The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has threatened to shut down National Oilwell Varco (NOV Oil) if it sacks its members.
Also, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has slammed a $250,000 fine on NOV for its anti-labour practices.
According to PENGASSAN, the fine was imposed on the international oil company (IOC) for sacking 23 employees without following due process in March, last year.
The union alleged that NOV Oil had been flouting the directive by the DPR in 2014 and 2015 to put in place a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) before embarking on redundancy.
The industry regulator had reiterated that it would sanction any oil and gas firm that failed to comply with its directive as well as provisions in Article 15a of the DPR regulations and 20 of Nigerian Labour law.
PENGASSAN, however, wants the oil and gas regulator to impose further punishment on NOVOil, if it continued to disobey labour laws.
Chairman of PENGASSAN, Lagos Zone, Eyam Abeng, noted that NOV Oil’s management had been laying off its workers without following due process and that the affected workers must be recalled.
He accused Cesar Velasco, the company’s vice-president and Well Site Services of misguiding the company in taking decisions on labour matters.
He said: “They are in the habit of not respecting the laws of the land as regards labour practices. We are aware of what the company did in other countries such as Angola, Congo, Ghana and Cameroon. How the company started with over 100 workers and later reduced them to four or five.
“This is what National Oilwell Varco wants to do in Nigeria. It wants to (take jobs) offshore that can be done by Nigerians and which we have competent Nigerians to other countries like South Africa.”
Abeng said the company should put in place a CBA before going ahead with its redundancy plan, adding that “Nigerians should be adequately compensated, if the redundancy will impact on them.”
“PENGASSAN is ready to go all out to fight for the right of its members and ensure their job security,” he said.
The Organised Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN) has said the unemployment rate in Nigeria stands at 33.3 per cent, making it the highest in Africa.
OPSN comprises the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Nigeria Association of Small Scale Industries (NASSI), Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) and the Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA),
It said having experienced two recessions in the last five years, the economy was grappling with the worst growth in the country’s history, with inflation rate of 18.12 per cent (as at last April).
At a briefing in Lagos, OPSN President, Mr. Taiwo Adeniyi, said the nation had the world’s highest number of extremely poor citizens, and was on track to set yet another record: the highest unemployment rate.
Adeniyi, also NECA’s president, said: “In the list of 82 countries monitored by Bloomberg, a third of the labour force is unemployed or works just a few hours per week, second only to Namibia. It is important to note that Nigeria’s unemployment rate is the highest among Africa’s top 10 largest economies.
“We cannot deny that the increase in unemployment in 2020 represented a slowdown in economic activity, owing largely to global pandemic and the resultant drop in demand for oil that led to drop in oil prices.
“Over the last five years, unemployment has more than quadrupled, and the World Bank warned even before the coronavirus pandemic that Nigeria could house a quarter of the poorest people in the world within a decade.
“Since there is no one-size-fits-all solution to salvaging an economy facing multi-faceted challenges like ours, the business community and key stakeholders in the Nigeria Project believe that the economy can still undergo an economic renaissance that will place it among the world’s top economies to achieve its desired goals, which will be meaningfully reflected in the well-being of its people.
“We suggest a mix of fiscal, monetary and trade policies with political will in delivering the necessary impetus.”
Adeniyi said insecurity, kidnapping and other social vices could, to some extent, be attributed to the high unemployment rate.
“We believe that this situation should spur government at all levels to be more proactive, transparent, and focused on meeting the expectations of the citizens.
“More efforts must be channelled to fast-tracking economic revival, starting with support for the real sector. While the government had put in place several initiatives to ameliorate the challenges, the fundamental issues arising from COVID-19 and its negative effects on businesses had not been addressed sufficiently.
“We urge the government to refocus its efforts on supporting organised businesses to increase production capacity, which would invariably enable them to create more jobs. Verifiable support should be given to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to enable growth from the bottom up and a critical impact-audit of current interventions made to determine their effectiveness and relevance in the context of current realities,” he said.
