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Tag: NLC

  • Sanusi, NLC, others row over anti-recession pill

    Sanusi, NLC, others row over anti-recession pill

    How should the Federal Government tackle the recession that is causing so much pain – and controversy – in the land?

    Some experts and leading politicians have suggested the sale of some assets, saying this will provide the cash to reflate the economy, reopen factories and put money in the people’s pockets.

    Pushing this view are business giant Aliko Dangote, former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Muhammad Sanusi II, the Emir of Kano and Senate President Bukola Saraki, among others.

    But Labour cried out yesterday that the idea will make a few to amass the wealth of all and deepen the seeming despair in the land.

    Also against that line of action are Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and former Benue State Governor George Akume, a senator.

    Besides, the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) believes an assets sale will not work.

    Sanusi, speaking yesterday in Lagos at the launch of the “2016 Banking Sector Report” published by Afrinvest West Africa Limited, said one of the options available to the government is to sell down some oil assets and the refineries to private sector operators who will pump dollars into the economy, so as to strengthen the naira.

    He said: “One option is to sell down some assets, sell down some refineries in a manner that does not hurt your strategic interest. Sell down some oil assets, sell down some refineries, in a transparent manner that gives you value. You can also have options to buy them back later.”

    According to him, such steps would lead to increase in foreign exchange inflow into the economy, which is what the economy needs right now.

    He also urged the government to create a level playing field for both the Nigerian and foreign investors.

    “We have to get to a point when we welcome investors of all nationalities, who are willing to set up production plants here to turn our own raw materials into finished goods. Rwanda, Ethiopia have all done that very well. There is nothing we are saying that haven’t been done by other African countries. We need to go into investment-driven model. China has grown into investment-driven model. Nigeria needs to move into investment-driven model,” he said.

    Sanusi said Nigeria’s growth have over the years been driven by rising commodity prices, and the rising domestic debt that went into consumption.

    Ekweremadu, speaking during the Senate plenary yesterday, said: “I have heard about the issue of selling of our assets. I need to caution that other countries are not doing the same. United Arab Emirate (UAE) does not even allow you to the oil wells let alone selling them.

    “And, of course, a country like Saudi Arabia, their budget each year is run by investments from their oil revenue, not even the earnings. While other countries are investing we want to sell the little we have. I’m not sure we will be fair to the next generation if we go ahead to sell the little we have. So, if we must sell we have to sell the non-performing assets so that people can turn them around and create employment.”

    Akume noted that a lot of money had been reported to have been stolen from the nation’s coffers.

     He recalled that former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Charles Soludo reported that $60 billion was stolen from the country’s foreign reserves.

     Akume said that another former CBN governor, the Emir, also reported that $20 billion was stolen. He said that the money could be recovered.

     Akume added: “From these and from monies going through other sources, at least we should be able to recoup over $50 billion. If we succeed in doing this, do we still have to sell our assets as is being canvassed?

     ”The thing is very straight; there is a buyers’ market and there is a sellers’ market. If we want to dispose of our oil assets at this time when the prices of oil have crashed, precisely how much are you going to realise?

    “We are making a mistake here; what we are intending to do is to very unpatriotically ensure that those who are within the bracket of the stolen dollars will still come to buy.

     ”I believe that this is not the time to strip these assets. Fortunately, the CBN governor made a very powerful statement that the worst days of the recession are over and, therefore, we have to look elsewhere and not to sell our assets.”

    During his welcome address to senators on Tuesday, Saraki said the Executive must raise capital from asset sales and other sources to shore up foreign reserves. This will calm investors, discourage currency speculation and stabilise the economy. The measures should include part sale of NLNG Holdings; reduction of government share in upstream oil joint venture operations; sale of government stake in financial institutions e.g. Africa Finance Corporation; and the privatisation and concession of major/regional airports and refineries.

    The CBN Governor’s argument is that there is the need for the government to scale down or sell off some of its investments in oil and gas, particularly in the NNPC and NLNG … Now if we choose to do that now, we could still get $10-$15b or maybe $20b.

