The 40th anniversary celebration of the Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN) provided stakeholders the opportunity to assess the economy, proffer solutions and show the way forward. TOBA AGBOOLA reports
The event called for celebration. Forty years in the life of an individual not to talk of an organisation, indeed, is a milestone.The Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN) is 40. Expectedly, it rolled out the drums. But beyond the pomp and pageantry, there was a segment for discussions
Setting the tone for the discussion was the President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, who described the theme of the anniversary, “Growing insecurity and unemployment: The way forward”, as apt and dear to labour. He added that they were the major challenges facing the country.
The number one NLC man said: “There is no difference between unemployment and insecurity. It is a fact and has been established. On the recent programme we held in addressing precarious work and making jobs available for our teeming youths, decent jobs are very important, because without decent jobs there will be no security, no social progress for everybody, that is why the SDG 8.7 has been tied to having decent jobs.”
He commended the Trade Union Congress (TUC) for partnering the NLC to address some of the challenges.
He said in view of what was happening, the organised labour needed more collaboration and sensitisation to be on the same page and tackle some of the ills. According to him, workers’and citizens’ education are vital to the growth of the sector.
Wabba assured of the union’s support to LAWAN. He commended its members for joining the fight and reporting the ills in the workplace.
He said: “This is service to humanity – making our voices to be heard. When you do the right thing, you find passion. We will continue to work together to address the various issues affecting our society, which we must put before the public domain. This event is about humanity, about society and doing what is right.”
Speaking on the theme, the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Issa Aremu, said the last year’s #EndSARS protest, which brought out many youths to the streets, indicated that there is a nexus between unemployment and insecurity. He recalled that there was full employment in the early 70s and 80s as industries were working at full capacity.
Aremu said it was difficult then to find idle youths roaming the streets. To address the menace, he said there was the need to take into cognisance, Chapter 2 of the 1999 Constitution on state policies directed towards fundamental objectives and directives of states in creating employment, welfare of the citizens, minimum wage and pension, among others.
The MINILS DG lamented that leaders had not worked enough towards realising the policies, adding that the Constitution spelt it out that there should be employment for every citizen.
Similarly, TUC President, Olaleye Quadri, congratulating LAWAN, restated that the union would keep forging ahead to make workers enjoy the fruits of their labour.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, commending LAWAN, said LAWAN had put labour in the front burner in the last 40 years, to ensure that it aligned twith international best practices.
He said Nigeria had benefited from the contributions of labour reporters.
Ngige, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Media, Nwachukwu Obidiwe, praised LAWAN’s balanced reportage. He maintained that the commitment of LAWAN to workers’ cause was outstanding.
Nothing the nation’s challenges, Ngige said these included the mono-export crude production dropping from 2.4m bpd in 2014 to about 1.8m bpd in 2015/16 and the prices falling to an all-time low of about $25 in 2020.
However, despite challenges, he stressed that the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration had maintained an equable industrial milieu supportive of upward national productivity.
With the 33.3 per cent unemployment rate as released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), he said Nigeria was a growing population with hundreds of thousands of youths graduating into the labour market, yearly.
“Hence, the tendency to diminish the impact of over 10 million jobs, which the Federal Government has created in the last six years through the multi-sector job creation strategy, along value chains in agriculture, industries and establishments.
“We have succeeded in shifting the emphasis from white collar jobs to the blue collar skills with millions of young Nigerians embracing handwork. The awareness is growing and the impact is being felt,” he said.
Chairman, LAWAN, Bimbola Oyesola, said the choice of the theme was informed by the need to reflect on what could be done to put an end to the challenges highlighted. “As media practitioners in the labour sector, we are burden and disturbed by the growing number of our youths who roam the streets daily without any means of livelihood.
“More worrisome is the spate of insecurity in our land and the fact that most susceptible number of perpetrators are likewise the youth.
“We hope through the contributions from all our leaders gathered here tonight, we can use the recommendations which will be well publicised by our members as our little contribution to chart the path for the transformation of our country, “ Oyesola said.
The anniversary event also featured recognition and presentation of awards to some key stakeholders in the labour movement. They include the NLC, TUC, Trustfund Pension, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Access Bank, Ecobank, Access Bank, and United Bank for Africa (UBA) Dangote Group.
