PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday reaffirmed the commitment of his administration to continue to give welfare and interest of workers in the country top priority.
Buhari who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha spoke in Abuja at the 4th Ordinary Congress of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) with the theme “Unite and Make a Difference.”
He noted that his government since inception in 2015 had remained workers’ friendly, and has shown a strong understanding and empathy in dealing with issues and challenges confronting workers.
Buhari recalled that his administration in 2015 inherited huge arrears of unpaid salaries, allowances of civil servants and pensioners, but insisted that at moment most of the states have now been able clear the backlog and are currently paying salaries regularly.
Permanent Secretary, General Services Office of the SGF, Mr Olusegun Olakunle, read by the President address on behalf of Mustapha who was said to be engaged in other activities.
President Buhari urged the workers’ representative organisations to continuously defend the interest of workers, demonstrate a greater zeal in defending the interest of the society by showing greater dedication, integrity and commitment to their duties at work.
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He said: “When this Administration came on board in 2015, we inherited huge arrears of unpaid salary and allowances of civil servants and public sector workers especially those working for sub-national and local or municipal government.
“We asked our State Governors how do you manage to sleep at night when you are owing workers?
“We followed up on this concern by advancing credit facilities to our sub-national governments to enable them to offset huge salary arrears.
“Today, we can confidently say that most states in Nigeria are free of accumulated arrears of salary indebtedness. We did not only stop with those still in active service. we energized the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) to offset the pension indebtedness owed by successive government.
“The Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has also deepened the reforms in the administration of the pension scheme for our military pensioners. Those of us who are conversant with Abuja will confirm that our reforms have put to an end the sufferings of military retirees who were forced to put up in shanties close to military pension offices while they waited endlessly for an elusive pension. Today, all that is history.
“A few months ago, we approved the release of required funds to settle the severance claims of workers of the defunct Nigeria Airways.
“They were owed for nearly twenty years. We can go on and on to recount the several critical interventions of our government in the lives of workers in Nigeria.
“Well, since Mr President was a salary earner as a military man and also now a pensioner, he understands perfectly well the truth that workers deserve their wages. He has, therefore, vowed that workers welfare and interest would be at the top of his priority.
“More recently, our government through a collective bargaining process increased the national minimum wage from N18,000 to N30,000. Just a few weeks ago, we also worked very hard with the leadership of organized labour in Nigeria to negotiate for adjustments in the salary of public workers consequent upon the new national minimum wage.
“I doubt if we need further proof to show that this government is a worker-friendly government. Our receptive disposition to workers issue stems from the fact that we believe that wakes and government are partners in progress.
“We know that the best intentions and policies of the government would fail if workers do not play their part to implement.”
In his address, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, called on the ITUC to reposition Africa by uniting against poor governance, decadent public institutions cum services, corruption, oppression, inequality, poverty, hunger, illiteracy, wars, violence, gender discrimination, and desperate journeys.
Ayuba noted that fair trade was the only way Africa could attract genuine investments, accumulate capital, industrialize, create decent jobs, bring peace, stop forced migration and beat poverty, disease and untimely death.
While stressing on the need to make a difference in the continent by putting up a united front, he demanded improved working and living conditions, real democracy, real social progress through the creation and sustenance of decent jobs.
“Never in history has the fate of workers hang from a precarious and perilous cliff. Never has organised capital been more daring and menacing. Never has the ideals of freedom, human dignity and the ecosystem of rights been assaulted as they are today.
“Today, labour has been mislabeled as a mere commodity. Today, universal labour guarantees are being presented as privileges rather than social rights. We live in a world where it is becoming quite suicidal to protest and demand for the enforcement of social rights in many countries.
“We demand that the failed narrative for Africa be reversed because we are not a failed people. Africa does not need another handout. Africa does not need another loan from Bretton Woods Institutions.
“Africa is not asking for cheap favours. In fact, we demand the repatriation of our stolen wealth stashed away in developed economies. Instead of free trade, we demand fair trade.
“Africa wants to add value to her raw materials and create jobs for our teeming youth. We want to export semi-finished and finished products for the global market without the overbearing restrictions of trade tariffs and unwieldy standardisation constraints placed by the developed world.
“Africa wants to reverse her dismal contribution to global trade which the United Nations Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 2015 Report puts at 2.39%.”
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