    “If we have that kind of liquidity, it will be easy for us to really stimulate the spending and also to turn the economy around… I am optimistic we will be able to stimulate the economy and earn foreign currency that we can really use to kick-start, stimulate the economy.

    “Don’t forget, even in the U.S., when the economic crisis started, the U.S. government stimulated the economy with about $900b and what was injected into the economy and subsequently injected $85b monthly for an extended period of time…

    But the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission in a statement by the Commission’s Acting Chairman, Shettima Umar Abba Gana, argued that it would be unwise for the Federal Government to dispose of its crown jewels that generate revenue and keep the Federation Account healthy over the long term.

    The statement recalled that when the government sold Petroleum Marketing Companies, the NNPC was forced to establish NNPC Retail Ltd, adding that when some IOC’s sold some oil blocks in the past, the revenue had not been remitted into the Federation Account.

    “It is the considered view of the commission that Nigeria’s assets, like the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) and other strategic national resources, should not be sold to meet short-term financial obligation”

    The commission is of the opinion that the same amount could be borrowed from the IMF and the revenue from these same Assets used to repay the loans over 10 to 20 years after which the Federation would still retain the Assets and continue to enjoy their regular annual dividend payments.

    The commission advised that instead of selling off such vital assets which generate considerable funds for the Federation, wealthy Nigerians should be encouraged to set up their own LNG projects, since Nigeria which ranks seventh in the world and first in Africa with natural gas reserves base totalling 188 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) as at May 1, 2015. In addition, Nigeria’s natural gas is regarded as one of the best in the world as it has low hydrogen sulphide (H2S) or carbon dioxide (CO2) impurity levels.

  • VISION 2020 way out of recession, says NLC

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday asked the Federal Government to go back to the Vision 2020 document and other policies for solutions to challenges facing the nation.

    Speaking at the First NLC Youth Summit in Abuja, its President, Ayuba Wabba, said the Vision 2020 document and others gathering dust in government shelves could pull the country out of the crisis.

    According to him, the Vision 2020 document envisaged the problems and provided solutions, stressing that it is, however, worrisome when government is seeking solutions elsewhere.

    The NLC president advocated youth participation in labour activities, adding that the congress decided to set up a youth wing to give strength to labour activism.

    He said the congress lost a position at the global labour youth level because it lacked a functional youth wing, adding: “The candidate we presented was adjudged over-aged”.

    He said the congress would encourage state councils and industrial unions to set up wings.

     

  • NLC to Buhari: rework economic policies

    NLC to Buhari: rework economic policies

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to rework his adminsitration’s economic policies, arguing that rather than addressing the challenges in the economy, the policies were hurting the citizens.

    Its President, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, who spoke with The Nation, said these policies have only served to make life more difficult for the average worker.

    “The challenge before all of us is an economy that is technically in recession and our government didn’t seem to get their acts right because if you look at the (policy) responses, it is geared towards taking away the gains that we have been able to make over the years,” he said.

    Wabba said policies such as naira devaluation, petrol pump price hike and increased taxes have not been helpful to the economy as they have worsened the situation for the average Nigerian.

    He  decried the delayed action of the committee set up by the Federal Government  to review the minimum wage to N56,000, stating that the NLC will begin agitation at a national level and action in states owing more than three months’ pay.

    The General Secretary,  Nigeria Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Comrade  Joe Ajaero said the first thing was for the Federal  Government to meet with the stakeholders in the economy.

    He said it is at such meeting that the problems of the country could be identified and solutions worked out.

    “It is from such meeting that we can be allowed to say our own view. It happened during the introduction of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) by  former military President, Gen Ibrahim  Babangida (rtd),” he said.

  • Nlc to Buhari: reorganise your economic team

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Ekiti State has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to overhaul his economic team to give Nigerians a new lease of life.

    State NLC Chairman Ade Adesanmi, who made the call in a statement in Ado Ekiti yesterday, said there was need to rejig the economic team “so that his much-touted change mantra won’t end like a mere slogan without productive effects on lives of the citizens.”

    Adesanmi said what Buhari promised Nigerians before the March 28 , 2015, presidential poll was life full of abundance and not the hardship witnessed today.

