An Islamic human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has warned against retrenchment in the banking sector after the lockdown occasioned by COVID-19.
The group pointed out that the banks do not need to dismiss their staff having made huge profits.
This was the submission of MURIC in a press release to DAILY POST on Monday, signed by its Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.
There have been fears that thousands of bank workers will lose their jobs following the lockdown imposed by the government to manage the spread of the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic.
And MURIC’s statement noted that Nigerian banks may soon embark on massive sack of workers due to the three months lockdown.
“This fear is justified because of past experiences. Retrenchment is common among employers at the slightest excuse since Nigeria runs a capitalist laissez-faire economy. Nobody seems to care about the welfare of the proletariat,” the Islamic human rights group noted.
“Although our message is directed mainly at the banking sector, it applies to all employers of labour as well, both public and private, federal and state.
“Banks, particularly have no raison d’etre for retrenching workers this time around since they are making humongous returns.”
MURIC recalled that Unity Bank just announced N506.07 million quarterly profit while Guaranty Trust Bank’s profit before tax surged by 2.1% to N58.2 billion in the first quarter of 2020.
It also noted that Zenith Bank has recently announced a 3% pre-tax rise to N58.7 billion around the same time same with Access Bank which posted N211b earnings with N45b profit, while UBA also made N30b profit.
“So how can these banks contemplate sacking any worker in spite of these gargantuan earnings? How can banks make billions of Naira in profits and still decide to retrench workers under the guise of a lockdown?” The group wondered.
MURIC further pointed out that by sacking one bread winner, eleven or more people will automatically lose their daily bread and this will bring about astronomical increase in crime rate.
“You cannot shoot at rocks without getting ricochets. It will affect those bank chief executives one way or the other since no man is an island, entire of himself,” it warned.
MURIC, therefore, called on the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, to watch out for the capitalist gimmicks of these Nigerian banks and other employers.
It maintained that it is absolutely inhuman for banks making huge profits to end up sacking workers while using the COVID-19-induced lockdown as an excuse.
“This is the time the working class must put its feet down,” MURIC’s statement said.