On the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) Agreement, Adeniyi said OPSN was concerned more about how the economy, especially businesses, would maximise the benefits of a continental market of about 1.2 billion people and aggregate Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of up to $3.4 trillion, with a potential to bring stimulus to African economies by improving the low level of intra-continental trade and attracting long-term stable investments from the world over.
He said: “While there is optimism surrounding the promise of AfCFTA to aid development, there must also be recognition that, like all Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), the AfCFTA will, inevitably, create winners and losers. Whether for their inefficiencies or the sub-optimal business environments they may find themselves in, some businesses or even entire sectors in national economies may not be able to compete in AfCFTA.‘’
Adeniyi said addressing the availability of foreign exchange for raw materials and machinery import had been identified as one of the critical means of ameliorating the challenges facing manufacturing and other real sectors.
“It is, therefore, important that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) timely consolidates the unification of the exchange rates and shun the practice of multiple currency practices, which have not demonstrated the true reflection of the Naira in the market.
“To jump-start local production in the economy and improve the growth of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the level above the population growth rate, which is about three per cent, right pricing and availability of Foreign exchange to the productive sector of the economy, among other factors, would be required to ensure speedy growth and development of the economy.
“We believe that the CBN’s action in defending the naira has a limit; therefore, we advocate a more deliberate measure and drive in increasing local production for export potential,” he added.
President, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) and former National President, Food, Beverages and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB), Comrade Quadri Olaleye, in this interview with TOBA AGBOOLA, speaks on various national issues affecting workers and how these can be tackled
More than a year now, the effect of the pandemic is still on. To what extent has it affected the economy, workers and how can we tackle it?
There is no doubt that the pandemic has caused a lot of havoc to the economy, workforce and everyone is struggling to come out of it. The truth is that workers are mostly affected. Millions have lost their jobs, expenses continue to increase and burden keeps expanding.
To start with, only about 40 per cent of people that used to work are now required. Before COVID-19, we had issues of automation of production processes, we had the issue of robots taking over people’s jobs and we had other issues of technology that were reducing the number of workers required in a workplace. While we were still looking for possible ways to ensure that we don’t throw a lot of people into the labour market, the issue of COVID-19 came and further established the fears of labour centres and the Federal Government.
Many have been sent home as a result of redundancy, termination of appointments because employers, including the government sees that it may not need the number of workers they had been using before, coupled with the fact that people don’t really have to converge on the office before they can work; people are working remotely. It benefits the employers because workers use more man-hours when they work from home. You hardly can know the time you are supposed to terminate your job for the day, so you work for the whole day. A lot of our members have lost their jobs as a result of this, while there are lot of pressure on those people that are left behind, they work twice their normal working hours. So, the effect is much.
Despite these challenges, most especially with inflation rising, worker’s salary still remains the same. What is the way out?
Minimum wage is what we normally negotiate for and it is totally different from what we call a living wage. So, inflation and minimum wage will go in different ways because they are serving different purposes. A day we decide on living wage is the day I can say we are beginning to get it right because living wage should be automatic increase as inflation increases. But the situation in this country is different. Even before we agreed on the minimum wage, inflation has risen. It means that the N30,000 minimum wage has become useless. It is not enough to do anything. That is why we put pressure on the government to consider workers in the palliatives. You will agree with me that if they share palliatives through the workers, it would have been the best formula because workers carry more burdens. One of our requests was that we asked the government for tax holiday. The government should have considered three to six months’ tax holiday for workers. It would have had multiplier effects. Workers will be able to catch up with the effect of the pandemic on their salary. Another thing we requested for was for the government to provide electricity tariff tax holiday. This would have also cushioned the effect. We also talked to the government to expand the agric business using the workers. This is the second job workers can go into apart from their normal job. Unfortunately, the country is full of propaganda. The Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN) keeps saying it has given out intervention funds, to who? Let them point out those it has given it to.
Insecurity is a major challenge. How did we find ourselves in this situation and how do we tackle it?
