates of TUC were fully consulted before the delegates for the Confab were made. We are aware of the allegation and the Council dissociates itself from the allegations,” he added.

    Meanwhile, the affiliates that signed the protest letter to the TUC Secretariat, including Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Chemical and Non-Metallic Products Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (CANMPSSA), among others, said Kaigama single handedly selected those that will be representing the TUC at the conference without due consultation with the affiliates.

    They also argued that many interests, such as oil and gas, manufacturing, shops and distributive, aviation and the maritime sector are not represented, because the unions that are operating in these sectors were not consulted by the leadership of the TUC before going to the National conference.

    The affiliates, which had earlier met about two weeks ago, to review activities and operations of the TUC, expressed strong worries and fears with the ways and manners that the leadership of TUC of flouting the constitution of the congress.

    They alleged that since the President assumed office, he has refused to convene any regular meeting of the constitutional organs of the congress to deliberate on any issue affecting the labour centre.

  • Union cautions govt against IMF policies’ adoption

    The organised labour has called on the Federal Government to take a critical look at the economic prescriptions of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before adopting them.

    Speaking against the backdrop of plans by the Federal Government to privatise refineries, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) cautioned the government against adopting policies that would further hurt the economy and impoverish Nigerians.

    Chairman, Rivers State Council of TUC, Mr. Chika Onuegbu, who made this submission, argued that the fact that the prescriptions of IMF are working in Europe and America, did not mean that they will work in the Nigeria.

    He said: “It is no longer news that Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), gave a fatal blow to Nigerians and the Nigerian economy. Some of these prescriptions are like seeds that grow well in Europe and America, but when planted in Nigeria, they die and poison the ground.”

    Onuegbu, who is also the Public Relations Officer of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), argued that much of the gains ascribed to privatisation by the proponents of the policy, are actually gains from other reforms.

    “For instance in Nigeria, the government did not privatise NITEL for MTN, Econet (now Airtel) to sprout and grow. They simply created the enabling environment and the GSM companies reacted appropriated. The rest is now history,” he said.

    On the planned sale of the nation’s refineries, Onuegbu explained that labour has advised the government to create the enabling environment that would enable private business invest in refineries.

    He said incentives should be granted to allow for the development of private refineries alongside the existing ones, stressing that a framework should be articulated that will make available the required crude for effective functioning of local refineries.

    “There is need to incentivise and/or compel the International Oil Companies (IOCs) to refine an agreed percentage of crude oil in the country. A suggestion is to tie upstream licensing to downstream investment. In addition, private ownerships of Jetties should be encouraged.

    “We also suggested that the nation’s four refineries should be stand-alone entities, and independent of the proposed National Oil Company (NOC).The NOC will hold the government shares. The management of each refining company should be autonomous and fully responsible for its success and failure,” he said.

    The labour chief said the debate on the impact of privatisation is on-going, noting that the Economist Magasine had in February, conducted a debate on privatisation and the result still affirms that there are divergent views by economists on privatisation as a policy.

    This, he said, underscores the need for Nigerians and Nigeria to take a critical view of the economic prescriptions of the Breton Woods institution before adopting of its policies.

    He said the arguments for and against privatisation have shown that it “remains widely and increasingly unpopular, largely because of the perception that it is fundamentally unfair both in conception and execution,” adding that politicians have at varied times used privatisation as a vendetta against trade unions.

    “There appears to be an agreement among scholars that privatisation of State Owned Enterprises (SOE) has some adverse effects on workers and their trade unions. This should not be a surprise as the politicians have in many cases, used privatisation as a punitive action against trade unions.

    “It is, therefore, very important that the labour movement restructures and transforms itself to be better prepared for changes in the environment of labour relations, such as privatisation.

    “As aforementioned, this restructuring and transformation of unions can only be driven successfully by the leadership of trade unions,” Onuegbu added.

     

  • Ex-workers of privatised companies get N602b

    Ex-workers of privatised companies get N602b

    A total of N602, 229,832,996.09 billion has been paid by the Federal Government to former workers of of its privatised companies between 2000 and this year, Director-General of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Benjamin Dikki, has said.

