President of the National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE), Garba Ibrahim, in this interview with GLORIA NWAFOR, says relocation of businesses to neighbouring countries is threatening jobs and stalling the creation of opportunities in the food industry.

Some companies have relocated to other countries due to economic challenges affecting businesses. How many of your members have you lost due to redundancy as a result?
We have lost hundreds of our members. Some companies have closed down, while some have taken the expansion of their businesses to other countries. Guinness Nigeria, for instance, was planning an expansion line in Aba but it was stopped and instead, the expansion was done in Ghana. Some other companies like Nestlé and FrieslandCampinaWamco made similar moves because the cost of production in Nigeria is high, making running their businesses in Nigeria almost unprofitable.
This, by implication, has made a lot of our members lose their jobs and have stalled the employment opportunities that would have been created if these companies had expanded in Nigeria. This in turn has affected economic activities in the country.

How is the country’s current economic situation affecting your union and its members?
The current economic situation has had a devastating impact on our sector. The heavy taxation, increase in tariff and epileptic power supply. However, the most severe aspect is the increase in tariffs. Our members in the food sector are leaving in droves to neighbouring countries like the Republic of Benin and Ghana where they produce and import the goods back to Nigeria.
Loss of jobs is another serious issue and some companies have had to shut down. The issue of importation too. We are trying to depend on our local products. We have had to look back at the resources that we have. For instance, in Kano, we used to depend on foreign or imported wheat for production, but with the recent economic reality occasioned by the Russia-Ukraine war that has impacted the supply of grains, we have now relied on our local wheat.
As I speak to you, the Northern Nigerian Flour Mills, Kano, uses 100 per cent of our local wheat for their production, which was sourced from Jigawa, Kastina, and other states within the country. We have even come to realise that the local wheat is performing even better than the foreign wheat.
Concerning the welfare of our members, we have a National Joint Industrial Council Agreement (NJIC), which is an agreement between the union and the employers for our members and this is reviewed every two years.
The agreement is due for review in December and as usual, we send our demands/requests three months ahead to employers for the renewal of the agreement. The negotiation of the agreement covers various components such as salary, wages, housing allowances and transport allowances among others. We have already done that and when we come to the negotiation table, we would reach a reasonable agreement that would be beneficial to both the workers and their employers.
On the issue of the removal of fuel subsidy, we appreciate our employers because they have commenced giving palliatives even before the Federal Government. Most companies in the food sector commenced giving both cash and kind rewards to members before now. Like they did during the COVID-19 pandemic era, where they also offered commendable palliatives. Currently, some companies give a minimum of N25,000 while some give way above that. Some have also gone as far as giving food items. We appreciate them for these efforts even though it is included in our NJIC agreement.


Do you think the N35,000 wage award and provision of CNG buses are sufficient given the current economic reality?
It would be if there was stability and sustainability because we are used to the government kicking off certain policies and are unable to sustain them after a while. This has been a problem. So, I urge them to be deliberate about sustaining this intervention programme as the issue of sustainability is key. Take Kano State, for instance, the current development on the ground is a result of the current government continuing from the progress of the previous. That is also what we have imbibed in this union, to continue to build on the successes of the previous leadership.
Our members may benefit from some of these government interventions, but it is not primarily designed to cater to us. That is why we continue to appreciate our employees who have done a lot to ease the suffering of our members. Also, we have been exploring ways to sustain these interventions and the NJIC agreement is a part of the steps that we are taking.

What is the union doing to address the issue of some companies retrenching workers due to the current economic crisis?
Any company that is planning to retrench workers would first write to the union, stating its reasons for the retrenchment. So, we invite them for a meeting to negotiate the terms of this retrenchment and possibly dissuade them or reduce the number of workers that they intend to lay off. Although it is their right and we cannot completely prevent them from retrenching, when they come with the number of people that will be affected, then we negotiate it. Also, we would ensure that any worker who would be retrenched would enjoy all the benefits.
In this sector also, we have what we call ‘ex-gratia’ which is different from other benefits. The ex-gratia is a form of favour or benefit that the company gives to an employee that was laid off until such a person can get another job, or establishes himself. This ex-gratia lasts a minimum of months and can last up to 34 months. However, some companies sum up the amount and pay it once. The worker who was laid off can also use this money to establish himself or herself. Please note that this ex-gratia is an extra payment and is different from the regular benefits or entitlements due for such a person.
Another benefit of ex-gratia is that when an employer calculates what he stands to lose by making all these payments, it would be discouraged to sack workers.

How prepared are workers for emerging technologies? Are there any reskilling programmes by the union?
We have various forms of training for our members that cut across the different aspects of personal development to improve their productivity, some of which we have collaborated with the Ministry of Labour, Michael Imoudu Institute of Labour Studies and other relevant labour organisations. Soon, we will commence giving training to our newly elected members from the recently concluded unit, branch and state elections.
We have 36 councils across Nigeria with about 100 branches and their respective units and we have provided a timetable where we organise training. Our training courses are continuous because we believe strongly in human capital development. These also would impact the lives of our members.