Calls for appointment of new labour minister heighten 

Given the captious relation labour plays successful the beingness of an administration, the telephone for a caller Minister of Labour and Employment has continued to echo pursuing the resignation of the former, 8 months ago, amid pending labour issues, writes GLORIA NWAFOR.

In August 2023, President Bola Tinubu appointed caller ministers, among them were Simon Lalong, whom helium positioned to instrumentality implicit the affairs of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, portion Nkeiruka Onyejeocha seconded him arsenic the Minister of State for Labour and Employment.

They came successful erstwhile the telephone for the dialog of a caller nationalist minimum wage was successful the offing and different palliatives arising from the removal of substance subsidies.

Notwithstanding the captious relation the labour ministry plays successful each nation, a erstwhile Labour Minister, Emeka Wogu, successful an interrogation had described the Ministry of Labour arsenic very strategic to the nationalist system “because a onslaught that is prolonged tin bring down the economy.

“Like successful different countries, it is simply a cardinal ministry. After the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, the adjacent is labour due to the fact that it is cardinal to the system of each nation.”

They had resumed with promises to fortify their narration with organised labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and their affiliates towards ensuring that each pending concern disputes are settled amicably.

While Lalong had pledged that nether his stewardship, the Ministry of Labour and Employment would fulfill its mandate to guarantee decent enactment for each Nigerians, Onyejeocha urged each to articulation hands and enactment President Bola Tinubu’s medication successful conducting the affairs of the state to guarantee improvement and prosperity.

According to her, “Our youths are connected the streets and arsenic a ministry, we indispensable instrumentality them retired of the streets, it is our mandate and we indispensable marque that change.”

On his part, Lalong said, “Our workers indispensable get worth for their labour and run successful a harmless and conducive situation due to the fact that of the level of unemployment, underemployment, and challenges associated with the enactment environment.” He added that overall, the ministry shall leverage technology, accomplishment acquisition, entrepreneurship and agriculture among others to unfastened up much employment opportunities for each Nigerians.

Within his abbreviated play of leadership, organised labour did not person it good with Lalong, erstwhile the NLC alleged that the curate had thrown a spanner successful the instrumentality of the implementation of the Labour – Federal Government statement by his unmasked partiality successful handling a captious point successful the agreement, which is the evident authorities meddling successful commercialized national matters by siding with people, who had illegally seized the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) office with constabulary support.

The NLC had alleged that the flagrant enactment not lone constituted an egregious intrusion into the interior affairs of a union, successful usurpation of ILO Conventions 87 and 98, but besides represented a wide effort to sabotage the precocious ratified statement betwixt the labour question and the Federal Government.

The General Secretary of NLC, successful a statement, had said: “It is unfathomable that a Federal Minister of Labour, tasked with safeguarding the rights and interests of divers stakeholders successful our concern relations landscape, would opt to instrumentality actions that could undermine the precise foundations of our corporate engagement. The Minister’s decision, which is morally reprehensible and legally untenable, marks a disheartening departure from the expected standards of behaviour wrong the nation’s concern relations sphere.”

While stakeholders successful the assemblage had listed their expectations, with societal dialog and fantabulous concern relations topping their agenda, they said the ministers already had their jobs chopped retired for them.

However, 4 months into office, Lalong tendered his resignation missive to President Tinubu to instrumentality his spot arsenic Senator for the Plateau South Senatorial District nether the level of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

Eight months down the line, the bureau of the Minister of Labour and Employment remained vacant arsenic the president was yet to name different curate to regenerate Lalong.

This is conscionable arsenic the bulk of the ministers are marking their 1 twelvemonth successful bureau this August, wherever stakeholders are assessing their performances 1 twelvemonth after.

In the Labour Ministry, it is lone the Minister of State that tin people her archetypal anniversary, adjacent though she has taken complaint successful brinkmanship and successful deploying acumen and intellection successful tempering Nigerian labour leaders, astatine slightest successful the 2 instances they were each retired to bring the concern of governance to its knees successful the country.

Aborisade

Also, adding to her show is the palmy dialog and transition of the caller national minimum wage, wherever she midwifed the full dialog process of the caller minimum wage and besides ensured concern harmony successful the labour sector.

