‘We are running an unjust political and economic arrangement in Nigeria’

Comrade Abiodun Aremu, the General-Secretary, Joint Action Front (JAF), an affiliate of the Nigerian Labour congress in this interview with KAYODE ADELOWOKAN, expressed his feelings on the unfair treatment Nigeria meted to retirees in the country especially those excluded from the coverage of the contributory pension scheme. He blamed the rise of corruption in the country on the prevailing negative culture of the Nigerian society. Excerpt;

How will you describe the attitude of some state governments who owe arrears of pension to retirees?

There is need for Nigerians to understand the basic arrangement of the society, first, in terms of the economic system of the society. Economy or production is the base of every society and whatever is the arrangement; the political and economic arrangement determines the position with which the individual person in the society will be.

In Nigeria, we are running an unjust political and economic arrangement that is concerned about greed and profits which are essential features of exploitation. Once an economic is driven by exploitative tendency, that economy is bound to operate a politically corrupt society and for anybody to relay the high level of corruption in the society, he/she must understand the kind of economic arrangement that we have in the country.

Today, the cure policy of the government is privatization of the economy. Government is not the key driver of the Nigeria economy and to that extent; it opens up the economy for those private individuals whose interest is greed and profits at the expense of the social welfare of the majority of Nigerians.

When you are now talking about corruption in the pension industry; it is quite disturbing at the high fly of corruption in the country. Pension just a part of earn earned labour of any worker because when you work, what you are paid is a fraction of your labour input. The fractions of that labour input that are being kept and are supposed to be invested are what constitute your gratuity and pensions which are suppose to be given to you and once you have an economic arrangement that the focus of those who run it government is greed and profits then, what you have                is looting; various corrupt atrocities because money that are supposed to be legitimately dispensed to the beneficiaries now become money that are being looted and mismanaged.

When you are now talking about the rising profile of corruption in Nigeria, it comes in the context of the economy because if the economic arrangement comes with the intention of serving the people, there will be no money to loot. For instance, there are over 50 million unemployed Nigerian youths today and if those money are to be deployed into the productive sectors, into creating economic opportunities, economic base which will allow a lot of people to work, then, you will discover that Nigerians need more money but when those money are not channeled to social welfare because by virtue of the adoption of the economic agenda of no liberalism, it will make Nigeria dependent on the western creditors’ nations and to the dictates of IMF, world bank and world trade organization. Part of the demand from these creditors’ nations approves that there must be no subsidy, so the government have no business in business. The economy must be privatised and once there is privatization /deregulation, the concern is basically profits. When you are now talking of fighting corruption within an established institution, it will not work, because the looted money has already become an avenue to corrupt the system, escape justice and also to manipulate the judiciary.

If we truly need to fight corruption, we need to fight it from a holistic perspective. Our present Nigeria leaders cannot fight corruption because they earn their profits from corruption. There is nowhere a system that engender corruption can fight corruption, meaning Nigerians must be prepared for a struggle to recover their sovereignty; this is a struggle to ensure political and economic independence because when you talk of independence, it is system that gives you the power to run your own affairs in the way that suits your needs and aspiration. Nigeria is not independent today because we are still dependent on the creditor’s nations’ dictates and that is why you find the minister of finance, CBN governors, economic planning ministers and others that are ministers or holding executives position today only by the virtue of recognition by the IMF and the world bank whose policies are anti-poor and anti-welfare of the people. Whose policies essentially taking away jobs and never create any job and that is what basically create room for corruption and never think those who profit from corruption will in turn now fight corruption.

The Economic and Finance Corrupt Commission (EFCC) was never the creation of the Nigerians rather was part of the requirements from the creditor's nations. In term of your running democracy; democracy to an average Nigerians especially the over 50 million unemployed youths is that how much access to job opportunity do I have; democracy to the market traders is how could I access stock and capital as to run my small business to earn decent means of livelihood and to farmers in the rural areas is how they are going to access necessary farm input so as to carry out their farming.

Similarly, democracy to workers is how their fruit of labour which they have legitimately contributed can be given to them. Once we proceed from that context then we will see that there is need for struggle to fight for our total independent; there is need for a struggle to rid off present looters and exploiters from Nigeria who are surviving by the grace of corruption. There is need to overthrow the present unjust order because it is the looted money that is being use to corrupt the political system has now become the highest bidder and it is this same looted money that make an election to be do or die affairs because politics has now become a business enterprise; once you can find your way into the office then you can access funds that are not through your own productive effort. Being in the office, you have access to all forms of subsidy that are denied the people and that is why we have in the presidency, despite their stupendously accumulations of public wealth they still sustained in the budget that cater for them and their children. Let us ask, what they do with that Money they falsefully accumulated because they are on subsidy of food, medical facility, fuel, education because their children are catered for from the state resources. Invariably, they are beneficiary of all forms of subsidy even from collective wealth of the country. So why would they not now lynch from other wealth of resources that should have been available to develop infrastructures, provide public health, public education and to provide services that people can derive maximum happiness and security of lives and property is what we are expecting.

