Category: Labour

The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation(HCSF) has kicked off the Federal Public Service Entrepreneurship(FPSEP) Programme for public servants.

Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Dr Filasade Yemi-Esan, who kicked off the Programme in Abuja, said the FPSEP is a sub-initiative of one of the six pillars of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021 – 2025 (FCSSIP 25).

Mrs Yemi-Esan,who was represented by Dr. Ngozi Onwudiwe, Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office, in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, said the Programme creates a window for those in service to earn supplementary income to improve the quality of their lives, as well as enable those retiring to cope with life after Service while at the same time contributing to the development of the other sectors, and by implication, increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

The Programme, according to her, consists of two components namely: the Agripreneurship Start-up Scheme and Pre-Retirement Training and Business Start-up Scheme.

She said: “The setting up of the Agripreneurship Start-up Scheme is premised on the provisions of Section 2(b) Part 1 of the fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which permits Nigerian Public Servants to engage in farming while in Service.

“Hence serving and exiting public servants can participate in this Scheme.

“On the other hand, the Pre-Retirement Training and Business Start-up Scheme is tailored towards preparing Public Servants for life Post-Service by providing opportunities for them to acquire new skills for new career choices.”

She expressed hope that the knowledge that public servants would garner from the training would be plugged into the agriculture and other business ventures that would enable them to create multiple sources of income for self- sustenance while in service and after exiting the Service.

According to her, “It is our dream to see our workforce well empowered, skillful and more productive, and contributing meaningfully to the development of Nigeria even to the point of not just being employed but employers of labour within the provisions of extant rules.”

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, therefore, tasked trainees to take advantage of the laudable programme and ensure they get maximum value for money invested by their respective organisations to develop their human capital.

In his remarks, Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Gabriel Aduda, underscored the need for public servants to embark on personal development.

Aduda charged them to add value to whatever they choose to do before or after retirement.

He advised them to explore numerous opportunities in the agricultural value chain, urging them to venture into mini industry of producing, processing, packaging and marketing agricultural products.

Also speaking, the Sole Administrator of the Public Service Institute of Nigeria, Dr. Abdul-Ganiyu Obatoyinbo, tasked public servants to fight against pre and post retirement anxiety through proper preparations for the future.

Obatoyinbo stressed the need for civil servants to plan for life after retirement, adding that FPSEP has provided a “life-changing opportunity” for Federal workers to explore.

In his remarks, the Managing Director of Bank of Agriculture, Alwan Ali Hassan,

assured the readiness of the Bank to provide credit facilities to the benefiting public servants who would venture into agricultural value chain.

It would be recalled that 87 participants drawn from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation are the first batch of this Programme.

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN)  led by Comrade Adewale Adeyanju has congratulated the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who was reelected in the gubernatorial election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on  March 18.

According to the union in a statement, the state election, which was keenly contested left Governor Sanwo-Olu winning the election on a very wide margin; this which gave him an edge over other contestants was a testimony of the love showered on him as the Chief Executive of the state by the people. 

“We, in the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, wish to felicitate with the amiable Lagos State Governor on his well-deserved victory during the poll in the state,” Adeyanju Said.

Adeyanju  promised the governor of the union’s commitment towards making the nation seaports safer under a better working environment for the practitioners.

“On behalf of my executives, I wish to express our profound readiness to work and synergies with the governor in all areas of the maritime industry towards achieving the best of economic values for the state and the nation at large. On this note, we say congratulations Governor Sanwo-Olu,” he said.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said countries should improve the working conditions and earnings of key workers – who were essential during the COVID-19 pandemic – to reflect their contribution to society and their importance in the  functioning of economies.

According to a new report by the ILO on World Employment and Social Outlook 2023, the value of essential work, underscores the extent to which economies and societies depend on key workers, and  how they are undervalued.

The report noted that the poor working conditions of key workers exacerbate employee turnover and labour shortages, jeopardising the provision of basic services.

