Nigeria’s railway cannot function efficiently with privatisation, says Ajiji

By Joy Obakeye

The Nigeria Union of Railway Workers says the move by the Federal Government to privatise the railway sector may threaten job security, considering the antecedent of other sectors.

National President of the union, Comrade Innocent Ajiji disclosed this while speaking with newly elected executive members of Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN) in Lagos.

Comrade Ajiji while reacting to comments on the possible unbundling of the Nigerian Railway Corporation by the Federal Government stressed that there is no organisation that has been privatised in Nigeria that is working perfectly. While citing the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), now Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), comrade Ajiji maintained that “now you talk about railways that provide huge manpower and training for workers to be managed by an individual? That is not possible. It is the Federal Government that owns the nation’s security, owns the railway and everything, yet it cannot protect the rail line, workers and even our passengers.

“So, how can an individual protect all these? We have advised them not to try that, and if they do, there are terms and conditions recognised by law that must be met, of which we must come back to the drawing table and discuss it. But if they go behind us to unbundle the sector, we will resist it with our last blood.”

He stressed that the union cannot work with private organisations.

“Taking NEPA as a case study, it had about 66,000 workers when it was unbundled. But today, you will find out that NEPA is unbundled to so many quarters and so many people lost their jobs. That is what will also happen to the railway if unbundled.

“Leaving us to private individuals is like holding nothing in your hands, because they could wake up anyday and sack you. Our job security would be threatened. The investor would only be concerned about how to make profits, which solely would be by attacking the personnel cost index through reduction of staff strength.”

Speaking on workers welfare, Comrade Ajiji said several efforts for review of salaries and allowances were made, but implementation remains the issue.

“In 2021, we went on three days of industrial action that lasted for two days after which the then Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi intervened and we suspended the strike. He went into action and secured an approval of 95 per cent salary increase for railway workers, but as we speak now, the approval is yet to be implemented.”

“When you take the pay slip of a Grade Level-5 worker in a railway that collects about N33, 000, by the time you deduct necessary taxes, the salary drops to N26,000. That is what railway workers have been collecting till date.

Also speaking on the issue, the Secretary General, Comrade Segun Esan said that, ” We have been to the National Assembly, Salaries and Wages Commission, as well as Budget and National Planning.

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All of them were asking for one document or the other, which we have provided, yet no salary increase has been effected. While we are hoping that something will be done soon, if nothing is done, however, we may have to go back to the strike we suspended in 2021. That is our position.

“There are lots of allowances stated in our terms of service that workers are supposed to benefit, but the railway management are not paying, because those allowances are supposed to be paid based on the revenue generated. We are not making money, What we are currently generating is not even enough to fuel the locomotives because of the high cost of diesel.”