    Dikki, who disclosed this during a two-day capacity building workshop for members of Labor Writers’ Association of Nigeria (LAWAN) in Ibadan, Oyo State, said over 50 per cent of this amount was  used to settle labour liabilities of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

    Dikki, who was represented on the occasion by the Head, Communication, Mr. Joe Anichebe, said the amount included N32,693,774,917.18 paid as salary arrears and N544,058,078.91 paid to the workers as gratuity and pension.

    According to him, over 100,000 workers in 29 privatised enterprises were paid. He said the multi-layered approaches adopted by the BPE signified its seriousness in handling labour issues, praising labour unions for their display of maturity and flexibility  in addressing the challenges posed by the privatisation.

    On the impacts of privatisation on the economy, he said: “The telecommunications reforms have ensured that telephone lines have dramatically increased from 450,000 lines to over 16 million GSM lines. Pension reforms have also led to the accumulation of over N3 billion in stable deposits that have greatly enhanced the ability of banks to lend long term, besides ensuring retirees receive their entitlements as at when due. The reforms of the power sector, following along the same path, will result in massive investments in the power sector that will banish darkness from Nigeria forever.’’

    He said it was imperative for Nigeria to continue with the reforms in other critical sectors of the economy, stressing that the Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government was aimed at providing an enabling environment for the private sector to spearhead economic growth.

    He said reforms in the transport sector would soon enter the implementation stage after the passage of the roads, railways, inland water ways and the port and harbour bills.

    BPE’s Head of Labour Relations, Samaila Yusuf, said privatisation was the panacea to the lingering pension crisis and the economic problems.

    He, however, said the BPE was challenged by the lack of proper and consistent data from the management of the privatised companies on the service record of the employees, resolution of negotiated conditions of service, ambiguous negotiated collective bargaining agreement, litigations, as well as  unfounded pension schemes in some Federal Government’s enterprises.

    Other challenges, he said, included the non availability of funds to settle negotiated liabilities, lack of actuarial knowledge by the leadership of labour unions, lack of openness from both the representatives of Federal Government and labour unions and budgetary constraints.

    In his paper titled: “The Press and  Labour in the Era of Privatisation,” President of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Bobboi Kaigama, said his union was not against the Federal Government’s privatisation programme  that would create jobs and increase economic prosperity for Nigerians.

  • Reform Act 2004 did not abrogate gratuity, says TUC boss

    Reform Act 2004 did not abrogate gratuity, says TUC boss

    Secretary of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Lagos State Council, Comrade Mike Anochirim, has said the Pension Reform Act 2004 did not abrogate the payment of gratuity. He told employers of labour that the Act was not promulgated to take away all the successes that had been achieved through collective bargaining and unionism over the years.

    Anochirim, who is also the head, Industrial/International Relations of Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) reminded employers not to use the Pension Reform Act to abrogate gratuity

    He said: “The Contributory Pension Scheme which draws contributions from both workers and employers is a scheme working towards an efficient and effective pension scheme for workers, while  gratuity, on the other hand is supposed to be the sole business of the employer; an in-house company arrangement whereby the company gives or pays a worker some monetary compensation for the services he or she had rendered to the company during active services.

    “It is a thank you gift, golden handshake to deserving staff, paid at the point of exit – resignation, termination, retirement or death, except of course on dismissal. This is also different from Long Service Award policy.”

    According to him, gratuity payment is based on an earlier agreed percentage against the number of years of service to the company, a product of collective bargaining.

    “Adequate budgetary provisions are made regularly, and the funds set aside and managed by the trustees–management and unions’ representatives to ensure the sanctity of the operations of  the scheme which is enshrined in a carefully crafted document commonly referred to as the Trust Deed and Rules approved by the Joint Tax Board (JTB), currently under the supervision of the Pension Commission (PENCOM) that issues operational guidelines periodically.

