Labour backs concession of NRC, calls for transparency

Labour has declared full support for the Federal Government’s plan to concession the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), but demanded transparency in the process.

It, however, kicked against privatisation of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and rather called for its effective funding, regretting that the FHA has been completely neglected by the Federal Government.

The President, Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporation and Government Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), Comrade Mohammed Yunusa, who addressed journalists in Abuja, also warned against secret concession of NRC.

He pointed out that the union will support the planned concession of the NRC, only if there is high level transparency in the process, while also adding that privatisation of FHA will take away the ability of low income earners to own a house of their own.

Most importantly, the SSASCGOC President warned against the move by the government to go behind the door to pick a favoured company, saying that the earlier attempt by the government to singlehandedly pick a company from the United States as a concessionaire is not acceptable.

Comrade Yunusa explained that the ideal thing to do is to advertise the concession and make it open for interested people to apply before the highest bidder with capability to run the corporation is picked.

“SSASCGOC is not averse to the change mantra of the present administration, particularly in its effort to bring back the rail networks in Nigeria to its lost glory.

“It must be noted that Nigerian workers contributed immensely to the glorious performance of the rail sector up till 1984 before it started having problems. It must also be noted that workers of NRC were not in any way responsible for the demise of the then rail sector.

“As a matter of fact, some of our members patriotically worked to the point of death.

“We salute the courage of our heroes in the railway sector some of whom lost their lives in the quest to making the railway a pride of place for the nation. No thanks to irresponsible leadership.

“Nobody should therefore attempt to discredit staff of the NRC just because of the failure of successive governments and its managers in NRC. To this end, we make bold to say we shall resist any form of reform aimed at discrediting and sending staff of NRC into the labour market, under whatever guise be it concessioning, franchising or public private partnership.

“We have learnt our lessons from NITEL’s experience. Never shall we allow such again. According to Albert Einstein, we cannot solve our problems using the same thinking with which we created them.”