Organised Labour has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige to immediately prevail on the governors of Benue, Imo and Nasarawa states to respect Nigeria labour law, stop wage cut and arbitrary redeployment of workers to the farms as a way of avoiding full pay.

A NEC Member of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Chairman of IndustriALL Global Union, Sub Saharan Africa, Comrade Issa Aremu, mni made this call on Tuesday during the nationwide protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) against the recent killing of two workers in Nasarawa State by Government House security operatives as well as the increasing violations of workers’ rights in the country.

Comrade Aremu who is also the General Secretary of National Union of Textile Workers (NUTGTWN) stated that “Labour matters are on the exclusive Federal list of 1999 constitution. It is therefore illegal and unconstitutional for these governors as employers of labour to arbitrarily violate the terms of contract of their workers with respect to pay and work schedule.”

It will be recalled that Nasarawa state, Governor Tanko Al-Makura had arbitrarily cut workers’ pay by 50 per cent and also threatened to sack striking workers who rightly protested his criminal 50 per cent wage cut and replace them with “fresh graduates”. Comrade Aremu stated that “No colonial governor during the hated British colonialism so verbally casualized the dignity of labour with respect to contracts of employment on pay and tenure as Governor, Tanko Al-Makura unacceptably did.”

Under the emergency “Back to Land for Agriculture” programme, which was never part of his campaign promises, the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, also announced the reduction of normal working days from 5 to 3 days a week, as well as slash workers monthly salaries. The labour chieftain expresses solidarity with the State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), to condemn this illegality.

In June, Benue State government had also declared Friday of every week a work free day “..to enable workers in the state to go and work on their farms”. The state government wrongly claimed the illegal move would aid as many workers as possible “..to produce enough food to feed their families in the face of the current economic downturn which has made the regular payment of salaries a major challenge.”

Condemning these acts by the governors, Comrade Aremu stated that the 1999 Constitution under which the governors took the oath of office explicitly guarantees the sanctity of public service at both Federal and state levels with respect to adequate security of tenure, hours of work, health and safety, adequate remunerations and pensions. Section 209 Of the Constitution guarantees decent work of the civil servants in the public service of a State and does not subject it to the whims of executive governors.

The labour chieftain called on the Head of Service of the federation as well as heads of service of the 36 states to speak out in defense of the rights of public servants against serial attacks of some states’ Governors.

He noted that “It is bad governance on the part of most governors to shift the burden of declining revenue on their workforce while still maintaining the primitive huge cost of executive overhead. Public servants are expected to deliver public service with respect to education, health, etc. To therefore transform civil servants into overnight farmers without fresh letters of appointments as part of some dubious “cost-saving measures” is to proclaim end of public work and public service by these governors and by implication turn governance which is a serious business into an unacceptable joke.”

UNPROVOKED KILLING OF WORKERS BY SECURITY OPERATIVES

Expressing support for the nationwide protests by the NLC against the recent killing of two workers in Nasarawa State by government house security operatives in particular, Comrade Aremu stated that the unprovoked action by the police against unarmed workers on a peaceful protest is criminal and unacceptable. “It is a gross violation of workers’ rights to protest as enshrined in Nigeria Constitution and International Labour Organisation, ILO, provisions. We therefore support the demand by the NLC for the Nasarawa State government to investigate the incident, apprehend the culprits and bring them to Justice” the labour leader stated.

CONDOLENCE
Comrade Aremu commiserates with the families of the workers killed by the over-zealous security operatives in Nasarawa State. We wish those that sustained injuries a quick recovery.

LABOUR FAST BECOMING AN ENDANGERED SPECIE IN NIGERIA
Comrade Aremu decried the fact that increasingly labour as a factor of production, wealth generation and public service delivery is fast becoming endangered specie in Nigeria. There have been unacceptable multiple assaults on workers’ rights through delayed and non-payment of salaries, retrenchment and recent illegal compulsory directive turning workers to instant/emergency farmers contrary to their contracts of employment.

Issa Aremu, mni
GENERAL SECRETARY, NUTGTWN
NEC MEMBER, NLC
CHAIRMAN, IndustriALL Global Union, Sub Saharan Africa