Okorocha and the Suspended Imo Workers

OKOROCHA AND THE SUSPENDED IMO WORKERS

     Several Imolites and Nigerians in general have in different occasions voiced out their feelings on the above topic or issue of the moment as it pleased their individual selves either in the interest of the affected state or based on their personal interests. It‘s against this backdrop that I considered it wise that it’s time I spoke, solely for the interest of Imo state at large.

     Ordinarily I would have chosen to remain silent at this juncture owing to the fact that I detest commenting on a very sensitive issue in haste. But considering the way the polity is being overheated as regards the said ordeal, I was left with no other choice than to break my silence so that Imo would move forward just as its citizens anticipate.

      It was penultimate year that the Gov Rochas Okorocha’s led administration came up with the intention of concessioning most of the government parastatals and departments in Imo State – a matter which I candidly aired my view the moment the news arrived my desk. At a point, I almost took it personal because I perceived how sensitive the motive was. Thousands of concerned Imolites both home and abroad reacted towards the fortunate or unfortunate proposal, which never augured well with the state labour union,

      First; I want to let us comprehend fully the difference between deregulation and concession. The former is the act of selling off a certain government firm or parastatal to an interested private investor or entrepreneur due to one or two reasons. Whilst, the latter is the practice of leasing the management of a particular government firm or parastatal to an interested private investor/entrepreneur for a stipulated or given period of time owing to one or two reasons.

      Similarly, it’s also worthy for us to note that there’s what is called Public-Private Partnership; this arrangement or measure is quite different from the aforementioned ones, though a bit similar to concessioning. In a Public-Private partnership, the government leases the management of a particular section of a certain firm or parastatal to a private investor for a given period of time.

     
For instance; in the Nigeria’s power sector when the former name National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) was changed to Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), what was actually involved was public-private partnership or concessioning of a certain section in the sector. Power supply involves three major segments which are: the generation, transmission, and distribution segments/phases; these three sections are what guarantee power supply or electricity. So what the federal government did was that it concessioned the distribution segment of the power sector to a private investor.

      Various factors could lead to deregulation, concessioning or public-private partnership, as the case may be. It could be as a result of economic meltdown; in this situation, the affected government may not have the financial muscle to continue with the day-to-day running of the firm/parastatal. It could also be as a result of futility on the part of the firm; in this perspective, the government would be propelled to seek for private management with a view to improving the strength of the available man power. The power sector distribution section was concessioned owing to this factor (futility).

     
Among all, it could be as a result of corruption or docility among the management or the overall staff of the parastatal in question; in this situation, the government would prefer a private ownership or overseer in order to help correct or address the anomaly. The obvious advantage of this very measure is that, the private overseer would have more time to monitor the staff or the entire labour force thereby ascertaining their paramount plights or needs with the aim of confronting any ongoing lapses, ineffectiveness or inefficiency among them, or avoiding the occurrence of any of the menaces in future. In a nutshell, private management helps tremendously in blocking leakages or loopholes thereby improving the productivity level as well as economic status of the affected parastatal.

       Few weeks ago, the Imo State government announced the firms or parastatals that have been successfully concessioned to various private investors; the affected parastatals were asked to bear with the government. At the moment, the fundamental matter arising is no longer the concessioning, rather the workers of the affected parastatals that were therein suspended indefinitely by the government. Right now, the aggrieved workers whom have publicly decried the ordeal don’t even know what their fate entails.

      As a concerned stakeholder and patriotic Imolite, I was one of the few who supported the government’s move to concession the affected parastatals since the reasons for the proposed concessioning as were given by the government appeared genuine having learnt that the parastatals involved were currently moribund or non-productive thereby making the workers docile, but we must acknowledge the fact that there are some rudimentary conditions that must be reached before a certain firm/parastatal is concessioned by the government.

      It’s either you reabsorb the affected workers into other existing ministries, departments or agencies, or you pay them off which must include all their entitlements and amicably ask them to go home with an unquantifiable apology for the inconveniences; this very approach is expected to be handled with an optimum diplomacy. Unless a worker is found wanting due to a certain corrupt act or he/she is answerable for a certain terrible deed, then he would stand the chance of being laid off without any entitlement or benefit.

      A worker can only be suspended on two crucial grounds: if there’s a questionable character attached to his/her parson, or an investigation is being conducted in respect to his/her office owing to a corrupt practice he/she was accused of; such worker shall remain in suspension until the investigation is duly concluded by the panel set up in that regard. After the investigation if he is found guilty of the accusation, he would be laid off; but on the contrary if he was found innocent, he would be recalled and all the entitlements as well as incentives he had been deprived of while in suspension would be refunded to him immediately without much ado.

     
Now, Imo workers are being suspended without any traceable corrupt practice against their persons or any allegation levelled against them; from my understanding, that is an unfair step thus ought to be reviewed for the interest of the state at large. Even if the government intends to reabsorb them into other sectors or parastatals, as long as their indefinite suspension lasts, they should be entitled to their wages; they may be deprived of their salaries but not wages. Salary is simply the addition of a worker’s wage and his/her allowances; since they don’t go to work anymore, provided they remain bonafide Imo workers, they ought to be entitled to their various wages. Allowances which include transport, wardrobe, accommodation, health, and what have you, are only consequential if/when a worker is productive.

    
The Imo government need to revisit this austerity measure in order to salvage the affected poor Imolites from this traumatic and poignant state, after all the governor has ab initio been reckoned with as the people’s governor thus is expected to act accordingly. A governor whom has bagged several awards due to his extreme passion for the masses and the downtrodden is unarguably expected not to sleep while the said masses are seriously crying foul. We all truly understand that he is trying as well as working assiduously towards rescuing Imo State in its entirety but he must also consider the consequences of his actions in the process. Think about it!

Comr Fred Doc Nwaozor