Category: Labour

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is pushing towards acquiring African solar provider Daystar Power as it expands its global renewables portfolio, the company said on Wednesday.

Shell is one of the most influential oil producers in Africa, but the Daystar purchase is its first power acquisition on the continent, underscoring a mandate to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

“As we do this, we’re helping to address a critical energy gap for many who currently rely on diesel generators for backup power,” Thomas Brostrøm, Shell’s vice president for renewable generation said in a statement.

Neither Shell nor Daystar commented on the sale price. Shell earmarked $2 billion to $3 billion in capital expenditure for renewables and energy solutions in 2022.

Daystar, headquartered in Lagos, provides off-grid power to commercial and industrial clients in Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo, offering solar and hybrid power solutions with battery storage.

It has 300 power installations with solar capacity of 32 megawatts, but aims to boost capacity to 400 MW by 2025. It also plans to expand to eastern and southern Africa, a goal that Daystar Chief Executive Jasper Graf von Hardenberg said would be easier to reach with Shell.

“For the next stage – really becoming a pan-Africa power provider – it requires an investor with the same vision. Someone really with sufficient firepower to finance this growth,” he told Reuters.

Pending regulatory approvals, Shell will fully own Daystar, but von Hardenberg and the management team will continue to run the company.

Shell’s renewables and energy solutions division accounted for six per cent of company earnings in the second quarter, but new chief executive Wael Sawan, who takes over in January, is stepping up the drive for cleaner power.

It has shifted hundreds of experienced oil and gas staff into renewables and in April bought India-based renewable power platform Sprng Energy group for $1.55 billion.

Shell has said delivery of its clean-energy strategy “will be as dynamic under the new CEO as it has been under the current CEO”.

The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) is worried  over the country’s slow development 62 years after independence.

Its President, Comrade Festus Osifo, expressed the concern in a statement to commemorate the Independence Day last Saturday.

He noted that the country had high hopes at independence in 1960.

“However, corruption, insecurity, high cost of living, decayed infrastructure, among others, have  eroded the gains of our heroes past.

“According to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) the unemployment rate has hit 33.3 per cent and it is now one of the highest in the world; inflation rate has increased to 20.52 per cent in August, this year.

“The misery index has gone beyond the roof; just as maternal mortality rate and number of out of school children are freighting.

“One can safely conclude that these are some of the factors responsible for the insecurity challenges that have paralysed our economy,” he said.

The labour leader, noting that Nigeria was among the top oil producing countries, said, however, that the country did not know the quantum of barrels produced daily.

He said also the country could not refine crude, which invariably frustrates Foreign Direct Investment and export jobs.

“We urge the government to expedite action on exposing the culprits,” he said.

He called on the Federal Government and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that Nigerians would have a credible election next year.

Osifo said: “The 2023 elections is another litmus test for the current administration; Nigerians desire a genuine alteration, a true variation.

“The Congress wishes to congratulate Nigerians for their resilience and patience.”

Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) has urged the Federal Government to establish a Transport Bank that would give  interest-free or friendly loans to members.

The association’s National Publicity Secretary,  Comrade Abdul Rahman Olalekan Amusan, who made the call, said the bank would cater for the welfare of the transport workers.

He said the proposal had been passed to the National Assembly by the union led by  their National President Ambassador Musa Mohammed  Maitakobi.

According to Amusan, who also doubles as the Publicity Secretary, Lagos Council, these proposals, when implemented, would  strengthen the road transport sector, which he described as the second highest employer after government.

“Our National President has made this request to the National Assembly and the Federal Government. If establish, it will go along and cater for the welfare of our members ,most especially during this economic challenges, ” he said.

On other challenges, Amusan said insecurity had been the major challenge.

He said the insecurity has reduce the number of people travelling by road due to the fear of attack.

“This is a very big challenge and we, in the transport sector, are the worst hit because of the attack from the bandits.

“We are hoping the Federal Government will addressed this issue as soon as possible.

“We have other challenges such as the increase in the forex and interest rate. This has jerked up the cost of our spare parts and even the vehicles, because they are imported,” he said.

Amusan said there were other challenges such as the outcome and the effects of the COVID-19 and the  downturn.

The Organised Labour has attributed the economic woes and security challenges besetting the country to bad leadership. They said bad leadership has led to a plethora of troubles. TOBA AGBOOLA reports.

Without doubt,  the  economy is mired in a mesh of problems that have constrained its performance over the years.

But the missing major variable is good leadership, according to the Organised Labour.

