Wildrage:
The section quoted only stipulates the conditions precedent to laying off staffs for reason of redundancy

It's a well known legal principle that no law can force a worker on an unwilling employer

No where in the quoted section of the labour law is the minister given the power to withdraw a company's licence in a lqbour dispute as was threatened by Ngige

The most the minister can do is to compel the payment of the stipulated severance package and if the company refuses, initiate a process through the labour court or court of arbitration to compel the company to comply with the law or impose the necessary penalty

The minister acted like a law unto himself, with needless arrogance considering the economic situation of the country. His grandstanding did not cause the banks to reverse their actions so what has he achieved with his careless rantings?

The best approach is to dialogue with the banks concerned, reason with them , promise incentives and govt packages that may cushion the weight of the present economic downturn on the banks

grandstar:


It will lead to a massive increase in forex supplies to meet importers needs

koboko69:


Wow...how is this?

grandstar:


Do you know there is $20b in private dormicillary accounts in Nigeria unused?

Do you know there are billions of dollars waiting to enter this country once the currency is devalued?

Nobody is ready to sell forexat 199 when it's 350 at the black market.

My friend who exports lead stopped the business because he would be forced to convert the forex earned at 199.

I wanted to start exporting kolanuts this year but the 199 rate discouraged me.

Even people receiving $100 Western Union are seething because they convert at about 195.

IsraeliAIRFORCE:
You are right. However, the Federal Government set the precedence when they disengaged thousands from custom to immigration to DSS and so many other agencies and parastatals without recourse to the same Labour laws you cited.

FG can't be lawless and at same time wants others to comply. Things don't work that way.

koboko69:
Where are the people who almost beheaded Ngige for doing the right thing, particularly the PDP minions, and the IPAD yoots, who have even disowned Ngige for fighting for their rights. Why are they shamelessly and mysteriously peeping in those this thread and quietly walking out.

Lalasticlala mynd44 we need more opinions

Babacele:
u think they really know? Nope Mo...I don't think hate filled Igbos know about Labour laws, employee/employer relationship and best global practices....our minister Ngige should go ahead and enforce all the laws that guides jobs and employment in Naija ....n where there are no clear contract terms, it should henceforth be well spelt and legally binding too.....nobody be anybody fool anymore....God bless Keshi and Amodu ! May their soul go back to the Creator, amen.

koboko69:
Many Nigerians where awakened with a rude shock from the minister of labour and employment threatening to withdraw the licenses of banks who failed to obey the directives of the government on mass sack and come to the negotiation table.

It is a pity that, political differences, tribal and ethno religious hates have really beclouded the sound reasoning of many Nigerians. The honourable minister clearly stated and i qoute

“The federal government gave the licences to the banks to operate and if its directives are not adhered to the licences will be withdrawn if the need arises,” he said.

“We will go a step further if they continue. We know what to do. They need to comply. They need to come to the negotiation table. We halted the spate of sack in the oil industry and we succeeded.

“Even if you are going to lay off, there is a way to declare redundancy, there is a process. Section 20 of the labour act says it. You must call the unions and discuss with them. You don’t just treat them as slaves in their own country and you want us to keep quiet.

Unfortunately the same Nigerians being fought for have been taking a swipe at the honourable minister and the present government for this threats. Hauling all manner of attacks on the present government and the minister. It even degenerated to political party attacks. Was Ngige wrong in his assertions?

Lets take a look section 20 of Nigeria Labour Act.




Did any of the banks follow any of the processes outlined in the Labour Act?

As a matter of fact many Banks have even cowered their sraffs into a position where they are not allowed to form any union or join any union within their establishment. Many Nigerians workers don't even know this is very wrong.

Lets take a look at Section 9 subsection 6 of the Nigeria Labour Act.


Now my question is are private sectors exempted from the Nigeria Labour Act? A big NO, both private and public sectors are bounded by the Law.

Many Nigerian workers don't even know there rights are being trampled upon by their employers. If you go through all the contents of the Labour Act, you will be amazed at how much your rights have been trampled on. Unfortunately it is already a way of life, that even when a minister tries to correct the abnormally, the slavery mentality kicks in, the political differences kicks in, the hypocritical hate kicks in, and the whole process is stalled again.

