Why Nigerian workers need more than higher pay — LP presidential candidate, Okereke

Labour Party presidential candidate, Dr Chibuzo Okereke, speaks with CHRISTIAN APPOLOS on why Nigerian workers need more than higher salaries, canvassing living wages, social protection, pension security, affordable housing, healthcare, productivity, public-service reform, employment and the future of work. Excerpts:

You once said a living wage would replace the minimum wage if you are elected president. Why do you believe Nigerian workers need more than higher pay?

A living wage is a basket. It is not just one item or a figure that you simply announce. It has to take into account the socio-economic circumstances of the worker and the dignity of labour. When you talk about living wage, you are talking about fair reward for work, a safe working environment, job security and social benefits. You are also talking about housing, healthcare, education, food supply and food sovereignty. I will not just sit down and say living wage is N1 million or N2 million. Once we have a living-wage law that properly addresses the realities of the Nigerian worker, the question of fixing an arbitrary figure becomes less important.

What, then, should constitute a living wage? The worker should be able to live with dignity. There should be functional healthcare support, including first-aid facilities or clinics in workplaces. Workers should not leave their offices and start looking for where to access basic healthcare. Housing is also important. Food, education and social protection are important. The wage should reflect prevailing economic conditions, but it must also be accompanied by social benefits that protect workers from shocks. For me, the irreducible minimum is equal opportunity, a functional social welfare system and a fair reward system.

Can a living wage succeed without effective social protection?

Absolutely not. Take-home pay must reflect prevailing conditions, and there should be consequential adjustments when those conditions change. You cannot have a situation where the board of one parastatal determines its own salaries and benefits, while another category of workers has to go through minimum-wage negotiations and collective bargaining before adjustments are made. Productivity and value must be at the centre of our reward system. We also have to support entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized enterprises while ensuring that people delivering public services are adequately rewarded. There should be no dichotomy between politicians and the civil service. What we should be talking about is social justice and equal opportunity. Promotion, training, gratuity, emoluments and pension should all be fair.

What, in your view, is the biggest problem with the way Nigerian workers are currently rewarded?

There is a problem of conflicting laws and a narrow conceptualisation of federal character. You have situations where the boards of some agencies determine their own salaries and benefits, while workers in the civil and public service operate under minimum-wage arrangements, collective bargaining and consequential adjustments. That has to change.

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We have to look at longevity, productivity and value. The civil service must become attractive again. Workers should receive their benefits when they are due. Gratuity and pension must be functional, and workers should have proper health support.

Some HMOs have also become middlemen in the health system. Workers need to be able to trust the health system.

Beyond the pay cheque, what does dignity at work mean to you?

Dignity is about the value we place on the human person. Condition of service encompasses everything. It is about how workers are treated, the security of their jobs, their health, promotion, training, retirement benefits and the reward for their contribution. Look at the price of bread. If something that was N500 becomes N2,000, the government has to think about how to reduce the cost of production, including the cost of flour. The government must think about workers’ welfare, but workers must also provide productivity, quality service and value for money. It has to be a two-way relationship.

You have spoken about a major reset of the public service. What would you change?

It will be the greatest reset Nigeria has ever seen across the board. We need to reform the gateway through which people enter the public service. Recruitment should not simply be about giving somebody a job so that the person can survive.

We need people who are motivated by the value they can contribute.

There are middlemen and the deep state who have benefited from the current arrangement, and they will resist change.

“You cannot build a functional system around people merely struggling to survive.” When survival becomes the dominant motivation, it affects teaching, public administration and the entire system.

How would you balance better pay with the need for higher productivity?

Workers must be properly rewarded, but there must also be productivity, quality and value for money. The government must create an environment where workers can actually be productive. You cannot continue to pay people poorly and then complain that they are not productive. At the same time, the government should be able to demand performance. We need a merit system rather than patronage. The public service should attract people who want to contribute to the development of the country.

What would you do about workers’ pensions, gratuity and other post-employment benefits?

Pension should be part of the social contract between the worker and the state or employer. Promotion, training, gratuity, emoluments and pension must be properly structured and delivered. It is unfair for a worker to contribute for years and then face unnecessary delays when it is time to access the benefit. Workers should be able to trust the system. If people are not confident that they will receive their benefits when they retire, it affects their willingness to save and their confidence in the system.

What would an effective social protection system look like under your administration?

The idea behind the current social safety net system is fantastic, but the problem is implementation. Politics has entered the process. You hear politicians saying, “Give me five slots,” instead of allowing communities to determine who genuinely needs assistance. That is what I call the big-daddy syndrome and stakeholder-driven patronage. Social protection should be integrated across the Federal, State and Local Government levels. We have structures such as the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, UBEC and rural electrification agencies. We should use existing structures properly rather than creating new agencies every time. You cannot develop Nigeria from Abuja without the states and local governments.

How would you reduce political influence in social safety-net programmes?

We need to move away from the politics of presence. Instead of politicians determining beneficiaries, communities should have a role in identifying genuine beneficiaries. Rather than distributing individual motorcycles or small loans simply because names are on a political list, we can create community hubs where people have access to equipment, skills, finance and productive resources, with private-sector participation. There should be documentation, monitoring and measurable outcomes. We need digital social empowerment through these hubs, with accountability and proper tracking.

What about elderly people, vulnerable groups and others who depend on social programmes?

These programmes cannot be effectively implemented from Abuja alone. You have to partner with the states and local governments. When registers are generated from Abuja without proper local verification, there are bound to be problems. The local government is where people live and work. But today, we have local government without local governance. If we are serious about social programmes, school programmes and interventions for vulnerable people, we must bring the local level into the process. Anything for us without us is against us.