THE PRIVATIONS OF PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT

Most of them are marked by appalling working conditions, delay in payment of wages, and pitifully poor wages. Yet, they are never in danger of being put out of business because there is in place an economic climate that stuffs the pool of desperate job seekers they draw from.

In Nigeria, on the canvass of private employment, two disparate worlds collide: there is a world of private employment where the pay is high and many nice perks abundant. This world holds many multinational companies and key players in the financial and investment sectors. They usually have vast resources and boast a diverse workforce. There is the other world that holds the small fish. This world holds many firms run by sole proprietors who may be professionals such as lawyers, engineers, accountants, surveyors and architects, and many others who are involved in different kinds of business that employ people. In this world, employers scratch their heads and scramble to pay those they employ. Sometimes they meet up, most times they don’t and there is a lot of abuse going on, a lot of it. They are not helped by Nigeria`s peculiarly unfavourable business climate.

Historically, labour has always been one of man`s surest anchors. Apart from the engagement it provides the unique faculties that each human being boasts, labour when adequately rewarded as should be the case, keeps the labourer from the uniquely distressing perils of penury.

In Nigeria, the government is the biggest single employer of labour. In keeping with labour standards around the world, the government, especially the Federal Government tries to pay wages when due, guarantee job security, pension upon retirement, and generally tries to ensure fair labour standards. Government employment is generally safer with slightly better conditions than private employment. In the light of these, it can only be scandalous that in Nigeria, some states and local governments owe their workers for months without end. While they cite inconsistent and inadequate allocation to justify such interminable delays, Nigerians know that a lot of the delay in the payment of salaries stems from the mismanagement of public funds which itself is fueled by the avarice of those in power.

Away from the world of public employment, in most private employments, what goes on is full-fledged abuse, the kind that simply makes work a nightmare. It is a veritable witch`s brew: long hours, poor, inconsistent pay; absurd rules at work, arbitrary dismissals and a whole lot. A lot of the conditions in many places of work make work almost impossible.

These challenges go on unchecked and unbridled. Because job insecurity plagues a lot of these jobs, at the slightest hint of discontent, employees are dismissed, with some of them owed many months` salaries.

They are dared to canvass all avenues to seek a redress while the pool of joblessness is combed for new victims. Because the legal hurdles placed in their paths by Nigeria`s ponderous judicial process are simply too intimidating, their dreams of redress soon peter out and they are left to lick their wounds.

The natural question is whether the employment laws in place in Nigeria are sufficient to deter the many hawks who masquerade as private employers from treating their employees as they want. The simple answer is no. The laws do not put in pace an adamantine legal framework. Even when the laws pretend to so do, enforcement usually comes up short leaving many employees and job seekers at the mercy of ruthless employers.

In every society, satisfactory employment metrics are used to measure the quality of life people enjoy. This is critical and if Nigeria ever desires the greater happiness of its citizens, it must examine how they work, but especially where they work and the conditions under which they work.

Kene Obiezu,

keneobiezu@gmail.com