The honourable minister of Labour and Employment, Sen Dr Chris Ngige said defaulters of labour laws in Nigeria will not go unpunished. He made this remark Thursday in Abuja when the leadership of the Trade Union Congress Of Nigeria paid him a courtesy call in his office.
“You are very correct that the employers of labour have engaged in what we can call yellowball jobs, Casualization, payment bellow the minimum wage, workplaces that are not conducive for work
“The ILo (International Labour Organization) spelt out what a workplace should have, such as creches for nursing mothers, recreation places, restaurants and stalls
“A lot of workplaces and industries don’t pay attention to these. The other unfair labour practices that are melted out to Nigerian workers are non observance of equal wages or pay which is against the constitution, discrimination based on gender which our constitution and even the ILO convention prohibit is also there. So we are expected to fortify a joint labour and factories inspections, safety, health and other labour inspectors. We have in 2018/2019 got more staff, what we are now asking for is the material resources/equipment for them to work with
“We are working in unity with some agencies like U.S department of labour, the GIZ, and others so that we can get the necessary technical assistance. ILO have also been of immense values and help to us in this respect.
“I’m assuring you that by 2020, everything being equal you will see a very improved and refurbished inspectorate and operational officers in the field of work.
“The issue of companies folding up without adequate compensation, the inspectorate department will look into that but we will appreciate if you can help us with the names of some of these defaulting companies so that our state offices and zonal offices will also visit them and bring them to book”. Ngige concluded”. He concluded
Speaking earlier, the TUC president, Comrade Quadiri Olaleye used the opportunity to intimate the ministry on the plights of the Nigerian workers and other topical issue.