In this interview with Channel’s Television on Friday, April 10, 2010 via Skype, Comrade Issa Aremu, who was until recently the General Secretary of National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGWN) and Vice President of IndustriALL, discusses the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic to jobs in Nigeria. Excerpts
Channels TV: Are you worried by this report by the ILO recently about the looming job losses globally due to the covid-19 pandemic; 195 million jobs could be lost globally?
Aremu: Yeah, absolutely, and it’s quite a big shock to the international labour market. If I recollect correctly, last year marked the 100 years of the ILO, I was privileged to be in Geneva in June last year, and with all the scenarios; we were talking of the future of work. The idea is that more jobs will be created with the Internet of Things, with the prospect of the fourth industrial revolution; but all of a sudden, nobody thought of Covid-19.
As you have said, the ILO has released a report; the lower case scenario is that about 5 million jobs will be lost due to the impact of the lockdown, but the worst case scenario is up to about 25 million.
But of course that is the global picture but when you also compare it to country-specific scenarios, don’t forget that before the coronavirus, Nigeria was talking about open unemployment of close to 40% and that means that we will be closing down factories now, in many workplaces, there will be much serious problems, not just direct unemployment but gross underemployment, I mean, even those that are even working, you will see that many workers will not be able to realise their full potentials. So there is complete threat to jobs. But I think what is so remarkable and encouraging is that the ILO also has International Labour Standards, some framework for us to respond to this crisis.
I think that the first thing is the health challenge, which is extremely important, it’s about life and death and I think the first thing is that health protection must be in place in the world of work; workers have to be well protected. There should be industrial hygiene… I commend you; you are at work now…, we are to have our sanitizer; we need to wash our hands, we need to use our nose masks if we are going out, they are extremely important.
The second important thing is the economic response. I mean, it’s true that more jobs will be lost; many factories will close down… [not clear] …in the textile and garment sector, and the pictures coming out of many countries of the world are very, very scary… [not clear], …you know from China supplies tiger… [not clear] …you know, we are resuming industrial revival and these has put a hold on it, so there will be job losses…
But we can also turn all of these to opportunities, you know, and I think this is where the discussion should be. I am quite excited about the fiscal stimulus that our government has put in place, they have announced…[not clear] …even though, with all the efforts so far, the… [not clear]… million seems so small compared to our GDP capacity, I think we need to spend more.
What I would like to suggest, first is the crucial intervention; we need to pay the workers their salaries to survive this lockdown. Any delay in salary is like you are fast-forwarding the terrible impact of survival on the part of the workers.
Not only that, there is the direct social transfer, the so-called conditional transfer; I think it should be unconditional; all Nigerians deserve some support.
This is where I want to say, the controversy over the social investment programme, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, I think it is completely unhelpful; I think we should put an end to that controversy. Now we should face squarely the coronavirus and all the beneficiaries under the N-Power should be paid just like they are paying the new vulnerable group, the so-called poorest of the poor.
I think all of us under this situation are vulnerable in this country, so I think that the controversy should stop over the conditional social transfer. What we want to hear is that those who are in the old scheme, the N-Power should be well paid, those who are vulnerable group; the youth, the women, the informal sector, they should be properly paid as and when due because that’s the way they will survive.
As I said, this is also an opportunity and I would like to say that those masks are being produced locally; I want to commend Governor Ayade of Cross River State who has already set up a garment factory and is leveraging on this to get many workers employed; so even as there is a threat, we can also try to create jobs, especially in the value chain of the textile garment sector.
Then there is the production of sanitizers, this can also be done locally, it is an opportunity. And there should be an arrangement for those who are working at home, there should be flexible time for them and they should also pay them very well so that they can be well motivated.
So, I want to say in summary that this could be an opportunity for us to also, as we are lamenting possible job losses as they are wont to be, we are lamenting threat to lives, what we need to do, the best response is not to agonise but to organise ourselves to confront the health challenge; make sure that we keep to the instruction of the appropriate health authorities, stay at home where we are directed, ensure social distancing, of course, wash your hands and use sanitizers.
The second level is also to address the economic challenges arising from that; people at home must eat, they must be protected, they must be paid very well; pensioners have to be paid, you know they are even more vulnerable; don’t forget the old people that have underlining diseases, they are also more vulnerable, so this is the time to pay their salaries as and when due…
Channels TV: [cuts in] May I come in here, now for a country such as Nigeria whose unemployment rate is as high as 23% as at 2018; what is labour’s recommendation on how to stimulate the economy and protect jobs?
Aremu: I think the first things is that…, I agree with you that the official figure is about that. The unofficial figure is more than that; the unemployment figure is more than that; in fact it is open unemployment in this country, if you add the under-employed, you know, people who are working, they are not having satisfaction; they are not well-paid, not well-motivated, in fact open unemployment is close to about 50% in Nigeria.
Now, what should be the way out? I think the way out is exactly where we should be; we have to produce what we consume. And this is where I want to commend the monetary authorities, ably led by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Emefiele. He has been very proactive; he has reduced the interest rate from 9% to 5% for CBN-backed loans. This will raise the real economy as the case may be.
There are also moratoriums on debts for some of the enterprises. And then there is relief for public works; I was happy when the Minister also announced a new… [not clear] …under the 500 billion support scheme, the whole agenda is that public jobs will be created in the 774 local governments in the country. This is where to go; you have to take people… [not clear] …I am happy that everybody is now saying that we must be self-reliant, we must diversify the economy, we must add value to our raw materials.
I listened to the NNPC’s new decision on petroleum pricing; even though that is quite controversial; I think the energy of the NNPC should be making the refineries work; there are many derivatives; we can create a lot of jobs through petrochemical plants and refineries and so that is the way to go. So this should be a turning point for us.
But in all this, we need to sit down, we need to rethink. I think organised labour must sit up and decide how to engage the employers in order to mitigate the impact of this crisis. They must use the existing collective agreement to ensure that workers are paid; you know this is not their [workers] fault.
Then secondly, any unions which have resources, they must also transfer resources to their members now; workers should have something from their unions in this condition; that will go a long way to help them. Then, they must also help them to negotiate with the state governments so that the relief materials and other packages that are being channelled to all the workers who are at home, especially all those who are in the informal sector, who have no voice.
And once the coronavirus is over, we must make sure that we import-substitute; produce what we consume; consume what we produce; which is what President Buhari is already doing, and I think we need to consolidate on that the more. That is the way to go!
