Olusesan warns: No new Nigeria can rise on workers’ sweat without pension security
The National President of the Precision, Electrical and Related Equipment Senior Staff Association (PERESSA), Comrade Rufus Olusesan, has warned that Nigeria cannot achieve genuine economic transformation while workers continue to endure poor welfare, job insecurity and uncertainty over their retirement.
Olusesan gave the warning in his solidarity message at the 2026 workshop of the Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN), held on October 30, 2026.
He argued that workers must occupy a central position in Nigeria’s economic and political transition rather than remain at the receiving end of government policies.
“You cannot talk about economic justice when minimum wage cannot buy a bag of rice. You cannot talk of transition when workers’ rights are violated with impunity,” he declared.
He added: “You cannot build a new Nigeria on the sweat of casual workers, without welfare, without pension, without dignity.”
Olusesan noted that Nigeria was navigating difficult economic realities, including fuel subsidy removal, the floating of the naira, rising inflation and the energy crisis, warning that the burden of these reforms must not be allowed to fall disproportionately on workers.
“One truth must be told loud and clear: There can be no genuine transition without workers at the centre,” he said.
He identified the protection of workers’ rights, improvement of welfare and the pursuit of economic justice as three critical demands that must shape the country’s transition.
According to him, the growing practices of casualisation, outsourcing and algorithmic management are threatening workers’ rights, particularly their freedom to organise, bargain collectively and secure decent employment.
On workers’ welfare, Olusesan insisted that access to food, healthcare, education and other basic necessities should not be treated as privileges.
“Welfare is not a privilege. Welfare is a right. A worker who cannot feed his family, access healthcare or send his children to school cannot be productive,” he stated.
He further warned against economic policies that enrich a privileged few while pushing millions of workers deeper into poverty.
“Transition without justice is oppression. Any economic reform that enriches a few and pauperises millions of workers is unjust and unsustainable,” he said.
The PERESSA president commended LAWAN for its longstanding contributions to the labour movement, describing labour writers as defenders and chroniclers of workers’ struggles.