Bad leadership is the main cause of the plethora of troubles facing the country and the economy—from macroeconomic instability to infrastructural decay, security challenges  and food insecurity, it said

According to experts, bad leadership has been the country’s biggest problem since 1960. They said Nigeria’s political process is highly commercialised or monetised; thus, the process is plagued with a deficit of ideas competition.

They said due because of bad leadership, Nigeria is classified as a low-grade nation on the Failed Nation Index.

At the two-day workshop organised by TUC in Lagos, themed “Workers’ struggle for economic justice in a declining economy: The Nigerian perspective”, its President Festus Osifo, who was represented by his deputy, Oyibo Jimoh, said a good and focused leader with  foresight would guide his people to the right path.

“A leader must have a vision and any country that does not have such a leader is doomed. There are decisions a good leader would not want to implement, but one that lacks the basic knowledge of governance would accept anything thrown at him,” he lamented.

Osifo said it was pathetic that the Organised Labour had lost its voice as it could hardly be seen unless there was a hike in fuel price.

He said Labour protested the prolonged strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and after the strike, everyone of them went back to sleep.

“It should not end there, after the protest there should be a semantic way of handling the issues. With a serious Labour body, what is happening in the university sector can’t happen,” he stated.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Cowry Asset Management Limited, Johnson Chukwu, who spoke on the economy in the past 10 years with illustrations, explained how the headline and food inflation rate trend had continued to soar.

Comparing food inflation and exchange rate in 2013, he said food inflation had continued to rise yearly. In 2017, it rose to 19.51 per cent while headlind inflation rate rose to 16.52 per cent. However, in 2019, food inflation dropped to 13.73 per cent, while inflation dropped to 11.4 per cent.

Similarly, while food inflation was at 20.5 per cent last year, the inflation rate stood at 16.95 per cent.

During the period, employment and underemployment rate soared. The rate as released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in Q4 2020 stood at 33.28 and 22.84 per cent.

Amid all these, the minimum wage was N18,000 until 2019, when the government increased it to N30,000.

Prof. Odion Akhaine of the Department of Political Science, Lagos State University (LASU), who spoke on trade unionism and politics, said political intervention was needed in trade unionism as it cannot improve workers’ conditions.

The Chairman, TUC, Lagos State Council, Gbenga Ekundayo, said the theme was tailored down to the situation, how workers who are worst hit can strive for economic justice for themselves.

Ekundayo said workers needed economic justice to get the kind of remuneration that can take care of their needs with an economic polity that makes meaning.

He said in 2019, when workers agitated for minimum wage, private and public sectors looked for ways to improve workers’ pay but that COVID-19 in 2020 eroded the value and inflation and Naira devaluation worsen workers’ plight.

“The the declining economy shows how much the country has neglected production for decades. The devaluation of the naira is because the country imports more than it exports,” Ekundayo said.

The Lagos Council chairman reiterated that it is disheartening that the country’s products, in more cases, were not up to international standard, stressing that there was a need to improve on the quality of the workforce and a mindset to produce products that can meet international standard.

According to him, when these are done there will be jobs and country’s revenue will improve.

Also, Ekundayo said there was a need for adequate power supply so that factories can run profitably and a good road network such that those who need to truck their items would not spend too much on maintenance and needless hours in traffic.

“We must provide effective rail transportation that would enable movement to and fro for trade to move through, as this are things that we need to work on.”

Also, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) in a report of its National Economic Dialogue held in Abuja recently said since politics was superior to the economy as it provided the process or ecosystem that produces the leaders that govern the country, Nigeria’s lack of strong leadership with the capacity to understand its problems and solve them was her biggest problem.

The group said in a monetised political ecosystem, the country’s political maturity was delayed because the choice of a credible leadership was an uphill task.

The report listed the troubles stunting the growth and development of the economy to include a weak and non-inclusive economy, highly volatile macroeconomic environment, weak economic competitiveness, infrastructure and social sector collapse, and insecurity.

“With a compound annual growth rate estimated at 1.92 per cent between 2012 and 2021, the economy grew below the yearly population rate of 2.6 per cent.

“After netting out inflation and other costs, the real size of the Nigerian economy has remained relatively the same since 2012, which implies that the country is experiencing economic stagnation,” the report stated.

It noted that stagnation meant that for the “average Nigerian real income had been declining since 2012 and welfare worsening.”

It added that in at 2021, the strategic sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing, construction, real estate, information and communication technology and finance completely underperformed.

Nigeria’s low productivity environment did not escape the group’s attention, it noted  that one of the best indicators of this was the decline in labour productivity from 16.9 per cent in 2012 to just 1.7 per cent in 2021. This reflects the extent of macroeconomic imbalance/instability, the report said.