It noted that improvements in working conditions and greater investment in food systems, health care and other key sectors are necessary for building economic and social resilience to shocks.

“Key workers can be found in eight main occupational groups covering health, food systems, retail, security, cleaning and sanitation, transport, manual, and technical and clerical occupations,” it stated.

The report stated that the 90 countries where data was available, 52 per cent of employment is done by key workers, though in high-income countries, where economic activities are more diversified, the share is lower (34 per cent).

The world body said during the COVID-19 crisis, key workers suffered higher mortality rates than non-key workers.

The categories of key workers mortality rates varie; for example, in countries with available data, transport workers had higher mortality rates than health workers.

The findings show the importance of occupational safety and health (OSH) protection, as well as the greater security associated with working in formal workplaces, with collective representation.

It stated that lower wages, longer hours, and other deficits in working conditions.

“Across the world 29 per cent of key workers are low paid (where low paid is defined as pay that is less than two-thirds of the hourly median wage).

On average, key workers earn 26 per cent less than other employees, with only two-thirds of this gap being accounted for by education and experience. In food systems, the share of low paid key employees is, particularly high, at 47 per cent, and in cleaning and sanitation it is 31 per cent,” the ILO’s report said.

It added that these sectors employ a large share of migrants, especially in high-income countries.

Nearly one-in-three key workers is on a temporary contract, although there are considerable country and sectoral differences. In the food industry 46 per cent are in temporary work. One-in-three employees in manual occupations and in cleaning and sanitation, are on temporary contracts.

Cleaning and security work is outsourced, and other key occupations are staffed with agency workers. This is, particularly, the case in warehousing and healthcare.

More than 46 per cent of key employees in low-income countries, work long hours. Long working hours are more common in transport, where nearly 42 per cent of key workers across the globe work more than 48 hours a week. A substantial share of key workers around the world also have irregular schedules or short hours.

Also, the report said nearly 60 per cent of key workers in low- and middle-income countries lack some form of social protection.

In low-income countries social protection is minimal, only reaching 17 per cent of key workers. The picture is even bleaker for self-employed key workers in most developing countries, as they are almost  without social protection.

“Healthcare workers, supermarket cashiers, delivery workers, postal workers, seafarers, cleaners, and others supplying food and necessities continued to perform their jobs, even at the height of the pandemic, often at great personal risk,” said ILO Director-General, Gilbert F. Houngbo.

“Valuing key workers means ensuring that they receive adequate pay and work in good conditions. Decent work is an objective for all workers but it is particularly critical for key workers, who provide vital necessities and services in good times and bad,” he added.

To ensure the continuity of essential services during future pandemics or other shocks such as natural disasters, the report recommends greater investment in the physical infrastructure, productive capacity and human resources of key sectors.

Under-investment, especially in health and food systems, contributes to decent work deficits that undermine social justice and economic resilience.

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo, has said the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) is the hub for blue collar jobs in the country.

Keyamo said this during the NDE Special Day event at the 44th Kaduna International Trade Fair, in Kaduna, Kaduna State.

At the opening session of the Trade Fair in Kaduna on “Promoting Value Addition for Sustainable Growth and Development,” the Minister, who is also the chairman of the NDE Board, said the skills acquisition programme of the NDE such as Entrepreneurship Development Programme, the Rural Employment Promotion and the Special Public Works, are in line with the economic policy thrust of the Federal Government, which has special focus on employment creation for sustainable growth and development for national economy.

Represented by the Director-General of NDE, Keyamo added that NDE has several skill-sets and a spectrum of training schemes, which are demand-driven and capable of taking jobless youths out of the streets.

Earlier, the Director-General of the NDE, Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, said the directorate had created over four million jobs through its four core programmes, which are Vocational Skills Development (VSD), Small Scale Enterprises (SSE), Rural Employment Promotion (REP) and Special Public Works (SPW).

