Comrade Igwe Achese the national president of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG), spoke with labour correspondents on issues affecting the oil and gas sector workers, amongst other national issues. MOSES JOHN was there
The National Delegates Conference of NLC would hold February 2015, there are issues stakeholders believe if not address, may marred the conduct of the conference, what is your take on this?
Yes, it is true that 2015 we are going for the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Delegates Conference where new leadership would emerge. For me I don’t think we have issues that will affect the conduct of the elections. Whatever we think I believe that comes 2015 NLC is going to move forward in terms of the delegates conference, so those issues are things I need to know that you think can marred the 2015 delegates conference, otherwise for me as an individual and a member of National Administrative Council (NAC) I don’t think there is any issues for now.
Some people think that these present leadership has not live to expectation as to the ones witnessed in the past?
I wanna say fortunately for me as a member of the National Administrative Council of NLC, and I will say so far so good we have felt well in terms of the implementation of minimum wage. When you begin to compare leadership styles between Adams and the current leadership, I wish to state clearly that God install leaders and every leader have his or her own leadership style. It may not be like when Oshiomhole was there and you will agree with me that Adams came at the time we need to stabilise democracy in the country after series of crisis in the country. Today we are able to institute what is called democracy, even though we are in a learning process. So for me, Omar have his own leadership styles, he is not a saint but I want to say that he has also tried his best to see congress find herself where it is today. Again I always tell people one thing, it is when you are outside that it becomes a difficult thing to actually know the issues in question that is really affecting the congress in terms of why you think Omar is not shouting the way Adams did, and you know he was there and his leadership styles was different and I will say those leadership styles is what’s on the table for us to look at and that took the congress to where we found it today.
The outcome of the 2011 delegates conference left some unions unsatisfied till date, do you see that as a threat to the 2015 NDC?
I don’t see that as a threat to the election. Is very unfortunate that as workers or pressure group which is the hope of democracy we find ourselves in this kind of situation. Is very sad when people begin to talk about NASU and I wanna say that even those who move out to NASU did not write that they were pulling out of the NLC, they were there but the only issue was that were not paying their affiliate dues. But what is the issue now is that NASU held their National Executive Council (NEC) finally and written that they are out of the NLC. There is no where in the world, including the international Labour Organisation that we find ourselves, if we also wrote to them that we are pulling out, we are out and if we wanna go back, there are processes which we must follow. But the issue everybody is talking about is nothing than NASU and that is why I find it very sad because these are non Academic Staff Union of the University that happen to be part of the unions, which is the situation we find ourselves today. There is no gain saying that every students that pass through the University environment must come into contact to a NASU member in the coursed of his academic’s works and so on, but is very painful that we find ourselves in a situation where NASU pulling out and trying to come back is what is causing crisis in the congress, is out of thought for anyone to think that. You are also aware that when NASU pull out there was a lot of issues like establishing of a new labour centre and it was very sad when you begin to here things like that. Is only in Sudan that there is over a hundred labour centres and you may want to ask if that has brought that unity of purpose to fight any anti-labour practice, the answer is no. And that is why if somebody begin to think about polarisation of the system, I feel very sad. I’ve been one of those who has advocated that as workers representatives, we have every responsibility to protect them, we do not need to fight ourselves whatever the differences as Nigerian workers we need to come back and ask ourselves where did we go wrong, where have we felt well , then that is the issue. For NASU you are also aware that they are trying to come back to the congress, they have written a letter but unfortunately something happen along the line that nobody is trying to look at of what really happen why the issue of NASU is still being delayed up to this moment, so I don’t want to blame Omar. I think everyone of us who has advocated for NASU to come back were at the fore front for their returning, but you cannot beginning to come into the congress and before you arrive there is many publications against the leadership of the congress and so there is this question to why such comments when you are coming back to the congress, so those are the issues.
What do you have to say on this move by the NASS, trying to deregulate minimum wage?
