By Joan Nwagwu
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called on President Bola Tinubu to give priority attention to employment generation, insecurity and rising inflation in the country.
Mr Festus Osifo, President of TUC made the appeal at the first Quadrennial Delegates Conference and 20th Anniversary of the congress in Abuja, on Friday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the conference is themed, ‘The Future of Work- Ensuring Fair Labour Practices and Economic Justice in a Digital Era,’
Osifo said that the current economic difficulties in the country have grossly affected workers.
He attributed insecurity, particularly in Plateau, Benue and Borno.for the skyrocketing food prices in the country.
“Farmers want to preserve their lives because when they go to farms, their lives are not safe.
“We have a lot of Nigerians, youths that are unemployed who are actually feeding the insecurity net. If they don’t have jobs, they could take to alternative means.
“We call on government; to see how we can sit down on a round table and develop strategies and systems to address the challenges,” ‘he said.
Osifo also raised concerns about the increasing number of out-of-school children in the country,
He urged government across all levels to prioritise education which he insisted, builds better individuals.
“We are calling on the federal, the state and the local governments, to come together and address, quickly, the issue of out-of-school children.
“We cannot have a country where we have between 20 million to 40 million out-of-school children. We feel that this is not right,” he said.
Speaking on casualisation and decent work, Osifo frowned at the culture of some employers who give between two to six-month contracts employment to their employers.
He stressed that government must do everything possible to promote decent jobs.
Vanessa Phala,Country Director of International Labour Organisation (ILO) to Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Ghana, commended the TUC and advised the labour centre to brace up for tougher times ahead.
“We recognise each and every effort that you have made in trying to really make workers’ lives better in Nigeria.
” We are also aware that the journey has not been easy, and it is going to be tougher because of the challenges that the President has shared with us.
“But I want to assure you of the ILO’s support in this journey, that we remain committed to working with you in this journey, to support you in whatever ways we can,”she said.
Phala urged the government and the labour centres to always embrace social dialogue in resolving issues.