    He said: “President Buhari campaigned in the 36 states and what he promised us was life full of peace and abundance.

    “However, the President has been able to give us peace by way of tackling Boko Haram insurgents while he has also taken  decisive actions against militancy in the Niger Delta, but the issue of the receding economy as shown in the skyrocketing prices of goods and services and callous losses of jobs by Nigerians are worrisome.

    “President Buhari did not promise that  a bag of rice,  which was sold for N9,000, will be sold for N40,000. He didn’t promise that a bag of cement, which was sold for N1,500, will be sold for N2,500 within one year he assumed office. He didn’t promise that a litre of petrol, which cost N87, will be jacked up to N145, among other items, which prices have jumped up in four folds.

    “The APC-led Federal Government must look beyond its party to solve our economic problems. We suggest that President Buhari rejig his economic team. He must make changes before things get out  of hands.

    “As much as we align with the idea of relying on Nigerian products to grow our economy, we disagree with the idea of total ban on some food items to allow internal production of such commodity.’’

     

  • NLC seeks committee on new minimum wage

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the Federal Government to reconstitute a tripartite committee to negotiate a new minimum wage for workers.

    NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, told The Nation that the developments in the economy, which have made nonsense of the purchasing power of the workers, had made a new minimum wage inevitable.

    “When the 2011 National Minimum Wage Act was being signed, all the tripartite partners were in agreement that this would be negotiated after every five years. So, the five-year time-frame is here.

    “We hope that we will not be pushed into taking action that would be costly for the economy, which is already in deeply troubled as it were. Our standpoint is that any of the parties to the negotiation who may have reasons why we shouldn’t have a new minimum wage should bring those arguments to the negotiation table,” he said.

    Wabba said the major cause of the  economic crisis was the irresponsible mismanagement of the economy over the years by  political leaders.

    “The way corruption was allowed to eat into virtually every fibre of our national life by the governing class across the political spectrum meant that in due time, we would find ourselves in the mess we are currently today,” Wabba said.

    Wabba said manufacturers had stories of woe to tell about the fall in capacity utilisation caused by the difficulties in obtaining foreign exchange to import vital raw materials.

    He said a larger portion of the forex demand was for the importation of refined products.

    “We know because the leadership of the unions in the manufacturing sector has approached us several times to engage powers that be at the federal level on the consequences of government policies that had increased the problem of scarcity of forex for manufacturing purposes,” Wabba added.

  • NLC: how to address unemployment

    The General Secretary, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Dr Peter Eson-Ozo, has urged the Federal Government to develop a policy to address increasing youth unemployment in Nigeria.

    Eson-Ozo spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, yesterday.

    He said global unemployment projections were gloomy, adding that the situation in Nigeria might be gloomier.

    “This is because the way things are, given the economic parameters, we are actually faced with a situation in which the unemployment rate in Nigeria will continue to rise.

    “If we take that along with the underemployment and disguised employment, we find that really, it is a high rate, much higher than the global average.

    “The world’s economy itself, the dynamics of the world’s economy into the next two years, will not create or turn the job market around.

    “It is also frightening because apart from our local economic issues, the global economic environment will not even be supportive of our getting out quickly from the present situation.‘’

    He said the Federal Government should put together a policy to address the economic situation in the country.

    “As of now, we do not seem to have a policy response that shows where we are in the economy.”

  • NLC: We’ll continue to resist deduction in pay

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said it will continue to resist deductions in workers’ salaries across the states.

    The NLC President, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, spoke yesterday in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, during the 14th NLC Rain School with the theme: “The labour movement and an alternative development strategy.”

    Wabba, who decried the worsening condition of workers, said the economic recession has reduced the purchasing power of workers.

    He said labour would continue to engage the government on minimum wage, adding that workers have only got a better deal through collective struggle.

    His words: “The issue of payment of salaries across the three sectors of our economy;  private, government, or small and medium-scale enterprise, has become a challenge. As of yesterday, most manufacturing companies cannot import raw materials because of the problem of exchange rate.