That is wickedness for any right thinking Nigerian, is unfortunate that these are people we gave out political will to represent us and not to represent themselves. Today all members of the N/Assembly are on the exclusive list, so how will say Nigerian workers who are the architect of whatever success you claim, the N/Assembly want to remove them from exclusive list to concurrent list , is wickedness. As a labour center we also said that is not possible, you will agree with me that the issues came out at the National Conference but due to lobbying and everything, we have to put the wage matter into the exclusive list. I believe strongly that there is no right thinking in the N/Assembly that will woke up one morning at the wrong side of his bed and said Nigerian wages and salaries should be remove from the exclusive list to concurrent list. I told those who to know the reality that most of our Nigeria working environment today is being outsource, casualise, unfair labour policies and here we are, I expect the lawmakers to come out with tough measures and policies that can protect Nigerian workers as citizen. I cited an example of what happened in Angola were a company move in with expatriate but when they got there, the country said we need to give you some staff to train for two years, to understudy training programmes and after two years our citizens would take over, they said no and because the company thought they are still in Nigeria. They move some Nigerians back again to Angola, but as they landed at the airport, they were arrested and detain for one month, not until Nigerian Government went begging to ensure its citizens are freed. We talk about expatriate quotas issue in Nigeria, there are expatriate that comes into the country, they don’t even live in the country, they fly in and out and we have our immigration and other security agencies there. Is unfortunate that a foreigner will just fly into either of our airports and a chopper will be there to pick him straight and once he finished he land again at the airport to his country. Rather than our lawmakers to protect Nigerians by making legislation that criminilised such act, they are once talking about deregulating wage issue. I always said that our system of governance, traditional religion and cultural believes is different from the international community. If you are trying to bring such policies to Nigeria, the would be crisis, the center cannot hold. The situation whereby I still have my younger once living with me at the age of 20 -25 years, they are still depending on me, the situation where as a muslim, I have four or five wives and many chieldren. While in the international community once you are 15 years, you are independent of yourself, but here in Nigeria we still depend on our brothers and sisters who are either working or doing one thing or the other. What we are saying is that Government should create a policy that can govern the Nigeria labour environment, we also canvass this issue that if you want Nigeria naira to have value, ensure that the naira also become an international trading currency just what the Chinese is doing now that it cannot only be the dollar. Most of us have also travel, and for Instance if you travel to Geneva you can’t buy anything with the dollar except you change into their currency. So I have canvass that if we want Nigeria currency to have value, those who come into Nigeria to buy crude oil should also buy in Nigeria currency.
Those at the petroleum industry are clamoring for the passage of PIB, in specific term what would the law address?
The PIB will address a lot of things, and I think today what is happening with the bill is a crisis between the parliament and the executive. The bill that was submitted, there are so much power arrogated to the minister of petroleum and the presidency, you can imagine what happened recently, it is not in the act establishing the NNPC to appoint a deputy GMD of the corporation, but you can see how the minister arrogated such much power to herself. Look at the Petroleum Products, Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) the board was supposed to govern and monitor what is happening in the PPPRA, but since the agency is move to her office, the board is totally closed and that she cannot run the board. So if you look at the NNPC board, thinking is existing they are not who is there is the minister. So the PIB if is allow to go the way it is going, the NNPC will not be like other international oil organisations which is fully independent of government even though they have shares and all that.
You make mention of unfair labour practices in the oil and gas industry, am aware of a technical committee put in place to check that, is the committee not working or what?
There is a technical committee that was set up by the Minister of labour, we had being able to complete the policy signed inclusive of the IOC, unfortunately implementation becomes the problem and you know very well that Ministry of labour does not have the enforcement power, the only have this power of reconciliation while the matter is beyond them they refer it to the Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP) and National Industrial Court ( NIC). That is where we have the challenges, if the Federal Ministry of Labour have some level of enforcement authority like the FIRS and others, you will agree with me that the ministry will be very effective and strong in terms of implementation of most of the policies we agreed on. Most of the MOUs you see us signing with some of agencies and companies at the end of the day the will be put under the carpet, that cannot never happen if the Labour Ministry have enforcement powers in the act that created them as a Ministry so that is why we have a problem. But the technical committee job is done, concluded and is a perfect one if we allow the policies to be implemented, it will go a long way to asist not only oil and gas industry inclusive of public sector companies that are facing this issues of outsourcing and casual labour contract because in that policy every body have a right to unionise and have all condition of service. We have this challenges in SPDC were deductions are made and were not remitted to the pension commission and workers themselves don’t know up till this moment that am talking to you were their money that had been deducted for many years.
