Union raises the alarm over robots’ takeover of jobs

The National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) has raised the alarm over the rate at which multinational companies are deploying robots and automated machines to execute jobs.

The union stressed the need for the government to weigh-in on the development to forestall massive job loss.

It argued that Nigeria was not yet matured for automated machines and robots to take over jobs from  humans, noting that the government should tackle the high level of youth unemployment and ensure that the common man can provide meals for his family before such could be introduced to local industries.

NUFBTE President Lateef Oyelekan, who disclosed this, called on the Federal Government to prevail on companies already using robots to stop, stressing that the union had petitioned the government on the matter through the Minister of Labour and Employment.

Oyelekan said:“Countries with employment problems in the world are not using robots. If a country like China that manufactures robots is not using them, India is not using robots, even in our continent here, Ghana and Kenya are not using robots, why should Nigeria allow them?

“Nigeria is not matured enough for automated machine or robots to be used in our local industry. Presently, we have the challenge of unemployment in our hands where half of the population of our youths is unemployed.

“We are insisting that it would further increase the unemployment problem in the country and more Nigerians will lose their jobs.

“This is because where 200 Nigerians are supposed to be working, with automated machine, we now have 30, and where 500 were working before, we have less than 50.”

While stressing the need for the government to ensure that jobs that can be executed by Nigerians are not given to expatriates, Oyelekan commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his insistence on full implementation of local content policy in most sectors of the economy.

“We commend Mr President for that because in some companies, we have expatriates as line managers, sales managers, what does such a person know about our culture, our market and other socio-cultural values of our people? This is how Nigeria can develop,” he said.