It further noted that Nigerians were facing tough times as inflationary pressure remained heightened, with labour market conditions deteriorating.

The NESG noted that despite improving global oil prices, the local economy continued to suffer from worsening external trade positions and dwindling foreign investment inflows, contrary to the experience of other oil-producing nations.

“This suggests that Nigeria has failed to appropriate the benefits of rising oil prices due to low crude oil production, high production costs, low investment and a fuel subsidy regime,” it stated.

Solution

For the NESG, the key solution to Nigeria’s problems is transformational leadership. “Nigeria needs a strong leader like Lee Kuan Yew. There is a need for a leader that is emotionally attached to the country’s development, and who also understands that the country needs to be built.’’

To Oyibo, who is also the national president of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB), the way forward for the country to come out of the quagmire was for Organised Labour to break their silence and begin to challenge the anti-people policies.

He advised workers to be informed and that in the forth coming election, they should not vote on party line but to vote for the right person.

With Nigeria having about 32 per cent of its population living in extreme poverty, Chukwu, who compared it with other countries, hinted on how countries could achieve reduced poverty and arrest economic decline.

According to him, Nigeria must improve food security through the improvement of agricultural productivity.

He said there was a need for improved transport system, energy supply communications and infrastructure.

He called for access to quality healthcare, access to quality of education, clean water and sanitation.

The economist said there was the need for broad-based economic growth with job creation opportunities and targeted support to the most vulnerable in the society, through subsidised houses, skills acquisition, free basic education and conditional cash transfer, among others.

For citizens to navigate the difficult economic periods, Chukwu advised families to have multiple streams of income and there must also be secondary means of income.

He advised that families should prioritise expenditure and also control birth rate.

According to him, with the current economy, having a smaller family size is the way to go.

Lastly, he advised families to have an investment income that would grow with interests, dividends and capital gains.

Ekundayo said Labour is open to  collaboration and also ready to corporate with the government and all relevant authorities to see how they can get these things done not just.’’

As concerns mount over the growing numbers of Nigerians leaving the country to seek greener pastures abroad, the Director-General, Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Mr. Joseph Ari, has said the development could as well be of benefit to the country.

He said though Nigerians have the obligation to make the country better by addressing unemployment, it is, however, not out of place for youths to leverage opportunities that abound around the world to earn a living ad improve their living conditions.

Speaking at a meeting with the new Director-General, Nigerian Employees Consultative Association (NECA), Mr. Wale-Smatt Oyerinde in Abuja, the ITF chief, pointed out that emigration could, in turn, benefit the economy in terms of increased diaspora remittance as well as attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

Ari said: “It is not bad for our people to also leverage on the opportunities that abound globally because our population is young and vibrant and they would be needed in many climes of the world where their population is aged and now not very productive.

“So, when the young Nigerians get to those countries, they would add value and in turn, when they send a few things back home, it would increase the direct foreign investment that would be needed for our country.”

He, however, noted that the intention and desire of  ITF and NECA were to ensure that those “young men and women who leave the shores of this country for other climes should first and foremost be equipped with the needed skills’’.

“So, when you go with the needed skills and you are empowered, you are not going in for cheap labour; you will be exposed to high flying jobs in blue-chip companies and then it is better for you to rise but when you go without the skills, you are going to be engaged in cheap labour which will not be too good for our country.”

Ari insisted any emigrant should acquire skills to explore his or her potential to limitless levels, and expressed optimism that NECA under the leadership of Oyerinde would work with the fund to address the rising unemployment in the country.

He said the renewed vision of the ITF is centered around a national apprenticeship training system.

Ari said, “We need to change the education system of Nigeria to integrate Technical Vocational Education and Training in our curriculum. Nigerians should embrace TVET as a unique measure to address unemployment in the nation.

Unemployment is rising daily and we want more Nigerians to embrace skills acquisition because white collar jobs are becoming almost non-existent.”

The Federal Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) are heading for a fresh industrial dispute over alleged move to criminalise strikes in the aviation sector.

NLC said the vexatious provision had allegedly been smuggled into the labour law awaiting presidential assent.

In a memo referenced NLC/NS/E.215, and addressed to Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Smart Adeyemi, NLC President Ayuba Wabba spotted some insertions that were not in the original draft of the bill presented at the public hearings.

He contended that the ‘smuggled’ clauses were anomalous and in conflict with Nigeria’s labour laws, which regulate industrial relations.

Wabba observed that the insertions were not raised nor discussed during the public hearings on the draft bill and that the obtuse insertions, which ridicule legislative best practices, were smuggled into the passed bill.

