By Michael Oche
Organized labour, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to take immediate steps to ensure that those in his administration planning any last minute looting of the nation’s treasury are stopped.
NLC president, Joe Ajaero and his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo gave the charge in a joint address to mark the 2023 Workers’ Day celebration in Abuja.
“The outgoing President must take steps to ensure that those in his administration planning last minute heist of the nation’s treasury are stopped,” Ajearo said.
The labour leader said the nation’s Economy is in the doldrums, adding that “We wonder why this does not scare the nation’s leaders? We wonder whether they do not understand the implications of these for our nation both now and in the near future. We wonder why they insist on eating our future now and putting us into another slavish debt trap?”
The NLC and TUC also demanded for the setting up of an independent panel to investigate the INEC chairman and his team in their conduct of the last general election.
The two labour centre noted that the just concluded general elections remain the most hotly contested in the history of electioneering in our country and the reasons are obvious.
NLC said, “However, it also remains the most distorted, corrupted and abused. It marked a dangerous watershed in our political engagement as a people and as a nation. It brought with it huge opportunities for our nation to turn the corner and become great or to continue to dwell in the cesspit of underdevelopment.
“However, as has been demonstrated, INEC seems to have chosen the wrong path. A route that has perceptibly dashed the hopes of many Nigerians throwing them into despair and hopelessness destroying the rebounding belief that our nation can get it right once again. The patriotic fervour that preceded the election has never been witnessed in a long time in our country and all of us had believed that INEC was going to ride the crest of that wave to make history by following its promises but that was not to be. That fervour has dissipated and almost replaced with melancholy while the people rues a lost opportunity. The electoral umpire built our collective hope based on their pledge to abide with the Electoral Laws and its own guidelines to provide a level playing ground for all the participants yet surprisingly it chose to do otherwise.
The need to review upward the retirement age and years of service in the entire Public Service has become imperative. Extension of years of service as was done in other sectors of the Public service, we believe should go round. Only few other establishments including the core Civil Service are now left out. We are, therefore, demanding that the age of retirement and length of service in the entire Public Service including the Civil Service should be reviewed upward to 65 years of age and 40 years of service, whichever comes first.”
He also for no nation can make progress by excluding its major stakeholders; the workers and masses from having an equitable share of the nation’s resources.
According to him, if Nigeria is serious about increasing productivity and making progress as a nation then, we must seek ways of ensuring that the rights and privileges of workers are not only protected but that they are granted unfettered access to socioeconomic justice.
He said, “To this end, we suggest deliberate actions by the government to expand and strengthen the nation’s existing Social Security framework. The Social Investment Programme (SIP) ought to be given legal backing by speeding up the legislative processes towards codifying it in our laws. This will deepen engagement in those areas and provide stronger backing to our quest for socioeconomic justice to all Nigerians.