The local content board have expressed fear that if unionisation of workers in the sector is not tread with caution, it may affect the gain recorded in the industry in the last four years, what do you make of this?
Is sad when you begin to hear this kind of policy coming from Government establishment that are suppose to protect the Nigeria workers. The local content board cannot denied the fact that a lot of Nigerians who are working in various local content companies are suffering and today as I speak to you, the worst hit in terms of lost of jobs and so on are from local content companies is not from international companies. Those who took over these jobs in the name of local content, royalty or in the name of community support employment programmes are the individuals that are really hitting up the situation we found ourselves today. We felt the local content commission has the responsibility of making sure those who are working there are not just hire and fired overnight without knowing or go through all the disciplinary measures that is suppose to be, and then trying to know if the worker is actually guilty of those offenses claimed by the organisation, the commission is not doing that.
The commission was actually a struggle of NUPENG and PENGASSAN to see that workers in the oil and gas industry is protected, and we need to look just oil and gas but also other sector like Banks and the rest of them, and that is why I said the local content commission should expanded to consument all other local content issues arising thereof. But sincerely speaking, as of today most of the issues we faced on jobs loss is from the local content and what they are doing is to pursuit contracts for those who put them there, and those are not what the are meant for, but to put in place policies or check if labour laws are implemented as regard to local content act, it also empower Nigeria to take over jobs from foreign investors and also built our own technicality and technical know how as to the protection of Nigerian workers, those are the issues.
How can our laws be strengthen to make our institutions more stronger than individuals?
You know what is happening today, the speaker of the House of Reps was not impeached, but his security aids has been withdrawn. The Governor of Ondo State defected to the PDP and other Governors who decamps and their security aids are not withdrawn. Then you ask yourself what kind of government are we practicing, are we in the state of anarchy for such to happened. It is unfair to hear that some individuals are stronger than the institution, there are laws and policies, once someone wake up one morning and madness enter his head, he will then said this is what he want to do. This is a challenges for us as Nigerians in general.
There is also this dangerous dimension, where labour leaders have extended their tenure just for them to context for a position at the labour center, what is the moral of labour leaders?
Is sad when some people ask me a question that they saw labour leaders in the podium given support to the APC during a mega rally and I ask myself it is fair, are we in the right direction, what are we suppose to do as labour leaders but not to the labour centres but to Nigerians because you are talking about a union which has its own constitution and policy and the people there are Nigerians, that is what we are facing today in the country and if you want to talk they will say kill him. You also see situation whereby journalists who are suppose to be unbiased, fair and be objective will be speaking for some people because they have being bought over. So it is a societal decay and we expect you journalists to be objective and talk about the need to have attitudinal change so that Nigeria can get better. I have said that there is no one outside Nigerians that can make Nigeria better, Americans who are fighting there are doing that to protect their sovereignty and their country.
Are you contesting for NLC presidency?
Yes.
What do you think that you will bring that is different or move the congress forward?
Like I said earlier, Omar had done very well and I said power belong to God, God has place him there in the last eight years, he has run his race. Whatever differences or mistakes we observe which including me as a leader today I have my mistakes and error, those who are watching me behind are thinking of should be thinking of if I come in, how do I move the congress to the next level. That is my vision and I want to say clearly that the man who has run the race to where he found himself, I need to say thank you to him and also take off from that point to where we think congress ought to be. Whoever will said congress is not like when Adams use to be there, I will say there are different leadership styles. Today Obama leadership styles is different from Bush, Clinton and the rest, so leaders has its own unique leadership styles but the most important thing is how to bring that respected unity and solidarity together.
As NLC president in specific terms, what would you do if elected into office?
There are key expectations of Nigerians, which are for labour to be stronger than the way it is today, that is one my vision is to see that Nigeria Labour laws are stronger than the way the used to be, to also make sure we play a level playing ground for Nigerians to earn a living wage. So if given the opportunity to serve the president of NLC, I will ensure Nigerians earn a living because we are yet to earn a living wage. Secondly, you will also agree with me that most of the challenges that we are facing today is because we’ve not been able to pursuit some level of laws, act and bills in the N/Assembly that can also protect Nigerian Workers.