He cited three provisions alien to the original document, including “Sections 41 (2) (Page 16 of the passed bill) provides as follows:

‘The minister may by regulations prohibit all or such cases or classes of workers, officers and other employees or persons whether corporate or natural, engaged in the provision of the services specified in subsection (1) of this section from taking part in a strike or other industrial action. Section 42 (2) (Page 16 of the passed bill] provides as follows: ‘There shall be no strikes, lock-outs, pickets, blockades, service disruptions, etc. of any kind within all facilities managed by the Authority and where any labour dispute arises, such dispute shall be resolved by the Authority.

“Section 45 (interpretation) (Page 17 of the passed bill) provides as follows: ‘strike’ means the cessation of work by a body of persons employed, acting in combination or a concerted refusal or a refusal under a common understanding of persons employed to continue to work for an employer in consequence of a dispute, done as a means of compelling his employer or any other person or body of persons employed, to accept or not to accept terms of employment and physical conditions of work or any government economic policy or pricing of any essential products; and in this definition – (a) ‘cessation of work’ includes working at less than usual speed or with less than usual efficiency without reasonable operational justification; and (b) ‘refusal to continue to work’ includes a refusal to work at the usual speed of efficiency.”

Wabba maintained that the insertions were contrived to undermine, supplant and mortgage the rights of Nigerian workers to belong to trade unions of their choice, freely in their workplaces, undertake trade union activities, including strikes without any interference, and engage in collective bargaining for the protection of the interests of workers.

He added: “The foregoing rights were not only hard-fought and domesticated in international conventions which Nigeria is a signatory to (ILO Conventions 87 and 98) but are also constitutionally guaranteed.”

The NLC chief requested Adeyemi to prevail on the leadership of the Senate to officially write the President seeking a recall of the bill for expunging of the obnoxious clauses for re-presentation as well as probe of the entire incident and punishment for the perpetrators.

The latest report from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) indicates that there are 50 million people in forced marriage, labour and migration in the world.

The report, “Global estimates of modern slavery”, released by the ILO, said of the 50 million, about 28 million were trapped in forced labour while the remaining 22 million were in forced marriage.

It noted that the number of people in modern slavery has risen significantly in the last five years. Ten million more people were in modern slavery in 2021 compared to 2016 global estimates. Women and children remain disproportionately vulnerable.

Modern slavery occurs in almost every country in the world, and cuts across ethnic, cultural and religious lines. More than half (52 per cent) of all forced labour and a quarter of all forced marriages can be found in upper-middle income or high-income countries.

The report further stated that most cases of forced labour (86 per cent) are found in the private sector. Forced labour in sectors other than commercial sexual exploitation accounts for 63 per cent of all forced labour, while forced commercial sexual exploitation represents 23 per cent of all forced labour. Almost four out of five of those in forced commercial sexual exploitation are women or girls.

According to the report, state-imposed forced labour accounts for 14 per cent of people in forced labour. Almost one in eight of all those in forced labour are children (3.3 million). More than half of these are in commercial sexual exploitation.

An estimated 22 million people were living in forced marriage on any given day in 2021. This indicates an increase of 6.6 million since the 2016 global estimates.

The true incidence of forced marriage, particularly involving children aged 16 and younger, is likely far greater than estimates can capture; these are based on a narrow definition and do not include all child marriages. Child marriages are considered to be forced because a child cannot legally give consent to marry.

Also, migrant workers are more than three times more likely to be in forced labour than non-migrant adult workers. While labour migration has a largely positive effect on individuals, households, communities and societies, this finding demonstrates how migrants are, particularly, vulnerable to forced labour and trafficking, whether because of irregular or poorly governed migration, or unfair and unethical recruitment practices.

The Director-General, ILO, Guy Ryder, said: “It is shocking that the situation of modern slavery is not improving. Nothing can justify the persistence of this fundamental abuse of human rights. We know what needs to be done, and we know it can be done. Effective national policies and regulation are fundamental. But governments cannot do this alone. International standards provide a sound basis, and an all-hands-on-deck approach is needed. Trade unions, employers’ organisations, civil society and ordinary people all have critical roles to play.”

IOM Director-General, António Vitorino, said: “This report underscores the urgency of ensuring that all migration is safe, orderly, and regular.

“Reducing the vulnerability of migrants to forced labour and trafficking in persons depend first and foremost on national policy and legal frameworks that respect, protect, and fulfill the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants – and potential migrants – at all stages of the migration process, regardless of their migration status.

“The whole of society must work together to reverse these shocking trends, including through implementation of the Global Compact on Migration.”