We found ourselves in this situation because government or our leaders, irrespective of the party, have not, and are not, doing the right thing. For instance, good schools are not available for the poor. The ones that are available, they don’t have facilities. No good chairs and tables in our schools. The conditions are terrible. The same thing with our tertiary institutions, no good hostels. Now, to make it worse, when such students graduate, don’t forget no job for them. When such student finds himself in the society, he will not have feelings for anybody. Look at the numbers of students that graduate every year without jobs. They said an idle hand is a devil’s workshop. Such a student will automatically become minister of information for bandits, kidnappers, Boko Haram and ritualists, among others. They have good dreams, but when such good dreams are not forthcoming, the technical abilities that they have, they have to use them in a negative way.
Also, I keep asking, governors that are not paying salary, how do they sleep? Workers work for you and you are not paying them and you are relaxed. And you see them coming to office everyday, you see them putting on good clothes, they have families and you are not afraid. In some organisations, it is a taboo that five days after monthend you have not paid your workers. In fact, they can jail such managing director because they believe that if you don’t pay salary, you are creating petty thieves, which will later turn into armed robbery, banditry and the rest. The government needs to meet up with their responsibilities.
The government keeps increasing fuel pump price and electricity tariff. People believe that labour is not doing enough in this area to curb the government, unlike before. What is your take on this?
It is not true. The thing is that we are trying to do it in a different way. We believe that what is the point of doing it in the same way without any results. For instance, on electricity tariff, we have a sub-committee from the labour and they are working with the government on it. We have agreed and sent a proposal to government on how to bring down the price. The same thing with fuel pump price. We have two standing committees working on the parameters. One is working on the revival of the refineries. We are waiting for their reports. However, our position is that enough of spending more money to revive all these out-dated refineries. We discover that some people, including politicians, gain from this. We are proposing that the government should build modular refinery.
As you mentioned earlier, what about the sorry state of the refineries?
We told them to use subsidy to fix the refineries. If this is done, it is going to be a great advantage to us. At present, we are having capital flight because we take crude oil abroad and we suffer to get the product back to this country by forcing ourselves to buy dollar. But when we fix our refineries, it means that we can refine the quantity that we need to use in this country. And we can supply to West African countries. Even if we are not making any external attraction, we are building our internal system. The oil sector can even employ more than what we have at the moment if the refineries are fixed and it will also stabilise the price of PMS. We should not be talking of importation of PMS and other products, but because we did not put our refineries in order. In one of our discussions, I asked the minister the stage the modular refineries they promised when they came on board were. He gave some responses that there were a lot of modular refineries that had been approved, they promised to arrange for us to visit the refineries to be very sure that they have those refineries but we are still waiting. We need to witness that truly they have licensed a lot of modular refineries. With the modular refineries, we would be able to create more jobs and maintaining the percentage of workers that we have.
But the government is talking of renovating the refineries and thereafter selling them to private investors. What is the position of TUC?
I am sure they will not try that. One of the reasons they got our votes was because they promised they would not sell the refineries. So, it will be a betrayal of trust if they are selling refineries after they got our votes. It is practically wrong and TUC will revolt. We will not allow that to happen. It is our national property, by selling the refineries to a private person; it means they are throwing a lot of people to the labour market.
How is the TUC synergy with the labour centres in the country, most especially NLC?
The relationship is very cordial; we work together most of the time. Comrade Wabba and I do discuss the steps to take on many national issues but you will agree with me that even twins that were born the same day cannot agree all the time 100 per cent. So, we have our areas of disagreement, which is normal and that is why we have different labour centres in the country. So, we cannot be 100 per cent in agreement but I can tell you that most of the times we are in agreement, we work together and the synergy has been very good.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has asked states yet to implement the new minimum wage or have unilaterally cut wages and owing workers’ salary arrears to prepare for its protests.
Its President, Ayuba Wabba said some states have refused to pay the new national minimum wage.
He said the Congress regretted that some states, which had signed collective bargaining agreements with state councils of the labour movement on the payment of consequential salary adjustment and pension benefits owing to the new national minimum wage have reneged on their commitment.
Ayuba said it was incorrect to say labour imposed minimum wage on states.
