SALUTE TO NIGERIAN WORKERS
The authorities must do more to reduce poverty
As Nigerian workers join their counterparts from all over the world to mark today’s occasion, we must salute their doggedness and the tremendous contributions they have made to the development of the country. While the global focus this year is on themes of opposing wars that negatively impact working class people and fighting all forms of exploitation, Nigerian workers are likely to demand for better conditions of service, and fair wages, in a nation where the remunerations of political office holders are scandalously high.
Speaking on the plight of workers, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Joe Ajaero, said organised labour was more concerned about the value of the naira than nominal wage increases, stressing that rising inflation had continued to erode workers’ purchasing power. “Even if Nigerian workers earn N1 million, it will not be meaningful if the naira has no value,” said Ajaero while arguing that the ongoing conversation around a new national minimum wage must follow laid-down procedures.
Meanwhile, one major attraction in public service, despite its poor remuneration package, is the benefit of receiving pension after retirement. But over the years, such prospect has become problematic and uncertain in Nigeria. And this has worsened the woes of retired civil servants. The failure of government to meet the pension expectation of retirees ends up shattering the plans of many as well as inducing economic trauma, which in some cases have led to fatalities. Indeed, many senior citizens who had no other source of earning a living after service had collapsed and died while on queues waiting for their pensions.
It was in a bid to move beyond this tragic situation that the Pension Reforms Act of 2004 was enacted. It was, as the name suggests, designed to address the failures of the old scheme—the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS). In its place, the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) was introduced wherein both the government and the workers themselves are to save up a given amount of their earnings towards building up an accumulated funds reserve which the worker can fall back on after retirement. Unfortunately, the plight of pensioners persists in a country where there is no safety net for the poor.
While we urge the federal and state governments to keep faith with their obligations to pensioners, we also call on the pension sector regulator, PenCom, to apply stricter measures in enforcing compliance with the provisions of the Pension Reforms Act by the PFAs. It is only fair and just to allow pension to sooth the nerves of retired persons, especially after the workers have been faithful in making appropriate contributions to the scheme while in active service.
On a day such as this, it is also important for the authorities to pay attention to the issue of child labour, that threatens the future of the country with poverty as the underlining reason. Many of our young people are forced into the farms or streets to eke out a living. More worrisome is the fact that the situation will likely worsen because of the prevailing economic crisis in the country. Many parents are out of jobs while those who are working are also finding it increasingly difficult to meet the needs of their children. The social disharmony in many Nigerian homes has become a veritable threat to the survival of the family institution.
As we salute Nigerian workers and the tremendous contributions they are making to our national development, government, at all levels, must review the subsisting poverty reduction policies and design a strategy that would steer the nation towards the goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030.
