Ngige and the drivers of employment

Senator Chris Nwabueze Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment has been mentioned frequently in the news lately. The following is the statement that motivated the coverage he got:

Following the spate of retrenchment in the banking sector, Senator Ngige, while attending an International Labour Organisation (ILO) Summit in Geneva, Switzerland said (what is it they drink abroad that makes them say things?): “In this wise, all the retrenchments and redundancies done in the last four months and all proposed ones should be put on hold, pending the outcome of the proposed stakeholder summit for the banking, insurance and financial institutions employers and employees, slated for the first week in July.” He went further to say “This is as a result of the apprehension by my office of the various disputes in the sector and in compliance with the provisions of the labour laws of Nigeria”.

Apparently, he went further to suggest that the government could withdraw the licenses of any Nigerian bank (s) that do not follow the instruction. To fully understand the motivations of the minister, let me avail you of one of his previous statements since he became the minister in November 2015. In his earlier days, he had said that the ministry under his leadership would ensure that the “menace of employment in Nigeria was effectively tackled”. He went further to say “we will be at the forefront of the battle to stop the scourge of unemployment in the country”. He also said “while it will not be possible for the federal government to provide everyone with employment opportunities, it could provide the enabling environment for all the sectors to thrive”.

There are two conclusions we can draw from these statements. Let us examine one after the other:

First, though and rightly so, many people lampooned the minister for the statement on the retrenchments in the banking sector, he is right to intervene and offer the government’s support in order to stop them. This is so because the relations between every employer in this country and that of their staffs and workers fall within his remit and that of the ministry. Where the Senator showed a gross lack of understanding of his remit and the powers of his ministry is when he suggested the licences of banks that flout his instructions could be withdrawn. Indeed, I think the Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA) and its leadership should be commended for the strong statement it put out because some of these statements, when allowed to go unchallenged, could become a self fulfilling prophecy.

Second, it is possible someone may have told Senator Ngige that his performance in office would be judged by the dynamics of unemployment in the country, or the former governor may have thought that is the case, or an ignorant civil servant may have provided a baseless briefing. The ministry of labour and employment and the minister that oversees it has no contributions or relations to anyone that is unemployed. This is the first thing he needs to understand. His brief and that of his ministry commences when someone is employed because the labour laws do not cover unemployed people. So, when he started work in the ministry and started to discuss how they should be “change agent” and “deal with the scourge of unemployment”, he is going beyond his brief. The Ministry of Labour and Employment is suppose to do, and I am sure is expected to do, what it “says on the tin”– and that is labour and employment relations.

Now, I can understand why the minster may be apprehensive. Unemployment in the first quarter of 2016 was 12.1%, compared to 10.4% in the last quarter of 2015. This is the worst level of unemployment since the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) started to provide quarterly unemployment statistics in the first quarter of 2014. It also comes at the back of disappointing economic growth rate in the first quarter of 2016 as Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shrank by 0.36%. Though only few data points yet, Nigeria’s unemployment data show the expected (what economists call the Okun’s law) relationship with growth. But if this is what makes the minister apprehensive, he should not be, because this is beyond his remit.

However, because he has made several statements about unemployment, some of which I have quoted above, demonstrates beyond reasonable doubt that the minister does not understand that the ministry, nor him, have the capacity, nor the mandate to drive employment. It also means that he does not understand the factors that drive employment. Indeed, the underlying arguments in the statements he has made before now suggests and expands the perception that President Muhammadu Buhari administration believes the state can drive investment, growth and employment, not by merely been a facilitator, but by been an active player. It may not be true in the actual sense, but that perception and mindset keeps appearing in statements made by President and some personalities in the government, as shown by Ngige.

In conclusion, for their sake, let me reiterate that investment, growth and the employment they generate does not respond to threats, aggression, and legislation (except that which underpins investment). They respond to policies, and we are not seeing nor hearing many of them. I thank you.

 

Ogho Okiti