He said the N30,000 was the national benchmark agreed upon by all stakeholders, including the 36 state governors.
He restated that minimum wage could not be removed from the exclusive list as such runs contrary to many International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions which Nigeria has ratified.
Besides, he said the minimum wage does not apply only to workers in government establishments as it covers those in the organised private sector.
In a related event, the Congress has written President Muhammadu Buhari, alleging a breach of its agreement with the Kaduna State Government to end its warning strike last month.
It said the state, as against the outcome of the meeting brokered by the Federal Government, has started to sack its workers.
“Mr. President may recall that the first conciliatory meeting between the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Kaduna State Government took place on May 20, 2021.
“A major outcome of that meeting was a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Kaduna State Government.
“The MoU specifically provided that there should be no further victimisation and harassment of workers and trade union leaders in the state, especially workers who participated in the warning strike.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress was also expected to maintain the suspension of the strike while negotiations continued,” Wabba stated.
Wabba said the Kaduna State Government had gone ahead to violate the clauses of its agreement with the NLC.
Wabba told the president that the Labour Union might reactivate the suspended strike.
National Union of Postal and Telecommunication Employees (NUPTE) has said only the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST) has the right to collect stamp duty, and not the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
The union claimed the power to collect stamp duty given to FIRS is illegal.
Speaking with reporters, President of NUPTE, Comrade Nehemiah Buba, said the union had reported the infraction to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), saying it is impacting negatively on the workers of NIPOST, who are members of the union.
“It is a clear issue. It’s just like someone trespassing. But I think FIRS is getting an upper hand on this issue because they are connected to the big boys in the country. “But, sincerely, it is the duty of the NIPOST. And taking it away from NIPOST has a negative effect on them, most especially on the welfare of their staff because it is affecting their financial status. We have also asked the NLC to come in and settle the rift,” Buba said.
He lamented the problems facing the union, especially in the area of organising.
According to him, the main challenges of the union is employers’ resistance to workers joining the association and the right to organise.
He said, as a result , many workers in the sector faced unfair labour practices that include intimidation, harassment, poor remuneration, abuse of expatriate quota policy and increasing spate of precarious work, among others.
Buba noted that, on several occasions, the union had taken steps to address the labour-related issues confronting the workers in the sector, but it had been rebuffed by the companies involved, noting that the problem was more prevalent in the private sector.
“The major challenge we have in our sector is the issue of organising. As you know, our jurisdiction covers both the public and the private sector. For instance, in NIPOST, Level 7 and 8 are ceded to the senior staff association, which is not supposed to be.
“In the private sector, employers have come up with resistance on unionism. They don’t want their staff involved in the union. They don’t want workers to have interface with the union,” Buba said.
He explained that telecoms company, MTN, has stopped their members from unionising under the pretence of having an internal union, which is not affiliated with the Trade Union Congress or the NLC.
“And for this reason, most of the workers in these companies are treated anyhow by their managements. They have created fears in the mind of their workers. We have approached some of these companies. We have also reported them to Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), the employers’ body and even the Ministry of Labour and Productivity,” Buba said.
May Day celebration has gone, but one issue that lingers among trade unions and affiliates is the resolve to defend workers’ rights post-COVID-19 pandemic. TOBA AGBOOLA reports.
As most workers resume after the lockdown, especially in Lagos and Abuja, the organised labour has pledged to defend workers’ rights.
The trade centres and their affiliates are unanimous against any slash in salaries or the plan by employers to convert the lockdown period to yearly leave.
Last week, the management of Airport Hotel directed its staff members to proceed on a three-month leave without pay, in reaction to the downturn of business due to the global cocronavirus(COVID-19) pandemic.
The hotel management, in a letter dated April 21, signed by Yemi Madu, stated that the staff members should continue to stay at home for another three months.
The letter reads: “We regret to inform you of the decision of management for you to continue your stay at home after your leave for three months without pay, till the company contacts you.”
According to the management, this was due to the company’s financial crisis and its future uncertainty in this prevailing COVID-19 pandemic.
