NLC Raises Alarm: Governance Threatened as Governors Relocate to Abuja

Concern has been raised by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) about the increasing number of state governors who leave their states to live permanently in Abuja, leaving their citizens to suffer economically.

This was announced by NLC President Joe Ajaero at a town hall meeting with employees at the NLC Secretariat in Lokoja, Kogi State.
The discussion was a component of the NLC leadership’s visit to commission ten compressed natural gas (CNG) buses that were designed to alleviate the state’s workers’ mobility challenges.

The occasion gave employees a chance to voice their complaints, which Ajaero promised to relay to the state governor.
Nevertheless, he bemoaned the lack of governors in the five zones he had already visited.

The Impact of Governors’ Absence on Governance
However, there is a problem we are having with trends because the majority of governors now live continuously in Abuja, said Ajaero, who lamented the scenario. We are now in about five zones, with Kogi being in the fifth. There is only one state whose governors we have met. Every time you visit, they are in Abuja, which has an impact on government.

He emphasized the importance of leaders being reachable by the populace for democracy to have substance. We should be able to run the center and the units, in my opinion, so that people can communicate with their leaders and feel the benefits of democracy.

Ajaero went on to say that the NLC would try to get the governor to accept the demands of the workers.

But if we record all of these things, he continued, “the information you will provide us will be contingent on the governor’s presence.” We will share your information with him if he is present. We give it to him, anyone he chooses to send if he is not present.

The Strategic Significance of Kogi for NLC
Kogi State is particularly important to the labor movement, the NLC President underlined, because both Governor Usman Ododo and his deputy have union experience.

In Niger State, Ododo had previously served as an NLC official, while the deputy governor had previously served as a Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) official.

“We would like to hold a town hall meeting to hear your opinions and learn what has been done and what has not been done correctly, so we take it to them,” he said.

Read Also: SAN Writes Tinubu Over PSC Chairman’s Conduct As Lawyer Confirms Payment Of N700, 000 Into Court Staff’s Account

Ajaero stated: “To us, it is like homecoming,” adding that the visit also provided a chance to evaluate the government’s performance. In order to ascertain whether they are engaging in the behaviors for which we are criticizing others, we would like to visit and engage with them.

Labor unions are illegally prohibited in Kogi.
In response to the previous administration of Governor Yahaya Bello’s ban on labor unions in state-owned tertiary institutions, Ajaero declared it to be unconstitutional.

Since labor issues are covered by the Exclusive Legislative List, he contended, state governments are powerless to outlaw unions.

The Constitution’s Exclusive Legislative List includes union practices, let me state that. Since you can’t ban something you can’t control, no governor has the authority to do so.

“The registrar of trade unions registers unions nationwide. “What are you now banning?” he said, “They may decide to create branches in states for administrative convenience.

When workers met with Ajaero, they told him that Kogi State Polytechnic, Kogi State University, and the state’s Colleges of Education, Technology, and Nursing had prohibited labor unions for more than ten years.

Demands of Employees
The following were among the urgent concerns that employees wanted the NLC to address:

Not implementing yearly pay raises

Absence of worker housing options

In elementary and junior secondary schools, there is an acute teacher shortage.

Ajaero urged employees to stand firm in the struggle for their rights and promised that their complaints would be addressed by the authorities.