Ex-NLC boss urges Oyo workers to be more diligent, loyal

The immediate past chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Oyo State, Adebayo Titilola-Sodo, has urged the state workers to be more diligent, loyal and painstaking in discharging their responsibilities. 

Speaking with The Guardian in Ibadan, Titilola-Sodo, who is the Special Adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde on Labour Affairs, said the governor had kept faith with workers and pensioners since he came on board, hence the workers must reciprocate the gesture. 

The labour leader said:”Since May 29,2019, the government has kept faith with workers of Oyo State in all areas of welfare and the government intends to keep that up. 

“The government has kept faith with workers and pensioners, we must also reciprocate the faith of the governor by being diligent, loyal and painstaking on our job”.

Speaking further, the labour leader said: “Even the status of the pensioners is far better than how this government met it. There was a huge arrears of pension as well as gratuities when the government came in. At various ceremonies they had in November and December 2020, the pensioners themselves acknowledged the fact that, the government of Seyi Makinde has spent over N5 billion within a period of 18 months in upsetting the arrears of primary schools as well as local government staff pensions and gratuities in that sector. Whereas the immediate past government spent only N1.5 billion in eight years which actually led to the accumulation of gratuities.  The past government met less that one billion naira arrears in that sector and left nearly N16 billion gratuities and pensions at its departure”.

While speaking on the state pension scheme, Titilola-Sodo, said: “Now, what was in existence before 2004 was what I will easily describe as the pay-as-you-go pension scheme. That is the pension scheme whereby the various tiers of government are responsible for paying gratuities to their workers on retirement as well as pension for life as long as they live. However, at the advent of the present democratic dispensation, particularly in the early 2000, the new scheme was proposed and passed into law at the federal level named Contributory Pension Scheme.  How does that work? That requires that a worker contributes a certain percentage of his monthly emoluments to be saved for him for his retirement plan and the employer too will make a counterpart contribution, which must not be lower than what the worker is contributing.

“That law requires domestication across the states. There was an attempt to domesticate it in 2005, which failed during the administration Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala. That CPS is not the best plan of any worker. The old one guarantees gratuities and pension for life without contributing anything from workers but CPS ensures that the employee contributes. What is the experience of workers?  

“However, in Oyo State,  we also believe that the contributory pension scheme is the way to but Oyo State doesn’t do things by half measure particularly the present government. The government is patiently looking and analyzing what is on ground because if the contributory pension scheme to succeed requires a lot of research. 

“We have a government we can trust like the Governor Seyi Makinde administration, I will advise the government to take a shot at the contributory pension scheme”.