1st May, 2013
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday in Abuja called on organised labour to complement Federal Government’s efforts in fighting corruption in the country. He made the call at the Centenary May Day 2013 held at Eagle Square.
Jonathan noted that perpetrators of corruption are senior and junior members of labour unions and called on the labour unions to organise a peer review programme with the objective of checking corruption and corrupt tendencies.
The President said such a programme would complement several efforts of the government in fighting the menace.
“Labour has been in the forefront of demanding for good governance and increased actions against corruption, and these issues are being vigorously tackled on various fronts.
“Prosecutions are being pursued in matters arising from fuel subsidy fraud, embezzlement of pension funds and other serious long-standing malpractices which have been demystified by this administration.
“Giving that some of these perpetrators are senior and junior members of labour unions, greater attention to peer review actions on the part of labour will be much appreciated,” he said.
Jonathan said the administration was leaving no stone unturned to upgrade the welfare of workers both in the private and public sectors.
“There is also a policy framework in place that will facilitate better relations between employers of labour and the government,’’ he said.
Jonathan called on labour to support government’s transformation agenda, which he said was geared toward creating jobs and wealth, and ensuring a better deal for Nigerians.
He said government was committed to creating a politically stable environment in which economic activities would flourish.
The President said the valuable contributions and sacrifices of the organised labour had assisted the government to achieve significant reforms in all sectors.
He extolled “the resilience and contributions of past labour leaders like Pa Michael Imodu and Pascal Bayfau, both of blessed memory’’.
Jonathan assured that government would continue to associate with the labour unions as they continue to play their roles in the nation-building process.
In Lagos, a cross-section of activists and the politicians called on government and labour to adequately address different issues affecting workers nationwide.
In separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, they spoke on issues of pension fund, poor workers’ remuneration and workers’ commitment.
Human rights lawyer, Mr Mohammed Fawehinmi, urged the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to ensure that all embezzled workers’ pension fund was recovered.
Fawehinmi, son of late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, told NAN the NLC must live up to expectations by ensuring that government paid all pension arrears.
“The NLC, in addition, must ensure that the Federal Government retrieves the N200 billion Police pension fund allegedly embezzled by the Chairman and Directors of the Nigerian Police Pension Task Force,” he said.
Fawehinmi said the workers union must leave no stone unturned in the continued protection of the interest of workers.
On its part, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) said the poor earnings and sufferings of Nigerian workers had made some of them agents of corruption.
Mr Austin Nnorom, the South-West Secretary of CNPP, said Nigerian workers ranked among the least paid in the world.
“Nigerian workers are suffering. They are under bondage. They rank among the least paid in the whole world, with some earning less than 100 dollars as salary a month.
“This poor remuneration is responsible for the role of some workers in helping corruption to grow in Nigeria,’’ Nnorom said.
The secretary, however, said there was the need to increase the salaries of Nigerian workers.
“Prices of goods and services in Nigeria have continued to go up while the salaries of workers have remained the same. This has brought untold hardship to many civil servants’ homes,” Nnorom said.