The Nigeria Labour Congress, has said Nigerians are not getting any value from the democratic rule which Nigerians embraced again about 15 years ago.
In a communique at the end of its National Executive Committee meeting in Enugu, the labour body reviewed developments in the polity and said that despite more than 15 years of unbroken democracy in the country, the people have little dividends to show for it.
Abdulwaheed Omar
Signed by its president, Abdulwaheed Omar and former acting General Secretary, Chris Uyot, the statement said serial acts of impunity, abuse of human rights, harassment of media, disruption of peaceful protests, and diminishing job opportunities in the country during the period is proof of inadequacy of governance.
The NLC urged the government to make democracy more benevolent and beneficial to the people, saying government efforts so far are very inadequate in the quest to redress these problems on a permanent basis.
The Congress, however, commended the Independent National Electoral Commission for improved performance in the conduct of elections in recent times, but cautioned against the over-militarization of election zones by the government during elections, as it could be counter-productive.
“The NEC-in-session called on the government to ensure that the 2015 general elections are free, fair, credible and acceptable,” the communiqué says.
Concerning the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease, in the country and the subsequent panic, NLC commended government for the proactive measures taken so far to contain the spread of the disease, urging it to further do all that is necessary to secure the entire populace from the activities of armed insurgent groups.
“The NEC-in-session resolved to get all employers of Labour to maintain a group life assurance policy for their employees with a minimum benefit of three times total emolument in line with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act 2014, Section 4 (5).
“The session noted with concern the delay by government in implementing the 33.3 per cent increase in pension payment approved by stakeholders and vowed to secure its implementation as soon as possible,” the NLC said.