Kaduna episode: A foretaste of what may happen in other states
That Nigeria’s economy is in the doldrums is no longer news. The Federal Government has announced to the federating units that share revenues at the end of every month that it was finding things very difficult. The central government has also announced its plans to cut salaries of civil servants in its employ.
The states are not faring better, compelling many of them to be considering some options to live within their means.
Unfortunately, many of the states have also refused to pay the mandatory N30,000 minimum wage.
As part of the measures, some states have elected to carry out retrenchment of some staff. This is the crux of the impasse between the Kaduna State government and the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
In recent times, there has been
a seeming tug of war between Nasir El-rufai, governor of Kaduna State and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC).
In the last one week, Labour occupied the state, protesting the “unlawful” retrenchment of thousands of civil servants in the state by the governor.
Despite NLC’S threats and strike, the governor is insisting that there is no going back on the ‘rightsizing,’, while lamenting that over 90 percent of the state’s federal allocation is currently being spent on civil servants; an issue many think relevant authorities should probe.
While El-rufai is taking retrenchment approach in tackling the dwindling revenue to the state, many of his colleagues prefer owing salaries, apart from Lagos, which depends less on the monthly federal allocation because of its everincreasing internally generated revenue.
From Abia, Imo, Ekiti, Jigawa, Niger to many others, the cry has been the same, while the implementation of the minimum wage is out of it.
Recently, Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers State, was under attack for promising N10 million each to Damini Ogulu (Burna Boy), Grammy award-winning artiste, and others who performed at a homecoming party for the music star, just a week after public school teachers protested over five years non-payment of salaries by the state government.
Considering the way the Kaduna State case is going, observers fear that if Governor El-rufai succeeds in sacking the workers, other governors who are crying over lack of funds to pay salaries may follow Kaduna’s bad example.
Magnus Orjiako, a labour leader in FCT, Abuja, decried the El-rufai example, saying it is inhuman, and should be challenged, as no government has sacked workers in such massive swoop before now and not to talk of thousands as done by El
Rufai.
“Government is blaming large scale unemployment in the country for the high rate insecurity and the same government wants to sack those engaged. If El-rufai succeeds, his action will boost the number of unemployed out there and insecurity too. But the grave danger is that other state governors may copy the bad example,” Orjiako said.
Instead of sacking the workers, Inua Yakubu, a Minna, Niger State-based lawyer, advised that the governors and politicians should reduce the huge number of personal aides, unnecessary appointments and curb inflation of contract fees.
“Governor El-rufai is talking of rightsizing, but he has been sacking workers since assuming office. If he is serious about rightsizing, he should start by sacking all his aides and political appointees,” Yakubu said.
But looking at the facts and data, Bode Anjorin, a Lagos-based economist and economic analyst, queried how state governors use the funds from the monthly federal allocation.
“In April, the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) said it has doled out in excess of N9.13 trillion to states in the past four years. So, where did all the trillions go if governors cannot pay simple salary?” Anjorin asked.
Quoting the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Anjorin noted that the bureau disclosed that three South-south states – Delta, Akwa Ibom and Rivers- are the recipients of the larger portion of the federal allocations in the past four years, yet the three states also owe workers’ salary and have not implemented the minimum wage.
For the economist, states that sack workers for lack of money to pay their salaries should not be given the monthly federal allocation or half of the allocation because the people the money is meant to benefit have been sacked.
Ugonma Onwubiko, an Abia State health worker, is worried over El-rufai’s approach because she thinks her governor, who has the culture of owing salaries would most likely consider the sack option.
“At present, our salaries and pensions are not paid as regular as they should be. The irregularity has made it difficult for most parents to pay school fees of their children, pay house rent and carry out other responsibilities. So, if they now sack us, they are encouraging untimely deaths, wayward children, and insecurity,” the mother of four said.
She also disclosed that workers’ salaries, even when you add ghost workers, are not as much as the money politicians steal through inflated contracts, retinue of political appointees, allocation for buying votes, and money laundering.
In the same vein, Anjorin advised governors to cut their unnecessary expenses, focus on projects that will empower people and not elephant projects like airports, seaports and railway, which are humongous and conduit pipe of stealing government funds.
“If Governor El-rufai wants to sack Kaduna workers, he should start from his relations and friends in the state civil service. But I think that plan is unthinkable because he has sacked many in his rightsizing exercise. He should copy the Lagos State internally generated revenue model to boost his earnings and pay people well, including minimum wage,” Anjorin said.
However, an Abuja-based top government official who pleaded for anonymity expressed his disappointment over the planned sack by El-rufai, noting that the Federal Government gave states bailout; they still receive federal allocation, yet they complain of lack of fund to pay poor workers’ salary.
“It is not fair to threaten the poor with sack when we all know that politicians are moving money in bullion van. The EFCC should arrest any governor who threatens to sack workers and probe what they have been doing with their allocations, starting with El-rufai,” he said.
Explaining the reason for picketing Kaduna, Ayuba Wabba, the NLC national president, said it was partly because of the sacking of 7,000 workers from local governments in the state.
According to him, “We are also aware that in the Primary Health Care Development Agency, 1,700 workers were sacked. All these are happening in the face of exorbitant increment in tuition fees, high cost of living and other uncalled-for actions in ministries and agencies in the state.’’
Wabba further said: “We cannot accept the bitter pills; …because the labour law in Nigeria says before you can declare redundancy, labour shall be consulted and we were never consulted.”
He however, noted that it was not strange to relieve workers of their job when it becomes difficult to retain them. He argued that necessary steps should be followed in line with Labour laws in the country.
Wabba accused Kaduna of sacking the workers without paying them severance allowances to cushion their suffering.
He also faulted the claim that those sacked were mainly workers who no longer fit into the 21st century workforce as a result of their qualifications.
The NLC boss said that since such workers were interviewed and hired on the basis of the qualification they had at the point of entry, compensation must be paid to them to enable them start a new life.
The NLC had, last Monday, embarked on a five-day warning strike over the sack of thousands of workers and refusal to pay entitlement to retrenched workers in the state.
El Rufai said the sacks were part of the government’s process to ‘rightsize’ the state’s civil service.
He condemned the industrial action that lasted for three days before it was called off Wednesday evening by Wabba. The NLC chairman said the strike was called off to give room for negotiations after the Federal Government waded in.
It is not fair to threaten the poor with sack when we all know that politicians are moving money in bullion van. The EFCC should arrest any governor who threatens to sack workers and probe what they have been doing with their allocations, starting with ElRufai