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NLC and the plight of Nigerian factory workers

By Waheed- Kaakaki Olawole
24 April 2023   |   3:03 am
The Nigeria Labour Congress {NLC} remains the foremost body which has been promoting and protecting the interests, rights and welfare of Nigerian workers.

Members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)

The Nigeria Labour Congress {NLC} remains the foremost body which has been promoting and protecting the interests, rights and welfare of Nigerian workers.

The body may have experienced a series of transformations in its nomenclature from the colonial era; what has never changed, and will hardly change, is its sole responsibility/duty to stand at all times for its members against all forms of maltreatment, injustice and oppression.

To a large extent, the body had lived up to the expectation, particularly in the area of engaging the governments at all levels to reverse their policies deemed obnoxious and inhuman.

Having highlighted this most important duty of NLC above, it is pertinent that Comrade Joe Ajaero and his executive members know that Nigerian workers are suffering and being subjected to all sorts of enslavement, as against the objectives of the body, in their own fatherland.

The suffering and enslavement of workers are happening because government refuses to wake up to its responsibility of implementing policies which will prevent the workers from untold hardship.

Many foreign companies have taken the advantage of government’s lip service and undue attention to the plight of the indigenous workers to inflict more pains on their workers through their tough working conditions. In fact, these foreign companies that are fond of seeing and treating Nigerians as slaves are largely owned by nationals of Chinese, Lebanese, Koreans and Indians.

Many workers in these companies had died, and many more are dying just because they have no voice or perhaps, their voice could not be heard. One has to go to the factories owned and run by these foreigners mentioned above to ascertain the extent of horrible working conditions of our brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers being experienced in the hands of these people.

These wicked and painful working conditions are many and different. To start with the status of most of these workers; it is unfortunate that many Nigerians in these companies remain casual workers after spending not less than five (5) years. They (foreign employers) refuse to staff them in order to deny them enormous and juicy benefits that will come with such status.

It is to the advantage of these companies that the indigenous workers they employ remain perpetual casual workers for donkey years, for those with casual status are used and dumped like used tissue papers.

Poor remuneration is another bane of Nigerian workers in the hands of these foreigners. In spite of the government’s policies over the increased minimum wage, some, if not most of these employers refuse to comply all the time. Where and when some brave workers protest or decide to protest against this injustice and oppression, the foreign employers threaten to sack or sack them outrightly.

Like I mentioned above, the victims in this condition, though have voice, their voice cannot be heard for fear of losing their jobs. These foreign employers deliberately keep our people in servitude so that they can continue giving them peanut for their hard labour and no entitlements at the end of long years of service.

Lack of workers’ union in many of these companies has compounded the woes of Nigerians more. Truly, it is when the union exists that the NLC which is the parent body can liaise and intervene on behalf of workers.

It is necessary to point out that so many conspiracies between the companies and some heartless Nigerians who are benefitting from the pains of the poor workers weaken or prevent outrightly the setting up of workers’ union. It is not debatable that where there is no workers’ union, Nigerians are in bondage. They {workers} are maltreated, made to face all sorts of injustice.

These are very few terrible conditions of our people in the hands of most companies owned and managed by the nationals of China, India, Korea and Lebanon. Many Nigerians, even those with university degrees are struggling to go to the United States of America, many European countries even South Africa and Libya to mention but few, to work in their factories just because the conditions there are pleasant and bearable.

It may interest you to know that some, if not most of these factories, in this foreign land are owned by the same nationals maltreating our own people here, but they dare not treat their employees over there the way they do to our countrymen. Perhaps they would have loved to perpetrate this wicked treatment but because the governments in these foreign countries are often responsive and responsible to the yearnings and plight of their people.

There are laid down policies which guide the companies in handling and dealing with the workers. The workers are fairly or well paid. They {workers} are not overused. They work as workers who get their appreciable wages or salaries as at when due. They are not treated as slaves or discarded as used tissue papers after long years of service.

It is a pity that reverse is the case in Nigeria. In spite of the fact that there is a Ministry of Labour; how many times the Minister or any top officials from the ministry leave the comfort zone of their offices to pay a surprise visit to any of these factories? If successive ministers of labour are doing this, the injustice from these foreigners would have stopped or drastically reduced.

This is Nigeria where government officials pay less attention to pitiable condition of schools because their own children are sent abroad to acquire education. Health facilities are depreciating daily because they {government officials} travel abroad for medical attention. So, it is less surprising that steps that ought to be taken by government for these foreigners to see and treat Nigerians as workers rather than slaves are not taken.
To be continued tomorrow
Olawole
Historian and Public Affairs Analyst
08033192133. Kaakaki2005@gmail.com

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