From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye and Adanna Nnamani, Abuja

The Federal Government has expressed sadness over the alarming rate of casualisation in the nation’s workforce and vowed to put a stop to it.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, conveyed the Federal Government’s commitment at a one-day public hearing on three labour bills by the Senate Committee of Labour and Employment.

The bills include the National Directorate of Employment Act 2004, Labour Act Cap L1, LFN 2004 (Amendment bill 2021(SB.469), Prohibition of casualisation in Nigeria (Establishment Bill 2021(SB,329)

Ngige said his Ministry was committed to a seamless amendment of the labour laws to bring them at par with the international best practices, insisting that casualization was a vexed anti-labour practice which the Federal Government has been addressing since 2016.

“Casualisation is a very volatile issue. Recall that during the eighth Senate, we appeared before this committee over the same issue , when some banks and financial institutions casualized and sacked workers unilaterally in 2016. We are not sitting idle. Time has come to stop casualization of any form in the labour force. The private entrepreneurs must make gains to keep the business afloat but must not enslave their workers . ”

“ However, it is not just about tackling casualization , it is more about uprooting the problem. There is a yearly youth surge into the labour market. 1.2 million graduates from the universities and polytechnics move into the market yearly to look for work in the already over bloated public service. This is not inclusive of those with NCE and School Certificate .

“Since over a year now, public servants below level 12, as part of the COVID-19 protocol have been at home, some working from home , yet the public service goes on. What does it show you ? Less work for more persons. In spite , the Federal Government keeps faith , and takes the burden as part of the social protection scheme of the administration that is pro-people.

“However, we must intensify efforts in job creation. That is the solution. We need a fundamental restructuring to take care of the surge.

Ngige therefore urged the National Assembly to grant the Ministry more time to liaise within the tripartite community so as to make fruitful contributions, towards a seamless enactment of an act on the Prohibition of casualization in Nigeria, in a manner that will stand the test time.

“The Federal Government can no longer close its eyes to casualisation. We must seek a cure and an end to this. We must nevertheless ensure that any law so enacted will stand the test of time and not one that can be circumvented ab initio .We need a law that will elicit buy-in from the employers of labour, the workers, in deed every member of the tripartite.

“Before now, we have been working to redress casualisation in the oil and gas sector, and already set up a tripartite committee comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) Trade Union Congress (TUC) Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) the NNPC, PENGASSAN and other related affiliate unions.

“The assignment of the committee is to draft a guideline on contract staffing in the oil industry which will later be transmitted to the Federal Executive Council and to the Attorney General of the Federation.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has set the end of 2022 timeline to finalise on the harmonisation of salaries of civil servants in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in the country.

Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan made the disclosure on Tuesday at the Head of Service physical engagement/ interview session with the African Initiative for Governance (AIG), on public service leaders’ programme.

According to her, a committee set up President Muhammadu Buhari, which has been meeting for a while now and a subcommittee to which she belongs is already looking into the various salary scales.

While admitting that there was a huge difference between salaries in the public office, she however, advised civil servants not to be discouraged but to work hard to be high flyers that will get them noticed and open to opportunities that will give them extra cash aside from their salaries.