He further informed the gathering that the directorate has harnessed gains of agricultural value chain under its various schemes to create additional 80,000 jobs, adding that the directorate in the last one year had also granted loans to beneficiaries to stabilise their enterprises

Director-General, Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Comrade Issa Aremu, has called on those voted for in the general election to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians.

Aremu urged the returning and incoming political office holders  to guarantee growth and development.

Addressing reporters in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, Aremu said: “Those elected into office must guarantee growth and development. They must end poverty and come up with policies and programmes that will add value to national growth and development.

He described Nigeria as a country endowed with human and natural resources and stressed that “leaders at all levels have no excuse but to convert our rich resources to people-oriented projects.”

He commended the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for assuring Nigerians irrespective of tribal, religious or political affiliations, that they would be treated within the principle of justice and equality.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened to embark on a strike if the cash crunch, fuel scarcity and electricity tariff increase are not addressed.

In a communiqué by NLC at the end of its Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Abuja, the congress said the challenges were among the issues that raised the most concerns.

In the communiqué, the National President of the congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero and General Secretary, Emma Ugboaja, charged the Federal Government to take action to cushion the hardship of the cash crunch, fuel scarcity and high cost of electricity tariff on Nigerians.

“CWC said poor implementation of the Naira redesign policy has caused considerable pain and hardship to the people.

“Similarly, the  CWC-in-session, after reviewing the fuel supply situation  and the attendant arbitrary costs at filling stations, expressed dismay at the nonchalance of NNPCl and government. It, accordingly, resolved to ask the NNPC/FGN to normalise the fuel supply situation.

“The CWC expressed its outrage at the surreptitious increase in electricity tariff without notice and without improvement in quality of service. CWC resolved that, henceforth, any surreptitious increase would be met with appropriate response,” the communiqué stated.

The NLC berated the Abia and Imo state governments on the payment of workers’ salaries/allowances and pension.

“There were national protest actions in Abia and Imo States over non-payment of salaries/allowances and pensions for several months, non-remittance of check-off dues and other anti-union activities. Reviewing the performance of the actions, it was noted that the Abia State government has signed an agreement with Congress pending full implementation of the agreement.

“In Imo, however, the action is ongoing as more unions are poised to fold in as the issues are multi-sectoral and include the following: refusal to implement previous agreements reached between the state government and trade unions since 2021; 20 months’ salary arrears owed to some workers stigmatised as ghost workers and declaration of 11,000 workers in the state as ghost workers and diversion of their salaries even when they were regularly at work.

“Others are vandalism of Congress office and equipment by hoodlums; implementation of discriminatory pay and institutionalisation of apartheid in monthly payments; refusal to pay eight years arrears of gratuities owed retirees; non-appropriate implementation of the national minimum wage law; harassment, intimidation and  brutalisation of trade union leaders in the state; intimidation of workers in the state and continuous disregard for Collective Bargaining and Social Dialogue,” the labour union said.

Ajaero, after his election, pledged that NLC  would not pay lip service to electricity tariff increase and fuel subsidy removal.

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), President -General has congratulates the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who won the presidential election under the umbrella of the All Progressive Congress Party (APC)

In a statement signed by its President, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, the union said: “Given the state of Nigeria, the National leader of the All Progressive Congress Party (APC) will, no doubt, put in machinery in place for a progressive Nigeria and for Nigerians devoid of political, religion or ethnical divide because he has always believed in the One-Nigeria project that will accommodate all and sundry, which has always been one of his mantras if he becomes the President of Nigeria. “On this note, MWUN extends  a hand of fellowship. Congratulations.”

Director-General, Nigeria Employers’Consultative Association (NECA), Adewale-Smart Oyerinde, in this interview with TOBA AGBOOLA, speaks on the expectations of the Organised Private Sector from the incoming administration, among other issues.

What is the private sector’s agenda for the incoming government?

We, the organised private sector,  have our agenda for the incoming government. The outgoing government has done its best in the last eight years. Whether its best was good enough is another matter. But, for the private sector, certain things are fundamental to redirecting or changing the trajectory of the economy to the growth path and we have set an agenda for the incoming government.