On her part, Founding Director of Walk Free, Grace Forrest, said: “Modern slavery is the antithesis of sustainable development.Yet, in 2022, it continues to underpin our global economy.’’

 

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has described oil theft and pipeline vandalism as organised crime.

In a letter to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Abiodun Alabi, through the Assistant  Commissioner of Police, Area F Command, John Sango, by the Chairman, PENGASSAN, Lagos Zone, Elam Abang, during a rally in Lagos to sensitise the public on oil theft and pipeline vandalism, he said statistics by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) showed that the country lost about $3.2 billion (about N1.36 trillion) in crude oil theft between January, last year and February, this year.

According to him, this has affected the production capacity of the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries, (OPEC), as over 95 per cent of oil production is lost to thieves.

Abang noted that the activities of criminals involved in oil theft and pipeline vandalism have serious environmental drawbacks, degradation, air pollution and others. These have affected agriculture and livelihoods of inhabitants of the oil-producing and pipeline areas, he said.

“Most international oil companies (IOCs) are divesting when there is no new investment in the oil and gas industry due to the menace of oil theft and pipeline vandalism.

“The most excruciating impact is the loss of revenue that could have accrued to the nation’s purse for the improvement of lives of the masses to these thieves” he stated.

Abang attributed the menace to aggravated poverty in the country and shortage in foreign exchange earnings as oil that could have been used to generate the foreign exchange is stolen.

He said as a result of this, most imported products were out of the reach of the masses, in addition to  reduction in the purchasing power of Nigerians.

He lamented that the twin evil of oil theft and vandalism could  also be said to have indirect impact in brain drain in the country.

He said as a responsible trade union, PENGASSAN had taken it upon itself not only to create awareness and sensitisation, but also to engage and get buy-in and support of security agencies, especially the police as part of industry-wide intervention to find a lasting solution to crude oil theft.

Abang said the menace propelled the body to seek collaboration with the police to stop the alarming levels of crude oil theft, which has become a national emergency.

He urged the police to step up mechanisms and efforts in defence of oil and gas installations all over the country, and also assure them of their cooperation in the effort to rid thie country of oil thieves and vandals.

Reacting to questions from reporters, Ete Oyegbanren, Producers Forum chairman, PENGASSAN, said the problems were on different levels and must be addressed as such.

He stated that oil theft impacted on Nigerians because, if the country couldn’t produce enough crude to meet its quota, there would not be enough foreign exchange at all levels of government.

He said if oil theft and pipeline vandalisation were not stopped, Nigerians employed across the value chains of oil and gas and the various sectors of the economy would lose their jobs and the country would be in dire straits.

He called on the  government to  rise up to the occasion, arrest and prosecute vandals who damage pipelines.

He appealed to the government and security agencies to play their roles as guardians of security to protect oil facilities and also ensure that legitimate operators remain in business while those in illegal bunkering are bursted from the business.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) public Relations Officer, Lagos State Council, Kazeem Alabi, said what was happening in the Niger Delta was also happening in Lagos State and all over the country, as everywhere pipelines pass through vandals operate there.

Alabi said, as a body, they could not just fold their hands and allow vandals to continue in the business, as cabals, security agencies and most people in those places are involved in this act of vandalism.

He said that was the reason they pay lip service to securing pipelines, urging well-meaning security agencies to do their job. He also pleaded with host communities to speak out, as the incident in Ijegun, Lagos State, some years back, was an example of silence of the host community which eventually led to loss of lives and property.

“We urge everyone that whenever they see something, they should say something. If we need to take over the National Assembly for this matter to be resolved we will not hesitate to do that,” he said.

The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) will train 27,000 youths by the end of 2025.

Its Director-General, Joseph Ari, stated this in Jos, the Plateau State capital.

Ari said this the objective of its strategic policy for 2022-2025, entitled: “Re-Engineering Skills for Sustainable Development’’.

He said the beneficiaries would be provided with start-up packs and that the fund’s commercialisation in the strategic policy would open new streams of income for the ITF.

Ari said the review meeting was an avenue to discuss the new strategy policy plan.

The DG said it was also meant to evaluate how the fund had impacted the human resource development sector in its 50 years of existence.

He said the management of ITF was committed to ensuring that the fund remained a leader in the human resource development sector. The director-general added that the ITF would continue to provide credible leadership that would inspire its staff for the growth of the fund.

He commended the staff for being key drivers of the fund’s initiatives and programmes.

Ari told the staff members that more could be achieved for its survival by their redoubled commitment, better work ethics and adherence to the ITF’s core values.

The theme for the half-year review was “Consolidating the gains of HRD beyond 50 years of the ITF’s existence”.