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NNS: As the chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Kaduna State, what would you say the TUC stands for?
Trade Union Congress (TUC), as the name implies, is an umbrella body of all the senior staff in Nigeria. And what do I mean by that? Before you can be a member, you first have to be a senior staff. All the members of the trade union congress are senior staff and it is an umbrella body. It is run alongside the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
What has TUC been doing since its establishment?
Before now it used to be known as SESCAN which was purely a senior staff outfit and it emerged out of a desire to have a representation for senior staff in the civil service. Their interest was not represented in the other bodies like the NLC. It happened that an officer who was getting close to the managerial level was no longer a junior officer but he was not a manager either. That meant that he was not covered by any union. He had no representation. He had no place to take issues that affected him to be addressed. That was what used to happen.
What then is the relationship between TUC and the NLC?
Before now, at the onset there were some differences. Perception was one of them. Would TUC be a threat to the NLC or an instrument that government would use to break NLC’s backbone? We dispelled that fear. We saw ourselves as having the same objectives, similar goals and objectives and so what is expected is that the two bodies get to know what they really want and then harness what power they possess towards achieving what they want. I can outrightly say without fear of contradiction that in recent time the relationship has been quite cordial. Our disagreements have been put to rest. We go on strike together, we hold common meetings.
The federal government has set up a committee to look into the issue of power generation and distribution with a view to declaring a state of emergency. What is your view on that?
Well, the power sector happens to be, to some extent, the main catalyst for economic growth. For government to have taken a decision in that line, to me, it is welcome. By so doing it would go a long way in bringing to an end this frequent problem of having power outage which has killed many industries already. To me, that presidential decision is welcome.
Apart from the committee on the ground and the possibility of declaring a state of emergency in the power sector, what other things do you wish to see the federal government do to solve the problem of power outage?
The past government tried to restructure NEPA itself by changing the name and later breaking it up into various independent units. I think government should go a step further to ensure that the structures are not only on paper, but are implemented. There should be a very good monitoring body to ensure the policy of government in relation to restructuring to make PHCN work well.
What do you have to say about the suspension of the staff of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in the petroleum ministry?
Well, that is a federal government decision and we have little or nothing to say about it. However, I want to look at it this way. What we read on the pages of newspapers was that they were laid off by the last regime because of the circumstances surrounding oil block allocation. The procedure was perceived not to have been transparent, and things like that but we want to say at this point that, looking at DPR which is the regulatory body in the oil sector in the country, the government can take whatever decision it wants but it must ensure that the DPR is adequately equipped to perform its statutory functions as enshrined in the law of the land.
Then, what is TUC’s stand on this?
We as TUC may not necessarily investigate why the decision was taken by the federal government because, we are not well informed about what must have led to the suspension of the DPR head. What we expect is that the civil servant, if he is discovered not to have had a hand in what was alleged, he should be released. But as I said, the DPR needs to be adequately equipped in order to bring it up to the level it is expected just like any other oil regulatory body in the world, so that it can perform better. I want to believe that the federal government is doing something in that respect.
Shell oil company recently decided to pull out of Ogoni land, leading to loss of jobs by Nigerians. What is the position of the TUC on that?
As the TUC chairman, I want to look at the safety of workers generally. I want to believe that the federal government must have observed the safety of the Shell workers in general and expatriates. That was why it accepted that Shell should leave. I think there is more of politics in this thing. I feel the federal government can do much more than it is doing or has done. I want to commend its effort at initiating the reconciliation process in the Niger Delta. The government should look more closely at the festering crisis in the region and find a lasting political solution to it.
Unemployment seems to be on the increase in the country. Does this bother you?
Well, I think in most of my press interviews I have always taken this stand; that one of the problems bedevilling Nigeria is the issue of unemployment. Whether we accept it or not it is one of the greatest problems we have. We know corruption is a monster in Nigeria. It has resulted in job losses in many places, leading also to poverty. Unemployment is a very big monster. It is of great concern to me and I wish to call on the federal government to declare a state of emergency on unemployment with a view to finding a lasting solutioin to it. As a matter of urgency I request that state governments hold a forum where they will discuss with various organisations to see how we can get out of this issue of unemployment.
The federal government will certainly declare a state of emergency in the power sector. Is there any aspect of this decision that gives you cause for concern in so far as it may affect the jobs of your members?
Well, we are looking at it from a different perspective. We at TUC will support the state of emergency if it would not affect the present workforce in the power sector. The federal government should have human feeling. If it knows that by declaring a state of emergency in the power sector it would have a negative impact on the workforce, it should not declare it. But, we are ready to support it so long as it would have positive impact on the workers.
What is your assessment of the Yar’adua administration after one year in office?
As I saw him in the last one year, I would say he had been finding his bearing. When he does settle down, I believe he will be focused. He will be able to see clearly the way forward for Nigeria. Going by his antecedents, we in the TUC have a lot of hope in him. We have hope in him and I know many more Nigerians also have hope in him. All he needs to do is to ensure that the masses that have hope in him are not betrayed at the end of the day.
Could you also comment on the Namadi Sambo administration in Kaduna State?
So far, so good. What I said about Yar’adua applies also to Namadi. He needs to do much more; he is doing his best, but he needs to do much more.
What have been the challenges since you assumed this office; and how have you been able to confront them?
The challenges have been how to bring the TUC to the limelight, to a point where people would know that TUC has an office in Kaduna and that we have a state council. It has been a very big challenge and I thank God because today at all levels of government in the state, they all know about trade union congress in the state. We have been able to do that by going to some media houses. That aside, we have also tried to intervene in most of the issues that concern us and the masses. Basically, those are the major challenges and we have been able to overcome them.