Madu noted: “This decision was painful and we are sorry it has to come to this, but we will continue to hope for the best and wish you well.”
The management of Airport Hotel was not only sending the workers home for the next three months without pay, but failed to pay workers their March salary despite being in business before lockdown.
Issa Aremu
Similarly, the management of Sheraton Hotels, in Lagos and Abuja, have notified their workers of the inability to pay salary in April.
President, Hotel and Personal Services Senior Staff Association (HAPSSSA), Adegbe William Iyeh, said the union considered the hotels’ actions unconstitutional.
“This action is not acceptable to the union. It is against collective bargaining agreement, which the management of these hotels are signatories to,” he warned.
Besides, the labour leader said the hotels, up till the time of the lockdown by the Federal Government, were booked and making good business. He wondered why they had chosen to owe workers.
He said: “All the employers who are not ready to pay their workers, taking advantage of this period, should know that, very soon by the grace of God, the pandemic will be over and the business will resume and then, we as a union, will let them know that we are the pillars behind their success in business.”
Labour’s positions
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) warned employers against stopping or reducing salary because of COVID-19.
The leadership of the congress has directed its state councils to resist any salary reduction by state governments.
NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said labour was not a commodity to be trampled upon.
“This is not the time to stop or deduct from workers’ salary. Such an action would be illogical and illegal, as workers’ salaries are core elements of employment contracts and collective bargaining agreements,” he said.
The NLC chief said workers create the wealth and demand a decent fraction of the reward of their efforts, urging workers to continue to draw inspiration from the fact that, without their sweat, no gain could be made.
He said: “Without the twitching of our muscles, no socio-economic puzzle can be solved. In reciprocation of the enormous sacrifice made by workers, we urge employers to show solidarity with the sacrifice of our workers and people by ensuring wage protection, income support and social inclusion at these trying times.”
He reassured workers that their priority in these trying times remained the cautious, gradual, evidence-led and smart restart of the economy so that they could go back to work.
Taking a cue from the NLC president, the Kaduna State branch of the NLC has rejected the government’s 25 per cent salary cut for senior civil servants in the fight against the pandemic.
The labour union asked the government to return the deduction or face its wrath.
The NLC State Chairman, Ayuba Suleiman, said the deduction could only be done with the workers’ consent.
Also, the President of the United Labour Congress (ULC), Joe Ajaero, said the labour movement has rejected the plan by employers to cut salaries.
Ajaero, describing the plan as unacceptable, vowed to resist the move in the spirit of solidarity.
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) also charged the Federal Government to protect workers from uncharitable employers who may want to maltreat workers under the guise of COVID-19.
Its President, Quadri Olaleye, said the aftermath of COVID-19 might lead to many workers losing their means of livelihood.
“Consequent on COVID-19, many workers might eventually lose their means of livelihood. We call on the government to protect the workers from some uncharitable employers.Workers should not be made victims of COVID-19,” he said.
The TUC chief condemned the plan by employers to cut pay, describing it as wicked.
According to him, this is the time when individuals and organisations should show that workers are partners.
Other reactions
The Maritime Union of Nigeria (MWUN) warned management of any maritime company against any salary cut.
Its President-General, Mr. Adewale Adeyanju, said members of the union would not also accept the lockdown period as their yearly leave.
According to him, workers coud not be made to pay for a problem they did not create: “Most disheartening is the attempt by some management to cut salaries, wages and allowances of our members without any cause.
“On this matter, we stand with the Nigeria Labour Congress, which has acknowledged that, in spite of the fact that workers produce capital, they are at the receiving end.”
He continued: “We also wish to bring to the public space the attempt by some management to cheat our members by forcing them to convert this lockdown period to their annual leave.
“We condemn this attempt without recourse to normal consideration and processes. We find it strange that workers will be subjected to punishment for a situation that is out of their control and this we will resist within the ambit of law.”
On its part, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) called for mutual cooperation among the stakeholders so that they could defeat COVID-19 and the associated hunger for a better tomorrow.
NUPENG President, Williams Akporeha, said this was the time all should come together to save the humanity from the pandemic rather than being preoccupied pecuniary issues.