It stands to her recognition that it was nether her enactment that the 2024 caller nationalist minimum wage of N70,000 was negotiated with ineligible backing.

While galore had commended her and the bully moving narration she has with the labour unions, they however, argued that Tinubu has been unfair to her, stating that since it was a governmental enactment that persuaded Lalong to instrumentality the senatorial position, Onyejeocha should person been upgraded to a substantive Labour Minister and past a Minister of State should beryllium appointed.

According to them, she was thrown into the water wherever she is.  “It is similar idiosyncratic who was thrown into the water of what she was. When erstwhile Governor Simon Lalong was the substantive Minister of Labour, she had small oregon thing to bash due to the fact that Ministers of State received directives from their substantive ministers,” said a nationalist affairs analyst, Jide Ojo.

Ojo noted, “There person been respective different concern national encounters that she besides tried to play a pivotal relation to resolve, similar the ASUU onslaught and face-off with authorities and Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and different concern disputes.

“So, she has been playing her role. But I deliberation the 1 that stands precocious and enarthrosis supra each different subset she whitethorn person recorded successful her tenure arsenic Minister of State for Labour is the palmy dialog and transition of the caller nationalist minimum wage. She midwifed the full dialog process of the caller minimum wage and past they person tried to guarantee concern harmony successful the labour sector.”

However, others person criticised Onyejeocha, saying that the ministers performed beneath average.

For instance, a labour lawyer-activist, Femi Aborisade, scored the ministry beneath performance, saying that nether the existent dispensation, the wages of the idiosyncratic are not capable to instrumentality the workers location and the idiosyncratic is not escaped to workout the close of look arsenic peaceful protests person been criminalised and turned into a violent act.

“In the circumstances, by the prime of surviving standards and the cardinal freedoms of the worker, the show of the Minister oregon Minister of State for Labour, arsenic the lawsuit whitethorn be, is uninspiring and an abysmal failure.

“A caller minimum wage has been set, which lags down the outgo of living. Since the transition of the caller minimum wage Act, substance prices person risen to a grounds high, frankincense rendering the caller minimum wage a immense joke. The caller minimum wage is yet to beryllium implemented anywhere.

“It is nether this authorities that the office of the NLC was raided astatine night. The President of the NLC has been invited by the Police connected trumped up allegations of coercion financing and different heinous offences, each due to the fact that labour dared to criticise the authorities for the repression of youths, who carried retired the #EndBadGovernance hunger protests,” helium said.

Similarly, a labour lawyer, Paul Omoijiade, said the lack of a substantive curate was felt erstwhile labour embarked connected strike, and the attendant nonaccomplishment of manpower earlier the authorities came to the dialog array to hold connected minimum wage, stating that the ministry could person taken pre-emptive steps to avert specified occurrence.

“The Ministry of Labour is expected to beryllium successful the forefront, but you observe that determination has been a lull since the resignation of the erstwhile minister.

“Labour creates wealth, and the state cannot turn if the infrastructure cannot turn the economy, you request the quality capital, which is labour, to turn the economy,” helium said.

Assessing the performance, Omoijiade added that connected labour productivity, which is simply a relation of galore factors, the ministry has scored beneath average.

On his part, the Director-General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, called connected President Bola Tinubu to name a technocrat arsenic the caller Labour Minister, pursuing the resignation of Lalong.

Oyerinde said the association’s presumption remained that whoever was coming to the Ministry of Labour, the authorities would bash good to name idiosyncratic who understands the ecosystem.

According to him, the clip for learning the roles is limited, arsenic the state needed idiosyncratic beardown and technically dependable wrong the discourse of the labour and concern relations ecosystem, arsenic good arsenic idiosyncratic who understands the discourse of the task astatine hand.

“The learning curve is little due to the fact that the idiosyncratic has to deed the crushed running. So, we anticipation the president hacks into those requests to get a method expert. It is little of a bureaucrat oregon a person to beryllium a curate of labour. I deliberation it is simply a method person, who understands some the method and the governmental discourse of the full ecosystem that tin past successful that environment.

“If we hunt strictly, we person galore of them astir us, whether successful this state oregon retired of the country. Once they are Nigerians, we judge they tin marque their people successful that ecosystem,” helium said.