Fate of DisCos shaky as govt plans other options – TheNigerialawyer

Years after it was privatised, the power sector has failed to
deliver the desired result, the Federal Government said yesterday,
TheNation reports

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who delivered the verdict, spoke
of other options to re-engineer the sector for effective power
supply to meet domestic and industrial needs of Nigerians. He was
not specific on the options.

Prof Osinbajo laid it bare in his May Day address to workers at
the Eagle Square in Abuja. He said the government was not happy
that several years after the sector was privatised, it has failed
to deliver.

The Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) Plc. was unbundled
in 2013 during the administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. It was
to allow for private sector involvement in the generation and
distribution of power.

The vice president, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari,
said the government was “strongly committed to changing the
narratives” in the power sector.

He said: “Today, that sector, after it was privatised, still
remains stalled in delivering power to many Nigerian homes and
businesses.

“We must act as a matter of national importance and we are
committed to doing so, to work and re-engineer the sector for much
more effective performance. Workers shall be called upon to play a
greater role in supporting the government to attain all these
goals.”

Osinbajo, who also told the workers that the new minimum wage
would be fully implemented by the Buhari administration, however,
expressed concern over incessant strikes by workers as a means of
resolving industrial disputes.

He said the nation was losing so much in terms of resources and
manpower to job boycotts.

The vice president said: “Industrial peace is central to
economic stability. Every industrial disruption cost the national
economy very dearly in terms of money and manpower that are
lost.

“It is for this reason that I urged all actors in the industrial
relations system to be circumspect and ethical in the use of
industrial action as tools for resolving work place crisis.
Industrial actions, because of the huge economic and social cost,
should be the last and not the first option for resolving
disputes.”

Osinbajo, who was silent on the crisis between Labour &
Employment Minister Chris Ngige and organised Labour over the
change in the chairmanship of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust
Fund (NSITF), however, assured workers that President Buhari will
reciprocate the renewed mandate given to him by the electorate by
ensuring prompt delivery on his electoral promises.

He said: “At the just concluded general elections, Nigerians and
indeed Nigerian workers gave our administration another mandate to
govern them. We shall reciprocate this electoral gesture by
focusing on the critical issues that will advance and improve the
quality of the lives and livelihood of Nigerians.

“These include the building of infrastructure, such as roads,
rail, hydroelectricity and revaluing all sectors of the national
economy in order to put our country on the path of a sustainable
economic growth and prosperity.”

Osinbajo said the Buhari administration remained strongly
committed to the goals of the International Labour Organisation
(ILO) movement, adding that “on assumption of office in 2015, in
spite of daunting economic challenges which confronted us at the
time, we ensured that no worker was retrenched across the
country.

“We followed this commitment by providing bailout funds for
states that were unable to pay salaries at that time in order to
pay their accumulated arrears. He also released Paris Club refund
owed since 2005 to make sure that workers were not owed
anything.

“We also ensure the payment of outstanding benefits of
retrenched workers. Retrenched Nigeria Airways workers who were
owed for decades were paid. We also ensured that the Pensions
Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) also paid arrears owed
to parastatals, civil servants pensioners covering about 101, 393
civil service pensioners in all grade levels and 76,310 parastatal
pensioners across 186 ministries, departments and agencies. This is
in addition to the arrears that were paid to officers of the
Police, Customs and Immigration.

“The administration also settled pension issues of the Armed
Forces and paramilitary personnel who were dismissed as a result of
their participation in the civil war. All these veterans have now
been paid their outstanding benefits.

“Our Social Investment Programme (SIP) is the largest of its
kind in Africa and it is directed at ensuring that we are able to
provide opportunity in both the formal and informal sectors of the
economy. The largest numbers of workers are in the informal sector.
These comrades of ours deserve the protection of our labour
laws.

“The choice of the theme for this May Day is not just a
headline… we truly believe that Nigerian citizens, especially those
at the bottom of the pyramid, must be the central focus of all
economic planning and budgeting.

“The welfare and wellbeing of all these Nigerians, who work
every day, rendering services, is the true benchmark of our
commitment as a government and as a people who believe in social
justice and the dignity of all Nigerians. We will continue to
commit ourselves to the course of improving the lot of all
Nigerians by providing for those who cannot work.

“In line with that, the new national minimum wage, which Mr.
President signed into law a few days ago, shall be fully
implemented by the current administration. Let me again express my
deep appreciation to the leadership of Nigerian workers for the
understanding and maturity shown during and after the negotiation
for the new minimum wage.

“We shall continue to provide the enabling environment for
higher productivity as well as industrial peace and harmony as well
as a congenial atmosphere for collective bargaining among trade
unions and their employers while also protecting the fundamental
right and all other rights of Nigerian people and people at
work.”

On the celebration of Workers’ Day, the vice president said:
“This Year’s International Workers Day, otherwise known as the May
Day, is coming on the heels of the centenary celebration of the
ILO. These two events have far reaching significance for workers in
particular and for the world of work in general.

“One defines and regulates the world of work through the
international labour standard and the other establishes the
protection of the fundamental rights and dignity of the working
people. These events have over the years defined employment
relations globally.

“Another uniqueness of this year’s international labour
celebration is that the ILO, as part of its arrangement towards the
celebration of its centenary, gave member states the opportunity to
select their country’s themes in the spirit of the centenary.

“It is in recognition of this that our country chooses the theme
for this year’s May Day celebration as ‘Another 100 years of
struggle for jobs, dignity and social justice in Nigeria’.

“You may recall that at the attainment of independence, we
became a member of the ILO. The early decision to join the ILO was
predicated on the strong conviction that the ILO and its labour
standards formulated since its inception are aimed at promoting
decent and productive work under the condition of freedom, equity,
security and dignity and building a virile workforce which our
country needed for socio-economic development.

“It is for this reason that the centenary celebration of the ILO
is sentimental to us as a nation and for workers. It is important
for me to state here that the ILO has over the years supported our
country in the development and implementation of labour related
policies.

“Recently, the ILO collaborated with Nigeria in its affirmation
as a pathfinder country on the elimination of child labour, false
labour, modern slavery and human trafficking. Pathfinder countries
are pioneer countries who have decided to pool resources together
and channel the same towards the achievement of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs).

“We shall ask and request the ILO to further support those ILO
conventions on Labour legislations and policies that govern
employment and employment relations and good conduct as well as
industrial relations in general.

“I am optimistic that we shall continue to leverage on this
collaboration to further strenghten our legislation in consonance
with international best practices and foster stronger ties among
social partners in the coming years.

“I am also convinced that the selection of the theme shows the
level of our collective commitment to job creation, the protection
of the rights of workers, their dignity and also promote social
justice in our country as contained in the various provision of our
constitution. Today’s event will provide us the opportunity to
reflect on our commitment to these goals.

“As we join others in celebrating the 2019 international
Workers’ Day, and the centenary celebration of the ILO, let me
commend your resilience, tenacity and sacrifice as well as
commitment in standing up against every form of oppression,
exploitation, unfair labour practices and injustices as well as the
violation of the fundamental rights of the working people of this
country and the world over.

“I also thank you for the support you gave our administration in
its first tenure and I seek for further support and cooperation of
all our working people to help build a country where our young
people will be gainfully employed, there will be security of work
and tenure for them and they will be ensured of the protection of
their fundamental rights.”

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