He said: “The fear of how the workers are going to fare against the unknown enemy and the economic hardships are already creating social upheavals to such an extent that any further loss of jobs in our industry would achieve nothing but complications and aggravation of an already bad situation.”
He said NUPENG empathised with various employers, particularly in the oil and gas industry, and expressed the willingness to work with them in this journey for the survival of humanity and the challenges of revamping workplaces.
He said: “We shall be together when the sun rises once again and our machines in various factories roar back to life.
Bobboi-Kaigama
“It is very important to note here that we received with deep sense of relief and hope the report of the offer of the Department of Petroleum Resources to support the operations of oil and gas companies during the perilous period to avoid stoppage of operations and unnecessary loss of jobs by workers.
‘’On this promising note, we strongly implore oil and gas companies not to exploit the disturbing situation to declare unnecessary redundancies or inflict precarious and unfair labour practices on the workers that are already emotionally and psychologically traumatised.”
The vice president representing Africa on the executive committee of IndustriAll Global Union, Issa Aremu, said the pandemic shows that labour not only creates wealth but saves and nurtures lives.
According to him, post-COVID-19, the government and businesses must stop underrating workers but see them as partners in development.
He noted that Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, reported that no fewer than 100 health workers had tested positive for COVID-19.
“Some have actually died in both public and private hospitals. Better late than never: Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has initiated the life insurance cover for the frontline workers on COVID-19 for a maximum of 5,000 health workers who are employed to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The premium in the sum of N112,500,000 is, however, still token, given the risks to irreplaceable lives.”
He added that labour, under difficult conditions, had risen to defend the right to pay, wages and jobs under the lockdown.
“I salute the leadership of NLC and TUC for ensuring that President Buhari’s directive that all workers should be paid as at when due during the lock down is respected by all employers in both public and private sectors.”
The action by the employers already owing/slashing salary or conversion lockdown to leave might be contrary to the employers umbrella body, Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) and the federal government as NECA calling for the relaxation of the lockdown has expressed, “the federal government had spoken well in urging businesses to continue to bear the brunt without a recourse to staff rationalization.
NECA as the most representative body for ORGANISED businesses and employers of labour in Nigeria had equally added its voice by advising its members to continue to keep the full complements of its workers for as long as it is bearable and as far as economic indices will permit.”
The Federal Government has condemned the violation of the measures to check the spread of coronavirus pandemic, which include social distancing, wearing of face masks at public places, among others
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo made this known at the weekly briefing of the Emergency Operation Centre of the Committee on Sustainable Production and Delivery of Essential Commodities During COVID-19.
According to the Minister, President Muhammadu Buhari during his broadcast directed the easing of a five-week lockdown in Lagos and Ogun states as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) directing the measures be obeyed.
Adebayo said: ‘’This is by imploring Nigerians to continue to adhere strictly to the advice published by the Presidential Task Force and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control which include regular hand washing, strict mandatory use of face masks or coverings in public, maintaining physical distancing and personal hygiene, avoidance of non-essential movement and travels and avoidance of large gatherings also restrictions on social and religious gatherings.”
The Minister noted that the opening of banks and other commercial institutions gave way to the horrible scenes observed around the banking premises and that this could pose danger of the infection of Covid-19 as well as compromising the measures put in place to tackle the spread of the Pandemic.
Adebayo expressed satisfaction with the conduct of security agencies in carrying out their duties by ensuring that Mr. President’s directives of free-flow and unhindered movement of Foods, Pharmaceuticals, Medical Equipments and other Essential Commodities across the country is complied with.
The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has donated N25 million to the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 pandemic.
Its Managing Director, Adebayo Somefun, who made this known in Abuja, urged philanthropists and development agencies to also contribute to the fund.
He said: “Nigeria and of course the world at large is going through an overwhelming, unprecedented and dangerous phenomenal challenge, as the growing COVID-19 pandemic bites harder.
“However, this has brought exceptional unity among nations, states, communities, businesses, religions, professions, individuals etc. as all coming together to explore different approaches to help respond and victoriously overcome this ugly global outbreak.
