THE need for improved industrial peace was one the major issues at the 55th Annual General Meeting, AGM, of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, NECA, that took place Thursday, July 12, 2012, at the NECA in Lagos.

TO drive home its concerns for deteriorating level of industrial peace in the country, the umbrella body for employers body in the country, brought the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, to present a paper on “Industrial Harmony as Panacea for Sustainable economic Development: Government’s Blueprint”

In a 19-page paper, Chief Wogu   said government was aware that achieving a relative industrial harmony would entail an appreciable level of good governance anchored on sound principles of governance.

According to him, “Government is taking a holistic and proactive measure to address observed gaps in labour administration. Such measures include capacity building for labour administrators and enforcement of existing labour laws. From the macro-economic perspective, we know that an equitable legal framework, applied consistently to all will defend people from abuse from any of the social partners. Our home-grown economic blueprint has been tailored to meet our peculiar economic circumstance.

Policy of gradual withdrawal

The policy of gradual withdrawal of government from active role in state enterprises is a mark of respect for the expected impact on the lives of ordinary Nigerians. It is designed to encourage community groups, professionals and young entrepreneurs to turn their ingenuity and commitment to venture into entrepreneurship and sound management which ultimately should create new jobs and relief the negative outcomes of globalization. This was amply demonstrated in the recently launched You-Win Programme by Mr. President, and the inclusion of Entrepreneurship Programmes in the curriculum of Nigerian Universities.”

Speaking further, he said “the analysis of the recipe for industrial harmony cannot be exhausted in a short address such as this. There is need for a national discourse and intellectual engagement on the way forward as the current challenge of industrial disharmony is global.

We must debate to adopt adaptive measures to cope with the global wave of industrialization and demands if we are to achieve our desired economic development and growth.  We have all agreed on the need for a paradigm shift from the current adversarial industrial relations practice to a much friendlier situation that is developmental.

Engagement of stakeholders:  Continuing, the Minister said “We successfully engaged stakeholders in the oil and gas sector to produce Regulation that covers a wide variety of the many complex forms of contract work in the sector. Our aim is to achieve a level of confidence and trust among our economic partners on general rules of engagement.

Given the relative success of the Regulation on Labour Administrative issues on Contract Staffing /Outsourcing in the oil and gas sector in regulating and reducing the number of disputes, we are prepared to engage stakeholders in the Telecommunication Sector as well.

Our plan is to identify and articulate similar consensus building in other sectors so that the economy can generate the required steam for development and growth. We are broadening the base of our consultation on policy options. Government will continue to draw from the wealth of its social and development partners on fashioning out ways of growing the economy.”

“Government will always call on you to support the above plans and programmes from time to time in the course of their implementation. The Transformation Agenda of this administration will appreciate the cooperation, support and collaboration from all Nigerians who look forward to better days for posterity.

This AGM should come up with its blueprint on achieving industrial harmony from the employers’ perspective. Together, we hope to join the league of twenty most developed nations of the world by the year twenty-twenty.”

State of Industrial Relations: Earlier, President of NECA, Chief   Richard Uche, posited that the essence of the rule of law in any society was to promote orderliness, civility and development.

He said “With our knowledge of past experience in promoting industrial harmony in Nigeria, the current dispensation is arguably the worst in the annals of industrial relations in the country. The current clime is characterized by flagrant disobedience of court orders, spontaneous and illegal strike, vandalisation of company’s property in the name of strikes, disrespect for union jurisdictional scope (sympathy strike), disregard for grievance and trade dispute procedures, resistance to structural changes, partisanship by custodians of process and procedure for trade dispute resolution. Unfortunately, the casualty of this is the Nigerian economy.”

Besides, he noted that the nation’s Industrial Relations System requires wholesale reform that will protect the rights of all economic actors (Government, Employers and Labour) and promote productivity.

Reciprocal respect

Accordingly, he enjoined the Federal Ministry of Labour to rise up to the challenge and restore tripartism, enthronement of rule of law and reciprocal respect of rights as espoused by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

His words: “An urgent revamping and resuscitation of the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) that has been moribund for years is required to facilitate and enhance Government’s efforts at reforming the Industrial Relations System.”

Cost of Governance: According to Chief Uche, “Over the years, we have watched with concern the gradual and worrisome escalation in the cost of governance. We believe it is not prudent for a country to spend over seventy (70%) percent of its yearly budget on recurrent expenditure, leaving less than 30% for capital expenditure.

Where an increasing ratio of government budget is used to support its administrative structure, poverty will abound and remain pervasive as economic growth declines or even stagnates. Let us recall that in the 1970’s, total recurrent expenditure as a percentage of total government expenditure was about 32.04 per cent, increasing to a tolerable 38 percent in 1983.