President Muhammadu Buhari has been commended by the Organized Labour for condemning governors who still owe their workers salaries despite several bailouts.
At separate events, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) and National Union of Textile Garments and Tailoring Workers of Nigerian (NUTGTWN) said the President had shown a rare value by telling governors the truth on how he felt about their failure to pay salaries and pensions, despite the Federal Government’s interventions.
The TUC also floored some governors for asking for the release of 50 per cent of the Paris Club loan refund, even when they could not account for the tranches released to them.
The union lamented the plight of workers in the states and the need for urgent attention as many could barely survive.
“For us, President Muhammadu Buhari was right when he expressed surprise on how some governors manage to sleep soundly when workers have not been paid their salaries for months. The president even wondered how the workers feed their families; pay their rents and the school fees of their children,”the TUC said.
TUC President Bobboi Bala Kaigama said the Congress believed that the President asked these vital questions because he still has his conscience intact, noting that most of the nation’s political leaders have sold their conscience.
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They don’t feel our pains neither do their children and cronies. What is N18,000 (Eighteen thousand naira) when juxtaposed with the prevailing economic realities in the country? It is a pity our governors prefer statues of foreigners to our health, children’s education, job creation and other meaningful activities that help build a strong society.
“We believe in the President, but he alone cannot do it. Efforts to fight corruption have become a mirage. Experts have argued that one way recession can be addressed is when the wage of workers is increased; unfortunately the last wage increase we had was in 2011. Though due for review, but some forces who take delight in using our children as political thugs have refused. They want the status-quo (master-servant relationship) to remain. They tell us that the economy is in recession yet it does not affect them,” he said.
Kaigama urged the Federal Government to hold on to the money until the workers and pensioners were fully paid.
“The governors are stock-piling the released fund somewhere waiting for 2019 election campaign, but we are going to surprise them. It is not going to be business as usual,” he said.
NUTGTWN General Secretary Issa Aremu said it was laughable that the governors could have the effrontery to approach the President for another bailout when all they have received in the past were not used for the purpose they were meant for.
The labour leaders, speaking at the 29th Annual National Education Conference of NUTGTWN in Sokoto, said Nigeria’s case has become a one-day one-trouble-affair.
“Only two weeks ago, some ministers made a case for “No Work No Pay” doctrine. Their argument was that they want to check the public service workers in the country. Just imagine, how do you tell a worker that has not been paid for six months to continue to borrow to fare himself or herself to job? How do you explain it that a country that is broke still pays twitter lawmakers over N29 million on a monthly basis. This is inhuman, wicked, derogatory and devilish,” he said.
Aremu, who is also the vice president of the Industrial Global, said the government should endeavour to pay workers all they had worked for before trying to enforce the no work, no pay doctrine.
He maintained that the governors should be seen supporting the Federal Government in reviving the economy and this could be done by paying workers their wages.
“The workers are the consumers, if they are not paid where would they get the money to buy finished products from our industries. It is only when our factories thrive that the economy can rebound. The workers are the ones that support the artisans and other sectors of the economy. The importance of a living wage, paid as at when due, cannot be over emphasized,” he said.
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