* NLC oppose deployment of US troops to Nigeria
*Oshiomhole blames states for failing to pay minimum wage
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The federal government has urged Nigerians to set their differences aside and join hands to address the current security challenges bedeviling the country.
The appeal was made yesterday by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, while declaring open a one-day National Peace and Security Summit organised by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in Abuja.
Mustapha said: “Nigerians should join hands to fight this insecurity that’s assuming a frightening dimension.”
He said the federal government is ready to collaborate with stakeholders, including the Organised Labour, to find lasting solutions to the current security challenge facing the country.
According to the SGF, “President Muhammadu Buhari is leaving no stone unturned in dealing with the security situation in the country.
“Labour and its constituents are integral part of solution providers on the critical issues that confront the country, and we cannot all be in the trenches at the same time as we are being confronted by security challenge at the moment.
“Security is the most vital element of human life, without which, economic and political aspirations cannot be realised in. It is in this direction that the current state of insecurity calls for concerted effort to find a last solution to it. It is very important that we begin to think and find solutions to all that are bedeviling us and we must find solutions to them.”
He said the government would look forward to receiving the reports and recommendations of the security summit to help in its decision-making.
Meanwhile, in his address at the opening of the security summit, NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said the current state of insecurity in the country is worrisome.
He, however, said the labour movement is not in support of plans by the United States to relocate its military forces from the Mediterranean ocean to Nigeria.
Wabba argued that inviting an occupation force would be counter-productive, adding that Nigerian armed forces have what it takes to defeat the terrorists if they are provided with weapons and proper welfare.
According to him, “We are concerned about plans to relocate the US African Command from Germany to Nigeria. While we welcome intelligence sharing and ammunition support to our armed forces, we warn that it will be counter-productive to replace our army with foreign soldiers.”
He said the Nigerian armed forces are equal to the task of surmounting the insecurity challenges in the country if they are supported and well-funded.
Wabba, who stated that the summit was taking place against the background of rising incidence of criminality in the country, said: “Oganised Labour has the responsibility to represent and defend not only the interest of workers but also national interest that bothers on national security. This summit is taking place against the backdrop increase in criminalities, including terrorism, banditry, including, kidnaping, abduction among others.”
On the objectives of the summit, the NLC chief said it was meant to interrogate the issues causing insecurity and find a lasting solution to insecurity in the country soon.
He added that the summit is looking at how best to support the armed forces to prosecute the anti-terrorism war.
Wabba said the International Labour Organisation (ILO) recommendation 205 recognises that there can be no sustainable peace and security without respect for human rights and rule of law, including respect for fundamental principles and right at work and international labour standards.
On his own, the President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Mr. Quadiri Olaleye, however, blamed the current administration for not doing enough to curtail insecurity in the land.
He specifically identified all those who took part in the hoarding and mismanagement of government palliatives during outset of the COVID-19 pandemic as having helped to impoverish the people and fuel agitation and insecurity.
Also, former Governor of Edo State and the immediate-past Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomole, said the current insecurity situation in the country should be seen from the angle of unbridled deprivation of workers by employers, especially the state governors.
He said it was criminal for any governor to continue to deprive the poor workers of their legitimate right to earn the new N30,000 minimum wage approved more than a year ago.
“The 36 state governors are united. The oppressors are united against you (workers). When we are through with discussing the issue of insecurity, we can then start discussing the issue of security of wage and jobs,” he said.
Oshiomole alleged that the sacking of over 35,000 workers recently by the Kaduna State Government may have contributed to the current insecurity experienced in the state.
“Who are the bandits? Those 35,000 workers in Kaduna State whose livelihood were taken away from them, what are they doing? What will their children and grandchildren be doing now? It’s common sense to know that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop,” he said.
