If you remember Sir Rider Haggard’s novel, you will remember the eponymous protagonist, a most beautiful, wilful monarch, “She,” who must always be obeyed. Well, diminutive Dr. Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment, with his sense of the dramatic in histrionics proportions, is on the verge of being disobeyed big time.
He gave a wrongheaded “directive” to banks, insurance and other financial institutions to suspend the retrenchment of workers that they evidently can no longer pay. He threatened that their operating licences would be withdrawn.
He apparently wants to complicate the financial situation of both the banks that didn’t make much of the bailout that the Central Bank of Nigeria under Lamido Sanusi gave them. The employees too would incur transport costs without assurance of pay. Evidently, this “padding” thing goes beyond budgeting to overloading of staff.
Ngige had said, “Following the high spates of petitions and complaints from stakeholders in the Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions, I hereby direct the suspension of ongoing retrenchment… pending the outcome of conciliatory meetings… slated for the first week of July 2016.”
Ngige should have advanced his zealousness to counsel the Commander-in-Chief to disregard the Army Council’s recommendation to sack military officers “based on service exigencies.” Tellingly, after Ngige’s effete socialist directive, Skye Bank Plc terminated the employment of 175 employees for failing the 2015 appraisal exercise.
Ecobank Plc had retrenched 1,040; Diamond Bank Plc, 200, after its profit before tax winnowed down from N7.94bn to N6.04bn in 2015; and giant First Bank of Nigeria Plc shaved off 1,000 jobs after its profits plummeted by 80 per cent in 2015.
The Nigerian Bankers’ Committee (expectedly) didn’t offer to withdraw the sack letters, it only promised reduced sackings, while noting that there would always be reasons to let people go. This is even more so after the Federal Government ruled out bailouts for banks, in the wake of sweeping off free funds from the bank vaults with its Treasury Single Account policy.
The Nigerian Employers Consultative Association has correctly pointed out that Ngige has no statutory authority to direct a halt to sacking if the banks thought it was necessary. Ngige cannot give what he doesn’t have. That’s probably why the Senate Committee on Banking invited him to explain the source of his assumed arbitrary powers.
What “directive” will Ngige give to the managements of Nigeria Prisons Service, Federal Fire Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, who seem set to fire some personnel for sundry reasons, including “attainment of 60 years; serving for 35 years; disciplinary grounds; medical or health grounds; failing promotion examinations; incompetence, indolence, and or declining productivity?”
Though the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma, swears these paramilitary men won’t be sacked, it’s wise to wait and see. It’s a good thing though, that the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government is about to make good its campaign promise to provide teaching jobs for 500,000 unemployed graduates (who must undergo teacher training, by the way).
While those who are losing their jobs deserve sympathy, no one should mislead them. “In the event of redundancy,” Section 20(1) of the Labour Act only requires an employer to “inform the trade union or workers’ representatives… (of the) extent of the anticipated redundancy,” apply the ‘last-in-first-out’ principle, “and negotiate redundancy payments.”
The National Union of Banking, Insurance, and Financial Institutions Employees however claims it wasn’t invited in line with this rule. NUBIFE, the Nigeria Labour Congress, and the Trade Union Congress have issued their usual stock threat to picket banks. Labour Act Section 20(2) defines redundancy as “involuntary and permanent loss of employment caused by an excess of manpower.” This, in everyday English, means no work.
While Section 17(1) asks an employer to provide suitable work for each day a worker presents himself and is fit for work, it also cautions that where the employer fails to provide work, he will still be obliged to pay as if the worker had performed the day’s work – except where the worker is under suspension. Ngige’s overly sentimental “directive” may compound labour relations.
Some lawyers have privately expressed the opinion that Ngige’s directive is arbitrary in law, and disregards the facts, circumstances, and evidence on the ground. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, a professor of law and expert in law of evidence, is in a position to explain the absurdity of Ngige’s actions. As Acting President, Osinbajo could simply reverse overzealous Ngige.
Other words for describing arbitrary include “contemptuous, dictatorial, haphazard, unpredictable, fanciful, injudicious, unjustifiable, according to desire, contrary to reason, and determined by no principle.”In case Ngige has not yet found out, Cassandra Clare has argued that “Les malla, lexnulla,” a bad law is no law. It cannot be obeyed.
Pipe-smoking Ngige should please be serious, and quit playing to the gallery. Otherwise, he may qualify for a rendition of the first stanza of the old nursery rhyme, “Old King Cole,” which goes, “Old King Cole was a merry old soul /And a merry old soul was he; /He called for his pipe /And called for his bowl /And he called for his fiddlers three.”
Udo-Udoma, who is increasingly appearing to be government’s crisis manager, has stuck out to help his colleague. He says: “With regard to the plea (it’s now a plea) to the private sector (to retain workers that they cannot pay), it is because we know that by the time the economy picks up, they will need those people again.”
In the true spirit of collective responsibility in government, Udo-Udoma added: “For agriculture, we have plans to be self-sufficient in rice ‘within a certain number of years;’ and wheat, ‘within a certain number of years.’” In other words, the banks will carry the burden of paying salaries for no work done “within a certain number of years!” Udo-Udoma’s submission is not definitive enough, and looks like he is not too sure of what he wanted to say.
Perish the thought that the amiable minister didn’t think this through before coming to meet the press. It reminds you of those heady military days, when the Armed Forces Ruling Council had just concluded a meeting, and Gen. Ibrahim Babangida would assign a member, who probably didn’t pay too much attention during the meeting, to brief the press. There was usually a muddle of thought and evasive answers.
Maybe Udo-Udoma does not know that when a Yoruba calls another person’s name three times, it means something ominous is afoot. He should not carry another minister’s load on his head. Let Ngige do his own footwork. If he wishes to give orders that cannot be carried out, let him support his own habit, and stew in his own soup.
But government must come up with clearly thought-out economic plans to put Nigeria back to work again. The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics just released depressing news that unemployment has risen to 31.2 per cent, and that about 500,000 workers lost their jobs in the first quarter of 2016.
If the 2016 Reflationary Budget, upon which the progressives are betting, works, and the engine of the real sector revs up again, and put more money in the banks, maybe job losses may slow down.
PUNCH
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