A group, Congress of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, has called on radical activists, civil society organisations (CSOs) and Nigerian labour movement in general to, as a matter of urgency, come to its aid to rescue the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) from the grip of a few of its leaders who have hijacked and privatised the union.
In an open letter entitled, “Stop the Privatization of Labour Unions in Nigeria: Letter to All Radical Activists, Civil Societies, and the Left Movement, Intervene Now in the Failure of Labour Unions in Nigeria, ASCSN Crisis A Case Study,” the group said it is compelled to write and seek for urgent interventions concerning the privatisation of the industrial unions in Nigeria, a situation it said has compromised the unions from serving the interest of members of the union at the expense of people described as “a few opportunist mafia”.
The letter, signed by Comrade Andrew Emelieze as Convener who described himself as an insider that has taken decades to be involved in and study the labour unions in Nigeria, said unions in Nigeria “are almost the same in their outlook and methodology.”
Stating that “labour unions are dead in Nigeria,” Comrade Emelieze who was a former Chairman of ASCSN and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Oyo State Council as well as a former member of ASCSN’s and TUC’s National Executive Council (NEC) said “there has been the conspiracy of silence by labour while workers, and indeed the populace growl in agony, anguish and unprecedented hardships.”
He said instead of focusing on enhancing the welfare of members, the leadership of labour unions are rather after their pockets and ensuring the privatization of trade unions in Nigeria.
The letter reads in part: “Comrades, I am drawing an inference from a trade union called the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) to explain to us what is obtainable in most of the trade unions in Nigeria and their labour centres. ASCSN is an affiliate of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC). It is a right-wing union, ran by conservative bureaucrats whose philosophy has been to sustain the status quo.
“The union has been privatized and ran in the interest of assumed landlords of the union. What has been happening in the union has been chalantancy [sic], constitutional breaches, massive fraud and unimaginable suppression of discerning voices in the union. The hallmark of the union has been constitutional breaches, manipulations and intrigues. Presently, all attempts are being employed to run the union like a private enterprise in the interest of a few Mafioso that have hijacked the union.
“ASCSN today is engrossed in deep crisis and there are numerous court cases against the union. Like never before, the union has totally abandoned the members’ interest, instead, what is obtainable is manipulations, intrigues and the massive looting of the union’s treasure [sic]. Presently, the union has many anti-corruption cases against her and it has been severally invited by anti-graft agencies.
“The union has championed anti-labour posture by encouraging mass sack of workers in the union’s secretariat, of which in the month of June alone, the union sacked close to twenty of her staff, and also refused to pay their gratuities unless they sign an undertaken of an “extraction of commitment.” It is so bad that some of these sacked workers are also forced to sign resignation letters, while many more are vindictively posted to troubled regions of Nigeria in order to compel them to voluntarily resign.
“The union has been flouting her constitution. There is a case of the Secretary General (SG) of the union, Mr Alade Bashir Lawal, refusing to retire when he clocked sixty years in line with dictates of the union’s constitution and the public service rules. It must also be stated here that in line with the International Labour Organization convention, workers in industrial unions must observe the same conditions of service with the worker’s group they represent yet the Secretary General of the union has dubiously remained in office at over sixty-five years.
“The question members of our union have been asking is that why is Mr A. B. Lawal so desperate to continue to work in the union at age sixty-five? The answer is not far-fetched… ASCSN is a billionaire union; it is a very juicy pressure group that has not been sincerely accountable to its members.”
Comrade Emelieze outlined several other allegations against the Secretary General of ASCSN bordering on constitutional breaches, unlawful expulsion and imposition of the union officials in a manner that runs afoul of the union’s constitution and disregard of court orders among others.
When contacted via telephone, Comrade Lawal declined comment saying Comrade Emelieze “is not our member,” although he admitted that Emelieze had written a petition to the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
According to the Secretary General of ASCSN, the Ministry should deal with the matter as it is under a trade dispute.
He also noted: “There are two issues; he is not a member; that is number one. Number two; he has petitioned here and there; you are talking about an inconsequential human being; he has done a lot of things, and this is before a court of competent jurisdiction, so I am not going to comment,” Comrade Lawal said, adding that the union’s response will be made available at the appropriate time.
“I am not going to comment further, so I am sorry please,” Comrade Lawal said as he noted that he has several documents with which to counter the allegations against him which he would share with National Record in a formal interview.