Fiscal/Monetary policies

One of the things that we want the government to deal with are the fiscal and monetary policies. That have  basically been the root of most of the challenges that we have. The need for the government to address the misalignment in the fiscal and monetary policy of the nation. This has created a lot of disruption and led to paucity of foreign direct investments. Because once policies do not align, they’re not stable. When there are obvious contradictions between the policies, the personalities or authorities manning the two critical areas of the economy, it sends wrong signals to foreign direct investors. It also sends wrong signals to your investors because it becomes difficult for them to plan.

Forex

The second issue we want the government to address is forex. The incoming government  must address forex challenges. It must tackle the high rate at which the Naira exchanges with other currecies, especially the Dollar.

Taxation

Also, the government should focus on tax issues. Incessant increases of taxes is probably because of revenue shortfall, but it is detrimental to the economy. And we don’t really have revenue issue rather, it is management issues that we have. And beyond that is also inherent contradictions we have refused to deal with.

Oil theft

As an OPEC country, Nigeria has been given a quota which, ordinarily, it should meet because as a country meets its quota, it generates corresponding revenue. But because of oil theft, Nigeria has not been able to generate enough revenue. We believe that the incoming government should deal with it. Those who are stealing oil are not spirits; they should be dealt with. Let’s maximise the quota that OPEC has given us first. Once we deal with that, and we get our refineries working, the trillions of naira that we are spending on subsidies will be saved.

Power

Power has also remained a major challenge for a long time. This is an issue that the government should take a look at so that Nigeria can be returned to the path of industrialisation.

Round peg in a round hole

Another critical issue is that of who does what. It is very important that the incoming government ensures that round pegs are put in round holes. It is not sufficient for you to have sound policies without intelligent people to implement them. It is important to appoint those that can connect with your directives.

 Fuel subsidy/refineries

On fuel subsidies, we believe strongly that it is a scam; that the nation is subsidising consumption and that there is no reason our refineries should not be working. If millions of dollars has been pumped into the turnaround maintenance (TAM) of the refineries, and they’re still not working, then the incoming government should be bold enough to probe wht happened to the funds.

Why are those refineries not working? Because if they were, then we would not need to import oil. We believe there is some level of conspiracy or sabotage involved. The probe will bring to light the causes. Nigeria is not a secret cult. The incoming government owes the citizens this responsibility.

You know everybody pays tax. And we’ve said at last count, we pay over over 50  taxes, levies and fees across the three tiers of government. And the huge part of the money is spent on the repair of refineries but nothing has come out of it. The government needs to be decisive in dealing with these challenges.

Nigerians are bleeding. So, any crisis that will arise from the actions or inaction of the government is something employers would not want at this time when businesses are struggling. So, let the government take care of its business and allow employers or the businesses to take care of their own business. It’s a direct and simple issue.

Rising public debt

Definitely, the rising debt portfolio is worrisome. Debt is not really a problem if you are borrowing for production. Sometimes, it’s  more reasonable to borrow than to use your funds, if you use it judiciously. Now, over N40 trillion debt is on ground. By the time the states’ debt is added, we will be talking of  huge figures. And you can’t really see the impact of the borrowing. As someone said, ‘if you want to rebuild the whole of Nigeria, how much is it going to cost? If you want to rebuild the whole country from scratch, how much will you need?’ I am not sure Ukraine will borrow up to that amount to rebuild some of the facilities that have been destroyed. You cannot spend more than you are earning. It’s simple economics.

Fiscal discipline

What we require or request from the incoming government is fiscal discipline. You can’t spend more than you are earning. And when you are not increasing your productive capacity to generate revenue to pay your debt, then you are creating problems not only for yourself, but for coming generations.  So, we urge the incoming government to take fiscal discipline serious.

