The Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, Ogun State chapter, Emmanuel Bankole, speaks with DAUD OLATUNJI about the plights of the workers and retirees, including demand for unpaid pensions and gratuities
What is the latest on the disagreement between Ogun workers and the government?
Regarding the MoA (Memorandum of Action) that we signed, actions have already commenced. Two committees have been set up, as indicated in the MoA. The first committee is to work on the review of the minimum pension that is payable in Ogun State to retirees. The second committee is to look at the issues of contributory pension in the state. Remember, the contributory pension scheme has been moribund, right from the inception of the administration of former Governor Gbenga Daniel. So, we hope that these committees will look at these issues and recommend the appropriate steps to be taken.
Aside from the commitment of the MOA, we are also expecting that by the end of this month, gross salary arrears would be paid and workers will receive a chunk amount of money. About N1.5bn will be paid to defray those outstanding salaries; while the rest will be spread over the next few months of the year. So, that’s where we are and we are hopeful. The committees have been inaugurated and they are going to commence committee work.
How much does Ogun State government owe workers?
At the last check, it was about N60bn – the contributory pension, outstanding gratuity and others. The promotion exercise for 2018, 2019, and 2020 has been completed. The people that are to be promoted have been promoted already. So, what is left is 2021 and 2022.
The state government faulted the recent strike embarked upon by the NLC, saying normal procedures were not followed. How do you react to that?
You know that in labour, sometimes there is what is called due process and necessary process. You will look at what is necessary at the moment. What was required then was what we did and it was to achieve our aim and that has been achieved. We are not looking back.
Allocations from the Federal Government are no more regular and sufficient; how else do you think the government can finance its obligations?
You cannot be sure because of the over-centralisation of governance in this country. People continue to steal billions of naira because of over-centralisation. So, as far as we continue to operate that structure, we will continue to see such. And look at it, even the NNPC today, nobody has been able to open their books. They’ve been shrouded in mystery and secrecy of unimaginable level. So, as long as they allow them to play as if they are a law to themselves, stealing will continue That means the government must put on its thinking cap. They must look inwards. They must be creative and block leakages and as well look at other areas of income. If you look at the number of people that are in the tax bracket, very few, apart from civil servants. So many people are not paying taxes or paying little. The government also needs to put on its thinking cap, so that it can increase its IGR because that’s the way to go.
Is it true that you were attacked by your members during the strike?
It was a serious one, I narrowly escaped being lynched. The people have been misinformed. Among us, we have people that raised a false alarm and they got people agitated unnecessarily. They said we had been settled and that the workers should not expect anything. And those workers who could not discern got agitated to the extent of threatening to attack us physically. It took the intervention of the police and the DSS to rescue some of us.
As an organised union, are you thinking of disciplining the culprits?
When such a thing happens, you just have to know where to take care of one or two things, so that you don’t have a recurrence of that. We have done the stock taking and we know what to do to prevent a recurrence of such.
The workers said you promised to seek their consent before suspending the strike, but, you did not. Why was that?
As leaders, we have responsibilities. We were only trying to be transparent and when you get into a situation where a decision has to be taken and you didn’t, it will amount to irresponsibility, particularly, if you are convinced about what you’ve been able to achieve, but they were not even ready to listen to us because they had been told by some people that we had already been settled. It was afterwards when they saw the MOA that they said they never knew that was the true situation. What they told them was that we had been bought over. Like I said, one or two lessons have been learnt, and we know how to prevent such occurrences in the future.
How accessible is this government to you?
One of the things we have been able to achieve is that one of the problems has been solved. That is communication gap. We’ve broken the jinx of the communication gap, which both parties accepted that, for us to move forward, continually, there should be communication. We should not wait until there are issues. So, we want that commitment, and I think this time around, we believe that where we are now is far better than where we were some months and years back. And we only hope for the best in the days ahead.
Is there any deadline for this government to meet all your demands?
In the MOA, there are deadlines. There are timelines; it is not an endless thing. The government was given two weeks to constitute those committees and those committees have been constituted.
The gross payment is to commence this month. Also, before the end of this month, about N25bn will be paid out of the deduction. So, that timeline is not an endless thing.
In policymaking, is the NLC being carried along?
Yes, we have some involvement and we believe we need to be more involved, for instance, in budget preparation. We believe we need more of such interaction so that we can have quality output than what we have now.
Pensioners think you are not represented their interest well. What are you doing to regain their confidence and trust?
The notion is not correct. The pensioners in the state are happy with us. They’ve only placed their issue in the front burner and it’s yielding positive results. Gratuity, which was not paid for several years, is now being paid. We are even on the verge of getting it increased. So, they are with us and we are on the same page.
The attack on you and other leaders also suggest lack of trust by workers in the state. What are you have the total trust of workers?
I want to tell you that we enjoy support and trust of our members in the state.
It was learnt that the government had one time threatened the union leaders during the negotiation. Is it true and why?
There is no threat whatsoever from the government. They did not threaten us.
There are vacancies in the government agencies and others, what is the NLC doing to compel the government to employ more workers
The NLC’s engagement with government on the vacancies in government parastatals is continuous and we will continue to engage and ensure that all vacancies are filled, so that people are not overworked.
What is the NLC doing to ensure that government invests in capacity building of the workers?
We have engaged the government on the issue of capacity building. They have done some things, which include sponsoring some people to workshops, and we are still calling for more. And we will continue to engage them so that more people can benefit from training both local and international.