Accordingly, the massive solidarity and support orchestrated by this shared concern is very welcome and commendable.”
The NSITF chief highlighted that N20 million was for the purchase of ventilators, N2 million for the purchase of medical items, such as face masks, hand gloves, hand sanitisers, disinfectant, swab sticks while N3 million was for the purchase of various food items as palliatives to the vulnerable.
Somefun described palliatives are a very strategic step to provide for the vulnerable group, saying: “Yes palliatives because, according to the Philadelphia declaration, ILO 1944, ‘poverty anywhere constitutes a danger everywhere.”
While applauding the Federal Government for taking steps to tame the speed of the virus among the populace, the NSITF boss urged all Nigerians to adhere to the social distancing protocols and health advices given to protect us from being infected with this deadly virus.
He said: “I commended the dedication of President Muhammadu Buhari for taking prompt action to keep the virus controllable, coupled with the number of people that have been healed and discharged from the various isolation centres etc.
It is, indeed, this is a rare feat, considering what is happening in more developed countries, with better medical facilities.
The truth is that the situation would have been far worse if not for the promptness of Mr. President and the tireless, devoted and spirited efforts of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19-led by the indefatigable Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha.’’
Labour unions in Kaduna State have rejected plans by the state government to deduct 25 per cent of workers’ salaries to contribute to the state’s COVID-19 Emergency Fund.
The Deputy Governor, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, in a state broadcast on April 9, announced that modalities were being worked out for employees to contribute to the Covid-19 Emergency Fund.
The union confirmed that the Head of Civil Service, Mrs. Bariyatu Mohammed, met with labour leaders on April 14 on the planned salary deductions.
The Chairman, Kaduna State Council of NLC, Ayuba Sulaiman, said the planned deduction of 25 per cent of workers’ salary did not go down well with the union leaders.
“The proposed 25 per cent deduction was the decision of the government, we are not involved,” the NLC chairman said.
He however explained that the head of service had invited the union leaders and solicited for workers’ support and contributions to the Covid-19 Emergency Fund.
He said: “We excused her and deliberated over the matter among ourselves and some of us suggested three per cent salary deduction while others suggested five per cent.
“At the end, we put it to vote and 13 of us voted for five per cent deduction while 10 others voted for three per cent.
“We informed her of the five per cent agreed deduction, which to us was reasonable, considering the emergency situation we all found ourselves.
“But the head of service rejected our offer and informed us that the State Executive Council had already concluded to deduct 25 per cent of workers salary.“
Suleiman added that the unions were waiting for a circular to that effect for them to decide on the next line of action.
President, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Ndukaku Ohaeri, has advocated the need for the ownership structure of the refineries, saying the development is the best way to add value to the economy.
Specifically, he advocated the need to align the ownership change of the assets as in the Nigeria Liqufied Natural Gas (NLNG), in which government and private investors have shares.
Ohaeri spoke in Lagos where he cited the change of fate of then Eleme Petrochemical, which is making profit and also contributing to the development of Nigeria.
“So, the refineries that we have today, in Port Harcourt, Warri, Kaduna, I think that government should start to think about change in the ownership structure, bring in people who understand this business very well, not the portfolio or the briefcase investors. Bring in experts, those who are reputable in refinery business. If there are issues, let’s sit down and talk about them.
“Engage the stakeholders and let’s see what and what are the issues, including labour, these are the people working in the industry. That way, these refineries, we can turn them around profitably. We will employ more people, because it’s not just only producing diesel and petroleum. There are other derivatives that we can get out of these refineries.
“People have said there have not been queues at fuel stations, but at what cost? We are spending a lot to ensure that there is constant supply. Is it what a nation like Nigeria will continue to do? A country that God has given resources out of the earth.
We sell crude and we import refined ones. Common sense shows that when one adds value to a product, you earn more. That is why, today, what’s the exchange rate N360 in average. If we are to refine our products, even if it’s 60 per cent, it will cut down the cost of forex on imports of the products.”