    “Part of this document is transcribed into the staff handbook,” he said.

    He said it is important to note that gratuity payment could be transferred from one organisation, parastatal or agency to another, taking into cognisance the service years in all the previous ones. He said: “The implication of this on industrial relations is that once a worker is paid off, the employment has been severed and if still retained; he or she has nothing (literally) at stake in the organisation.”

  • PENGASSAN, NCDMB close rank on local content monitoring

    PENGASSAN, NCDMB close rank on local content monitoring

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has agreed to collaborate with the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to ensure total compliance by companies in the oil and gas sector to the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.

    PENGASSAN’s President Comrade Babatunde Ogun stated this in a paper “Building Synergy with Trade Unions to Optimise Value Creation in the Oil and Gas Industry in Nigeria: Benefits and Challenges of Implementing NOGICD Act,” during a roundtable discussion organised by NCDMB PENGASSAN branch in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

    Represented by the General Secretary, Comrade Bayo Olowoshile, Ogun said PENGASSAN saw the collaboration as a statutory and key obligation, as it champions the building of a strong advocacy on matters of interest to its members, labour and the society.

    He said members of PENGASSAN would act as whistle blowers where there are abuses of expatriate quota or any contravention and circumvention of the provisions of the NOGICD Act to guarantee compliance.

    “Since the main objectives of the Act is to create more jobs in the country while preventing export of jobs to other countries and development of the manufacturing sector, the major roles of the union is job security, it is imperative for the two parties to regularly communicate and interface. In cases of reported abuse and circumvention of the NOGICD Act provisions, the application of whistle-blowing mechanism where necessary by the union will be explored,” he said.

    Other areas of collaboration identified by PENGASSAN include advocacy and support of socio-economic programmes and benefits that foster mutual co-existence among government, companies and the host communities. Others are fostering industry and corporate policies that fairly recognise labour issues and interest through employment and job security initiatives.

    NCDMB Executive Secretary Mr Ernest Nwapa said there was the need for the union to partner with the government and the NCDMB on long-term policies that could bring back jobs that had been lost.

    He said: “The era when unions were agitators is gone. Nowadays, unions, such as PENGASSAN, are the foundation for growth because of continuous dialogue in terms of employees relations, among others.

    “There is the need to continue in this spirit and for other unions to emulate PENGASSAN because the stability and growth of this country depend on that. There is the need for them to support the government’s policies that will not only creates jobs but also ensure job security.”

  • Labour demands N687m payment to textile workers

    The organised labour in the textile industry has called on the 19 northern states governors (NGF) to pay Kaduna Textiles Limited (KTL) their entitlements valued at N687,073,346.00.

    It said the sum was awarded to the workers by the National Industrial Court (NIC), Abuja Division in 2005. The governors have refused to respect the judgment till date.

    The National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, (NUTGTWN) also expressed shock that KTL closed since 2002 by the northern states governors has not been re-opened till date to engage workers and reduce the army of unemployed youths in the region.

    It equally called on the management of Arewa Textiles Plc to pay the entitlements of its workers, lamenting that while many of the workers have died, those are still alive have been going through untold hardship and suffering.

    The union in a statement by its Deputy General-Secretary, Sylvester Chimezie, expressed concern over the worsening insecurity in the country.

    He said: “The sustainable development of any country or state lies in industrialisation and mass job creation. The root of the current security crisis in the country is economic and social. It is against this background that the union is disturbed by the continuous closure of Kaduna Textiles Limited since 2002.

    “Even more worrisome is the continuous delay in settlement of the entitlements of KTL workers by its owner – 19 Northern States of the Federation. KTL workers are suffering untold hardship due to non-payment of their benefits since the unilateral closure of the factory in 2002.

    “The union since September 2005 obtained a court judgment for settlement of the entitlements of the workers amounting to N687,073,346.00. Unfortunately, the management and owners of the company (19 Northern states) are yet to comply with the judgment through settlement of the entitlements of the workers in spite of repeated appeals, rallies and protests by the union.”