    “And, therefore, workers have become the first victims; salaries are not paid as at when due, pensioners are not being paid. But the worst of it is in many states today. There are liabilities of gratuities, some 10 years.

    “We have decided after meeting with state councils and unions that where we have liability of three months of either salaries, pension or gratuity, you must be seen to start an action, we will be there to support you.”

     

  • Non-payment of workers’ salaries unacceptable – NLC

    Non-payment of workers’ salaries unacceptable – NLC

    The president of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Waba, on Friday said the union will no longer condone the maltreatment of  workers by some governors who refused to pay salaries.

    Waba said this during the opening ceremony of the 3rd National Delegate Conference of the Judicial Workers’ Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) in Katsina.

    “We are aware that some governors have not paid their workers’ salaries and pensions for the past seven months,” the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the NLC president as saying at the conference.

    “We have directed our chairmen in the 36 states to start protecting their members that have been denied their monthly wages.

    “Some state governors are only interested in paying contractors with the objective of receiving gratifications from them.

    “The NLC will not fold its arms and allow such governors to continue having a field day, while toying with the lives of civil servants.

    “The NLC will give support to any state chairman who direct his workers to go on strike, the time has come for no retreat, no surrender by NLC.”

    Waba commended the officials and members of JUSUN for their maturity in conducting the delegate conference without rancour.

  • NLC to protest Nassarawa killings

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is set to embark on a nationwide protest tomorrow over the killing of two civil servants by Government House security operatives  in Nassarawa State.

    Its General Secretary, Comrade Peter Os-Ezon said the  protest would be used to mourn the dead and show solidarity with the workers in the state.

    He said the protest which will  come up  simultaneously all over the 36 states capital, is scheduled to start by 8 am at the  labour offices  across the states.

    It would be recalled that during a peaceful protest by Nasarawa State civil servants some weeks ago over the salary cut by the state government,  policemen attached to the Government House, allegedly shot at the protesting workers, killing two of them while many others sustained various degrees of injuries.

    The Central Working Committee (CWC) of the NLC,  at a meeting last week, described the police action as “a violation of workers’ rights to protest as enshrined in Nigeria Constitution and International Labour Organisation (ILO) provisions”.

    NLC described the action as illegal because it goes against the tenets of collective bargaining.

     

  • NLC to apply`no pay, no work’ rule

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says all state councils where salary liabilities of up to three months exist will apply ‘no pay, no work’ rule.

    NLC President Ayuba Wabba made this known when he featured on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum  yesterday in Abuja.

    “We have given instructions to all state councils that where there is liability of salary up to three months, they should also apply the rule of `no pay, no work;’ it is not only `no work, no pay’.

    “You can also apply the rule in reverse of `no pay, no work’ and that is legitimate because the law provides that after 30 days of working, the worker is entitled to be paid.

    “How can we encourage people that have put in their best or even those that are still in the system trying to put in their best without addressing this fundamental issue?

    “Those are the situations we have found ourselves across states and across different employments; I feel sad with that situation but I think we will do all we can to try to continue to protect those workers.’’

    He said workers must be seen as an asset to our county instead of shifting all challenges to the workers.

    “The challenges have been there; instead of looking inward to try to address these challenges, the bulk of the issues have been shifted to the workers and that is why I think you can effectively say that yes these workers are under attack.’’

    Wabba said NLC held a meeting with the state councils, where they took inventory of the liability of pension, gratuity and salaries, adding that the data was alarming.

    “When you see the data of how much it stands today of liabilities that workers have not been paid, the worst is that of gratuity, which some states have a liability of up to 10 years.

    “Workers have worked for 30 or 35 years in service; they retired following the normal process but yet after retirement, they were not paid a dime.

    “Therefore, it is as if they were slaves; It is only a slave that will work and not be paid his entitlement.

    He decried a situation where the political leaders do not see the payment of workers as important but rather they see it as a waste.

    The president noted that some governors would prefer to award bogus contracts rather than pay workers.

    He noted that everywhere in the world workers were seen and placed appropriately for them to contribute their quota.

    According to him, due to the neglect and non-payment of workers, productivity has been at the lowest point.