Date: 2017-08-21

The General Secretary, National Union of Textile and Garment Workers of Nigeria, Comrade Issa Aremu has raised an alarm that Nigeria can not get out of her present economic recession with poorly paid workforce.

According to him, workers pay is the key for recovery of any nation's economy stressing that no nation can grow without adequate payment of its workforce stressing that the greatest resource of any country is human resource which has now been neglected by the government.

Comrade Aremu who is a member of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) made these pronouncements in Ilorin during an interview on a Radio Kwara personality interview programme "Playing Host".

He noted that if workers are paid as at when due, industries will grow as they would use their income to buy foodstuff , goods , textile materials and other items adding that no Nigerian worker would blow any whistle on corrupt people when he or she is hungry as corrupt people will buy such whistle from them and pay them off.

The Labour leader assured Nigerian workers both in the public and private sectors that the newly constituted National Salaries , Income and Wages Commission would work relentlessly to see to the regular payment of workers salaries and described the commission as not only moribund but dead as it had not played its constitutional role of ensuring regular payment of workers salaries and other emoluments.

Comrade Aremu disclosed that the present strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Universities Union (ASUU) is also a reflection of the bankruptcy and ineptitude of the Income and Wages commission as the commission ought to gave intervened in the matter before it went out if hand to the extent of closing Nigerian universities.

The Labour leader who is a member of the commission and Vice President , Industrial Global Union disclosed that any injury to any teacher or lecturer is injury to all Nigerians and called on the citizenry to show solidarity with the striking workers while the Federal Government should respect the agreement reached with ASUU or the Minister of Education , Adamu Adamu should resign his appointment more so that the BUHARI administration has promised to abide by the rule of law and due process.

Speaking on the private sector, Comrade Aremu lamented that the sector had been in recession before the nation started witnessing economic recession due to perennial power failure, devaluation of the Naira and smuggling of goods into the country which he called on the government to urgently address.