Rising unemployment/ conducive business environment

Our policy doesn’t promote employment generation at all levels. We have a national development plan. The government said it wanted to generate one million, two million, 10 million jobs. The question is, how? To generate jobs, certain fundamentals must be taken of. Before you can talk of generating employment, the business environment must be conducive; conducive for businesses – conducive for them to operate and be competitive and sustainable so that they can expand. Conducive enough for foreign direct investments to come in. So, it’s when people bring in their cash to establish businesses, that they can expand for Nigerians to get jobs.

If that is not happening, it becomes difficult for anybody to operate. Now, the third leg of it is supporting local investors. Everything they need to be productive, to be sustainable and competitive should be put in place.

Infrastructural development

If you want to create employment, let’s deal with infrastructure. We have a massive number of informal sector operators, small and medium scale enterprises, playing in that dark field, and the capacity and ability of that sector to create implement is massive. For the sector to thrive and operate fully, basic infrastructure such as good roads, rail, and power, should be put in place. There should also be grants and credit facilities

And the regulatory environment must be favourable. So, the unemployment issue is an issue that will be addressed, realistically, if  the government provides the enabling environment.

For instance, it doesn’t add up when the government says it’s giving N10 billion loan to small-scale farmers or vulcanisers and, at the end of it, the local government officials impose 10 different taxes and levies they have to pay. It’s doesn’t make sense.

Hope for the year

What we need is for the incoming government to play the role of state champion, a statesman, a rallying point that people can look up to because their expectations are high. The action that the incoming administration will take in the next three months or 100 days  will either create further depression or raise hope for Nigerians.

New naira design/cash crunch

The concern for us is the damage that we’re doing to our institutions. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Supreme Court, and other institutions will remain, even after the personalities heading them leave.

Even the institution of the Presidency, President comes, President goes, but the institution remains; and we cannot because of whatever reason, deliberately or consciously continue to destroy those institutions.

The Supreme Court remains as of today except if the Constitution is reviewed and another court is created to be above the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court remains the final arbiter for justice in this country. And the Supreme Court has spoken. Now asking the CBN to say something or asking the President to say something for me is neither here nor there.

The President is subject to the pronouncement or to the judgment of the Supreme Court. Okay. The CBN and every agency of government are subject to the judgment of the Supreme Court. We, Nigerians, are probably the ones creating the confusion.

From my perspective, the Supreme Court has spoken, what are we expecting the CBN to say? So, expecting another directive  either from the CBN or Presidency was because we have dragged that office and the government also has dragged themselves into a space where they shouldn’t play.

The President has played a role that, in the first instance, he should not play. There is separation of power. The Constitution explicitly defines the role of the Legislature, it defines the role of the Judiciary, and defines the role of the Executive. The moment the Executive makes a pronouncement and the Legislature makes a counter pronouncement, it becomes problematic. And that’s part of the issues we had. And the issue predated the naira design. We had an issue with the National Assembly, within the context of oversight functions of sections 88 and 89.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has reiterated its commitment to the adoption, implementation of policies and strategies that promote gender equality in workplaces.

Speaking at an event to  celebrate the International Women’s Day (IWD), in Abuja, PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, asked for  mechanisms to report gender-based violence and provide support to victim/survivors.

He demanded more access to health care for women, particularly in rural areas where traditional health care are not available.

According to him, “Innovation and technology have been a driving force in the global economy. Over the past few years, we have seen significant strides towards gender equality in various spheres of life, but there is still a long way to go.

“In the digital space, we believe that there is a huge disparity in women involvement due to certain factors that inhibit their abilities to develop the necessary digital skills which diminish  their opportunities to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“Women face a lot of technical capabilities. These capabilities are always questioned  as against their male counterpart.

“Women in technology may also face harassment and discrimination, both overtly and subtly.  These women  may struggle to find role models and mentors who have similar experiences. 

“Many of these women struggle to balance the demands of their careers with their personal lives. This can be particularly challenging for women who are also raising families or caring for elderly parents.”