Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has called on the present Government to fast-track the state police Bill currently at the National Assembly without further delay.
The President of the TUC, Comrade (Engr.)Festus Osifo made the call while briefing news men on the state of the nation said considering insecurity Nigeria is facing, many farmers in some communities are no longer go to their farms.
He observed that when a nation is not secure it affect every development.
"When a nation is not secure, you cannot start talking about building of hospitals, building of roads. Today in Ukraine, nobody in Ukraine is even talking about how many hospitals are you going to build? Because they are in a state of emergency." Believing that as members of the union, they felt that state police is ripe, and to implement it is now.
Comrade Osifo said they learned some group of individuals are advocating for government not to fast -track state police as many politicians most especially State governors would use them for their selfish interest during election period.
"But all we are telling government is that let not to drag. We're also hearing that because of the election that is coming, that there are some groups that is actually saying, oh, government, don't fast-track the issue of state police. We've asked them, why don't we want state police to be fast-tracked? All we have heard over time is that politicians are going to use it against themselves.
"The question we have asked is that these politicians, what are their numbers? When you add all the Nigerian politicians together, they are less than 0.1% of Nigerian population. So how can we, because of less than 0.1% of Nigerian population, we allow 99.99% to suffer? That is not logical. Government must do things that will impact the larger number of people.
"We know that this government, with their relationship with the National Assembly, we know that there is no bill that they want to pass that they will not pass within 48 hours. We know that they have what it takes because the National Assembly is made up of APC. The government at the centre is also APC
"And in every part of the world, when the legislative arm has majority and the party at the centre also reflect that party that have majority at the legislature, things to go as smooth as possible. And we know it has been demonstrated since 2023. And even when Buhari was there, that if this government or if the APC government want to get things done in the National Assembly, they have what it takes to get it done.
"So we are calling on the government not to relent, nor to listen to the people who are making those advocacy that the state police politicians will use it against themselves. We don't care much about that. What we care about is what will protect over 99% of Nigerians." Comrade Festus said.
The TUC President while demanding the Federal Government to fast-track the bill in the National Assembly and send same to the State House Assemblies to get 24 states to also support the bill, he also called on the government to also look beyond state police and deploy more technologies to further enhance security challenges of the country including kidnapping, banditry among other crimes.
"We've talked about this over and over again, and we will not get tired talking about it because we are talking about lives of Nigerians. Government must do everything within its means to deploy the right technology and deploy the right equipment in order to be able to curb these issues that are bothering on insecurity in Nigeria." He said.
Engr. Festus also explained that the press briefing was to made members of the union advocacy on issues that are affecting not only Nigerian populace but also their members, as well as their specific affiliates who have been have been battling issues regarding some of the economic challenges.
He said, "as you know, those economic challenges, they are still here with us. If you recall, early 2024, TUC, we called a press conference where we submitted a 15-point demand to the Nigerian government, and we backed it up by a meeting that was held with the Secretary of the State, the Secretary of Government of the Federation, where we further championed these issues, and where we have been advocating for issues that we think that when government could look at, I mean, the solutions that we propose, we felt that when government could look at them and implement some of them, they are going to ameliorate the challenges that we're facing as of then. If you remember, in that communique, among the 15 issues that we highlighted was also issues that were bordering on food security.'"Calling on the government to sustain food imports.
According to him, the union supports government’s food-importation policy “because it has helped reduce the prices of staple commodities.
“This food importation could be stopped only and only if farmers could go back to farm,” Osifo said, urging the government to sustain the policy while tackling insecurity.
He also called on government to stabilise our currency. Noting that the current exchange rate remained too high despite improvements from about 1,800 naira to the dollar in early 2024 to around 1,400 naira presently, insisting that the naira can move towards 900 to 1,000 naira to the dollar.
Commenting on the Aviation Union dispute with Airlines owners he said the TUC was fully supported of any action by the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSAN, over workers’ rights to unionise and alleged non-remittance of a five per cent ticket charge estimated at about 25 billion naira.
He said the union was seeking a lasting resolution to the dispute rather than temporary measures that could lead to repeated industrial action.
On the refineries issues in Nigeria, he said the position of the TUC is for the government to retains a maximum of 49 per cent equity and allow the private investors hold 51 per cent, arguing that such an arrangement would reduce political interference and improve commercial management.
“The government equity should be drawn down, but the refinery must not be sold outrightly,” Osifo said.
Comrade Osifo commended the Department of State Services DSS, for the recent arrests of suspected terrorists and bandits, asking the authorities to prosecute suspects and ensure that convictions serve as a deterrent to others.
He also commended the government for the 50 to 80 per cent increase in military salaries, describing it as a step in the right direction, but also urged the government to extend similar improvements to the wider Nigerian workforce.
“While we thank you for increasing the salaries of the military, we also call on you to extend it to every Nigerian worker.” He said.
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