Enough of hiding under the guise of scaring investors away. Any investor who have good intentions for Nigeria and her citizens, and are not coming to milk/use and enslave Nigerians will not be scared because of threats or sanctions occasioned by laid down laws being flouted. They knew the law before the came to invest. These investors abide by the laws in other countries and come to Nigeria to turnher citizens to slaves in their own country.

NIGERIANS, ENOUGH OF THIS SLAVERY MENTALITY!

Read the full Labour Act here:
http://www.nigeria-law.org/LabourAct.htm

Please Note; This applies to all private sector. I only used the banks as a case study because of the honourable minister's threat to withdraw licenses of defaulting banks.

koboko69:


You are very funny. . We are talking about covering about 20% . We all know oil brings more than 70% of our fx.

grandstar:


Do you know that remittances brought in $21b in 2014?

Oil may bring in the bulk presently but it has to be appropriately priced or else artificial scarcity of the sort that is happening now will occur.

Many oil exporting countries like Russia and Columbia have seen massive falls in the value of their currencies following the crash in oil prices. They are not experiencing dollar shortages because they accepted market realities.

Even super prudent Norway , a country whose budget will balance if oil hit $20 a barrel saw a 26% reduction in the value of its currency.

Even Canada with a buoyant oil sector and we'll diversified economy saw the Canadian dollar go from parity to the dollar to 1 US $ buying 1.30 Can $.

When your forex earnings are going down, your currency will naturally depreciate.When there is a massive influx, it will appreciate.

Just like the mathematician does not determine 1+1=2, likewise you do not need the IMF to tell us the obvious. This is simple economics. Even the Hausa forex traders know this.

koboko69:
Where are the people who almost beheaded Ngige for doing the right thing, particularly the PDP minions, and the IPAD yoots, who have even disowned Ngige for fighting for their rights. Why are they shamelessly and mysteriously peeping in those this thread and quietly walking out.

Lalasticlala mynd44 we need more opinions

IsraeliAIRFORCE:
Devil calling saints names.

Lai Mohammed

dfrost:


koboko69 I concur with all your assertions but look at things from the other side of the divide too:

1. Has the government protected the rights of the employees ever since even when Labour intervenes? Do you think of there was a case where the government protected, people won't tap into such and use that as a precedent to use their rights?

2. What ever happened to dialogue instead of threatening?

3. Of course Ngige must have seen this coming so proactive measures of holding town hall meetings with stakeholders should have been the best option. What do you think?


Before answering, please keep an open mind. I'm not a politician nor partisan.

koboko69:


The option was dialogue was already opened before. The minister made the directives that sackings be suspended and negotiations should go on first, not up to a week after another bank announced laying off staffs. That was what occassioned the threat. Read Ngige's statement again. This as been going on in the past, but no minister had ever taken any action. Ngige should be applauded for this.

dfrost:


Thanks for the promptness in replying. What of points 1 and 3 raised?

koboko69:


This is the first time the government is taking proactive steps to stop this kind of mass sacking trend.

koboko69:


Some OPEC countries have devalued their currency, how exactly has it helped their economy? Hmm, which remittances brought $21bn? If the government raked on $21bn asides oil money in 2014, Jonathan has a billion questions to ans

In b/w do u know the fx reserves in the countries u mentioned?

Nigeria didn't really have dollar shortage when oil fell during Yar'Adua's reign, why....ans is a robust foreign reserve still strong enough to sustain a 15months import needs of Nigerians.

DMeanMan:


From your comment, it is easy to deduce that you can never champion a cause. No leader instinct, no zeal or push.

From your word, You are not Bold, So you can't stand for nothing, you can't hold your own.

You are just a directionlesss individual.

I deduced all this from your comment that was purely insensible and devoid of complete reasoning. Sorry

koboko69:
Lol...Sure u can.

MVLOX:


Its either u are an under age or u are just too stupid to knw wen adults re discussing a very serious issue....ODE....I would have asked God to give u sense but u practically nid more.... A new BRAIN