Ogun Govt Has Paralysed Workers’ Cooperatives, There is Nothing For Civil Servants on Contributory Pension – Bankole, NLC Chairman.

By Daud Olatunji

Chairman of the Ogun State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Emmanuel Bankole, in this interview with DAUD OLATUNJI, laments the non-payment of the 150 months contributory pension by the state government and other problems facing the workers

What is the state of the contributory pension scheme in Ogun State?

The contributory pension as I speak with you is moribund in the state. It has failed. That is why we are putting pressure on  government. It has failed because when you have more than 150 months pension unremitted, where are they going to start from ?

Who do we blame for the 150 months unpaid pension?

Principally, we are going to put the blame on the successive governments in the state. It started with the administration of  Otunba Gbenga Daniel. When he was leaving, pensions of many months accumulated. Amosun came  and paid for only six months. The new administration, for more than two years, has not remitted a kobo.

Why did you wait so long?

Yes, someone could have also asked  that  from this government.   Labour unions are  considerate. We consider the implication of our shutting down governance. That is why people are saying we have waited too long.  I think it is a lesson for the labour union because we have to be more strategic in engaging government and that is why in few days to come, we are going to sit down and see what will be done.  We can’t continue to wait further. It is  jeopardising the future of  workers in Ogun State. If any worker on contributory pension should retire today, either voluntary or withdrawal of service, there is nothing for him or her. He or she will retire to nothingness.

Can we say NLC is afraid to confront government ?

Like I said. we have to be strategic and we have to review the situation and we are doing a critical appraisal of our engagement with this government. Shortly, we are going to come out stronger because if the pensions continue to accumulate and the longer we wait, the more the issue becomes difficult to address.

What do you think can be done?

What is on ground is not something one person can handle. We all must sit down and look at various options that we have, but I think the sincerity of government will go a long way in resolving this matter. It is left to the government because if you have established a contributory pension and it is not working, we should see what can be done.

 This government is over  two years old.  How many times have you  engaged  it over the pension matter?

There have been different fora and engagements. You know, we initially had problem with them in terms of engagement but after  an industrial action, signing of a memoranda of understanding and the implementation of the new minimum wage,  our relationship and engaging with them are better. It is one thing to engage, it is one thing for the needful to be done, for the implementation to be done in a satisfactory manner.

From your assessment, what is this government doing as regards  labour matters?

Their performance to us is unsatisfactory. Take all the issues involved, one after the other, they only pay gross salary. They have about 18 months deductions for cooperative months. They have practically paralysed cooperative societies in Ogun State. Apart from that, they deduct the National Housing Fund  and fail to remit. Ogun State workers cannot  benefit from Federal Mortgage bank facilities as we speak  because they keep on deducting and not remitting.

We know unions have processes of engaging government, which stage are you now?

The stage we are now is to call their attention to our displeasure about the haphazard way those things are being done.  There is the need for us to sit down and do a thorough appraisal of all, particularly our MOU,  to sit down and have an appraisal of it. We hope they will respond appropriately to our call because it is a matter of urgency. It is like declaring a state of emergency, where we are now, workers are not happy.  Labour leaders  are  in a difficult position because people  wonder what we are  doing and you know that the common thing they will say is that they have been settled which of course is not true.

Your leadership is expected to protect the workers, they are not happy. They want to quit the contributory pension and the government is not allowing them to quit. What is the NLC doing ?

We will not fold our arms, you recall the contributory pension came with a law. There was an  amendment  government  wanted  to make in the law and it was quickly done.

Government  went to the House of  Assembly and it was passed without our involvement. It was when  we knew that we  kicked against it. We went to the Speaker and we warned them and we were shocked and disappointed that such a thing would be done without carrying critical stakeholders along. That was what put a stop to that   bill from being  passed into the law. The House has already passed it and what we are saying is that there are some elements of that law that we are not pleased.

What elements  are the workers are not satisfied with?

They tampered with the date of commencement of  the pension scheme and  some people are  being exempted. If you are exempting some people, you are shifting the days, is it not the same with what the previous regime did?

How do you now describe the Assembly that supported the Executive to work on that  kind of bill without involving you?

They said the information given to them was that the executive  carried us along,  but since we have met the lawmakers  they have stopped it.

Local government retirees protested recently.   Are you aware sir?

Yes I am aware.

Does it mean that they are fed up with your  nonchalant attitude?

It was a  misguided step. They were misguided.  We will not because of things that are wrong go in the way of illegality or abnormality. As far as we are concerned in this country today, the only body that is recognised to fight the cause of the pensioners is the Nigerian Union of Pensioners and as a labour movement, the NUP happens to be one of our affiliates  and in this struggle and in this matter we are together with them to the glory of God. For eight years , Amosun never paid anything called gratuity but by our engagement with the NUP we had an agreement with this government that every quarter it would be paying  N500m  and it has  been done twice.  We have an understanding with the NUP and we are on the same page and we would continue to put pressure on government to increase that N500m.  If government promises,  we will get them to fulfill that promise.

Are  workers in the state happy about  the  minimum wage?

I think we are better off when we look at it comparatively with other states in the country, but as  citizens of this country the minimum wage  has  also been  eroded because of so many economic factors that are  beyond our control.

 Has Ogun state  implemented it?

Yes,  it has been implemented in Ogun State even for those with specialised  salaries skills.

How long will you wait for the government to meet your demands ?

We don’t want to give a time but I can assure you that it  is not a thing that we are going to waste too much time. In few days from now, you are going to hear from us.  We have put a lot of things in place and we hope they work.

So what advice will you give to the government ?

They have to double their efforts. A good manager is known when there is scarcity of funds and resources. That is when you will know a good manager.  That resources are  scarce is not a new thing.  It  is then we know  your ability as a manager of resources and  you will need people who are resourceful, who are creative.

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