Imo State chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Austine Chilakpu, in this interview with Assistant Editor (South East), CHRISTIAN NWOKOCHA, looks at the state of parastatals in the state, explaining why Labour is kicking against the privatisation policies of the Rochas Okorocha-led administration.
Imo workers and privatisation of government parastatals
Labour is not against privatisation of Imo State-owned parastatals, but our worry is for the government to get things done well and to ensure that workers don’t suffer resulting from the implementation of the privatisation policy. The truth is that government has no business running companies or bigger establishments where profit is expected to accrue. In the case of Imo, privatisation policy has resulted in unemployment. That was why Labour, hearing about policies and intentions of the government in the areas of establishment of factories, thought that old factories could be revived with a view to employing more workers. The expectation was that the people of Imo would be employed to work in these industries run by those who possess managerial abilities with a view to making profit and paying themselves.
Imo parastatals that have passed through government’s privatisation policy
In ADAPALM, I was a member of the committee. The idea behind the setting up of the committee was to look at the best way to get ADAPALM privatised. All the workers in the area accepted to go for the new policy, but insisted that their allowances must be paid. A company called Roche was brought into the place to manage the palm plantation and the big oil mill. Today, over 600 workers of ADAPALM have been laid off and Roche cannot be found.
If you go to ADAPALM, nothing is going on there now. This is the state government’s idea of privatisation. Look at Imo Concorde Hotel, between May 29, 2011 and now, over 800 workers have been sacked resulting from privatisation. Before the governor assumed office in 2011, professionals were running the hotel to a profit and still paid workers as and when due. Hotel guests enjoyed services rendered by these professionals. Today, Imo Concorde is dead despite several millions used in renovating the hotel by government.
Look at Imo Transport Company (ITC), they had executive cars and numerous buses.
Large number of commuters patronised that transport company. Today, that place is almost dead with so much hatred among the top management staff. Over 300 workers have lost their jobs due to privatisation policy. Look at Oguta Motels; it was the pride of the people of the South East. Today, privatisation policy has made it a shadow of itself. We cannot fold our arms and watch our people lose their jobs as a result of government policy on privatisation which has taken away over 5,000 workers. So you can now see why it looks like Labour is against privatisation because our members are the worst hit.
For now, Labour has said no to privatisation, and if government must privatise, it must get competent hands to manage these companies and not politicians who will see their appointments to manage these companies as compensation.
Roche’s qualification to manage ADAPALM
Let them (Roche officials) state what they have achieved in the last four years. If you engage yourself in business four years and the place is closed down, then the competence of such organisation will be questioned. As far as we are concerned, Roche has not generated any money in the last four years for the state. That was why the area was closed down. Before Roche came into ADAPALM, the staff strength was 600. Today, nobody is there and the company has been shut with seven months’ salary arrears.
Government spending over N1 billion on Concorde Hotel renovation
There is no doubt that the governor may have spent N1 billion in renovating Concorde Hotel, but the truth remains that for over three years now, the hotel cannot be in use for Imo people to appreciate the huge sums of money spent in the area. Having spent all this money, workers are laid off, no hotel services and the hotel keeps depreciating in the presence of those renovating it. So who is fooling who? If the governor had left the management in place and perhaps given them N100 million to upgrade the hotel, the result would have been different by now. Concorde was the best in the South East with hands managing it professionally.
Most hotels in Owerri are being managed by former Concorde staff. That shows the quality of manpower we had in Concorde. By the time government removes nepotism and compensation of political allies with government property and parastatals, Imo economy will begin to grow.
Vandals at work in Concorde Hotel
No Concorde staff picked a pin out of the hotel. I caught white men (foreigners) vandalising Concorde property. I took them to Government House and the case just died like that. The central air conditioner that cost the government N12 million, with N1.6 million installation cost, as well as two big generators, were also dismantled and taken to an unknown destination by the white men. They were caught in the act vandalising Concorde property. I called Government House and they asked for the suspects to be produced. They were taken to government and till date nothing has happened. Two heavy duty generators and central air conditioners got missing with the white men and nothing happened. You can see why Concorde cannot survive.
The problem with Statesman newspapers
This is about the only state where a substantive manager is at home earning his salaries while another person takes his place just to protect an interest. A lot of things have gone wrong in Statesman newspapers due to who knows who in government. Sometime ago, it was a young lawyer who just graduated from school and, within six months, was made the General Manager of Statesman and the place collapsed. If you open from page one to the last page, it is government adverts that are not paid for and subvention is not regular. There is no free hand to run the place. Any advert considered challenging to government in power will not be allowed to be published. Local tabloids are thriving in the state, yet Statesman finds it difficult to hit the newsstands and compete favourably with local papers. Their equipment were vandalised by government appointees. Staff are owed 17 months salaries; pensioners are almost dying. The Managing Director (MD) of the Statesman, who is on leave for two years taking salary, is a professional but the government prefers to keep him at home and pay him salary while they work with some collaborators who would want to milk the place dry.
Look at Imo Broadcasting Corporation (IBC). The board chairman has become more popular than the governor who appointed him. The airtime used in promoting the man can be used to entertain listeners or structure a unique programme for the people. The effect is that the staff are owed months of salaries. Government should be more interested in creating jobs to reduce crime wave in the state instead of initiating policies that would create unemployment.
Labour resisting attempt to privatise parastatals?
Yes. We will resist privatisation in the state because it is an anti-people policy, judging from the ones they have carried out. Labour is more organised now than in the past. We can go on strike because of one parastatal. As far as the issue of privatisation is concerned, the public and private sector are working together.
Equipment for Imo Water Board
The issue of water board is known to many. Their equipment cannot be found. Government took over their premises and their property were vandalised. Their earth-moving equipment, water treatment equipment and many others are now in private houses. So the same people who took over Water Board premises should be able to tell us where the equipment can be found. Imo water corporation has become history because the staff are operating from nowhere. People drink all kinds of water, including borehole, and there is no regulating body in place to certify the water clean. Cholera or any other disease may break out resulting from untreated water. We are just in trouble in Imo State. It is only God that is saving us. If Water Board sets out to certify boreholes in the state, you will begin to appreciate the damage already done to our body system. So the health of Imo people is endangered.
Management of parks
Today, government has perfected plans to privatise motor parks and we have over 150,000 park workers across the state. These are non-professionals who make their daily bread from the motor parks. If they remain in the parks from morning till evening, they will take their minds away from committing crime.
Way forward
The only way forward is to stop government from its privatisation policy. But if it must be done, then all stakeholders must be involved in the policy formulation and politicians will not be used to run these parastatals again in the state.
