The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Friday urged the federal government to urgently end official corruption so as to mope out resources to pay workers.
President of the Congress Comrade Ayuba Wabba, who made the call while speaking at event to mark this year’s Workers’ Day, said government at all levels must look inward in economic recovery from the effects of covid-19 pandemic.
He said, “The truth is that if we tackle official corruption and waste, there will be enough funds to pay workers’ salaries. The slowdown in the economy will never be accepted as an excuse to owe workers or to lay off workers from their jobs.
“From Central Bank of Nigeria sources, as at January 2020, our external reserve was US$38.61 billion. In February 2020, the reserves dropped to $37.5 billion. Just before the full bloom of the Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria, the country’s external reserve took another dip to $36.22 billion.
“The implication of the liquidity crisis would be a shortfall in federal allocations to the sub-national governments. When this happens, the first causality is always workers’ salaries.
“The over bogus salaries, allowances and other perks of office enjoyed by elected public officials are hardly touched. We warn that the Nigeria Labour Congress would not take kindly to any attempt to offer workers as the sacrificial lambs for the inordinate emoluments of public office holders and outright embezzlement of public funds by political leaders.”
On the best way to combat Covid-19, Wabba urged state governments to set up at least one testing centre in their respective states.
“We call for a smart, gradual and evidence-based restarting of the economy. To ensure a safe restart, federal and state governments should collaborate to build at least one test centre in each state. Efforts at Covid-19 testing, contact tracing, public fumigation, environmental sanitation and robust public health education should be expanded and intensified.”
