The Secretary General of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Dr. Peter Ozo-Esan has described 2017 as the saddest year for Nigerian workers across the country. Dr. Esan stated this in an interview with Punch. When asked to assess the plight of Nigerian workers in 2017 in view of the reported number of job losses in the country he said;
"Workers’ experience in 2017 is a very sad one. Apart from the loss of jobs which the National Bureau of Statistics has recorded, the agonies of workers have been increased in places like Kaduna State where the government is reducing the workforce under all manners of pretenses. Clearly, in terms of the labour situation in 2017, it has been a very sad year for workers, whether for those in employment or those that were sacked.
"Most workers in the states have not been able to enjoy the full benefits of their entitlements as little as they are. There are states that owe salaries, and there are states where some percentages of the salaries were paid. There is a clear indication that Nigerian workers were subjected to enormous hardship during the year which affected them and their dependants.
"For workers who are getting full salaries, the real value of their salaries has been so eroded by the unacceptable level of inflation that occurred during the year. The workers who produced the wealth are struggling to make ends meet. These are observations one can clearly make and then hope that things would change for the better in the New Year."
On what the Federal Government should do to address the situation, he said;
"the government needs to revive the economy. I don’t think we can continue to accept excuses or play the blame game as the way to explain the situation. The government has proven that it is not capable of effectively managing the economy and it needs to wake up to do so. We are ready to engage with them on what policies they need to put in place or what they need to do in various sectors if they are determined to get the economy to work."