Economy of greed and profits means you are not your brother's keeper, for there to be hunger or hungry people in the society, it means that there people who have looted what would have be useful for every Nigerians. So, you cannot expect corruption not to rise when the zeal is to loot and that is why all the sectors of Nigeria economy is collapsing; is it the aviation industry you may want to talk about or banking industry? We are all witnesses to the revolution that took place in the banking sector some years back; banks are suppose to operate on private capital; when the banking industry were failing; the likes of intercontinental bank, Oceanic bank and a host of others, they were bail out by public capital.

Similarly, refinery licences have been given to over 40 Nigerian individuals and companies yet none of them have been able to build a single refinery yet they want to take over the refineries constructed with public resources. Licenses were given to people to generate electricity none of them have generated any rather what they want to do is to take over Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in which all the public resources have been invested in, the same thing happen in the aviation sector; they kill the Nigerian Airways. Viz-a-viz are the things that inform the impunity for them to loot public resources and use the same resource to undermine the law. There is nothing like the rule of law in Nigeria, what we have is the rule of the rich against the poor. Looking at it within the context of the objectives economy as stated in the section 6 of the Nigeria constitution is clear that wealth shall not be concentrated in few hands at the expense of the majority but what we have today is few Nigerians who are stupendously rich. Alhaji Alico Dangote is the classical example of those who have almost looted the country dry. You can go and surveys then find out from any of the Dangote companies today; we have the case of over 700 workers laid off in 2009 from Dangote pastal, Ikorodu, for demanding a review in their conditions of service. These and many others are what created avenue for looting public funds and the only way to stop corruption from being on the rise is not to expect the EFCC nor the code of conduct bureau to address those issues because those institutions lack the capacity to address the issues but the people can address those issues by showing their angers either by stoning some these people and make the society ungovernable for them and comfortable at any stand. Revolution is the only way to get the people to rally round themselves and make sure that there is definite end to corruption, also have their own political party that can bid for power because the whole set up of the society now is about power. Nigerians must begin to realise, without a party of the people, that want to give jobs to people, that wants to run the economy in such a way that every Nigerians will access to education, good health care facility, decent job, social welfare, every Nigerians shall be cater for by the state. Even in the advance capitalist country, they grant social welfare concession to the people because they know that without that, the society will collapse. Here, our society is going down because the economic arrangement only allows the few in the society to live and be rich on the labour and sweat of others.

The mentality of the greed which have infected the society so deep have been carried to the level of callousness where you have no regard for a fellow human begin even the compassion for the aged is lost; they wait till the aged will wait on the queue and in most cases die there yet they are not bordered, only to give empty promises that they are going to pay and at the end of the day, nothing will be heard.

The pension money is not begging money rather it is legitimate money that the people have worked for, so both the state and federal that woe pensioners within their jurisdiction have the responsibility to pay and that was what informed the protest beyond just paying but also agitating for a living pension. A living pension means that their pension must relate to the prevailing economic situations. In which way, if there is inflation that affect pension then the pension payment must be improve upon on the basis of that so that they can earn the value. Much as workers, we want improvement in their wages and conditions of service, the retirees who had also worked must be granted some of those awards, so that is why if you look at the concept of the present protest it not just about the federal government owing pensioners money, the state are also owing,  As a matter of fact, the Lagos State Union of Pensioners of Nigeria has declared the state government has the most notorious in undermining the implementations of the various awards harmonization awards of pension there was a six years award 42%, 6%,15% which are awards on harmonization which are given  between 2000 and 2007 which the Lagos State government have failed to implement, there was some where they have tried to implement and pay for instance like the one of year 2000 where you have that 142%, there is a six years of pension that ought to have been paid those pensioners between year 2000 and 2006, as at today the Lagos State government still owes that 142% for about three years due to the pensioners. because they have only paid three years out of that, there was these issue of the award of 2003 which was the six per cent for the past 10 years Lagos State government has not paid any kobo, As a matter of fact LSG was the only government because of its notoriety and viciousness that challenged those awards by the federal has to improve the life of the pensioners in court and they were defeated that these are there legitimate earnings and they must have it and so that is the context in which we have found ourselves and that is why for JAF it is not just enough to say pay the pensioners what you are owing, rather, it is to ensure that the pension funds are managed by the beneficiary themselves, the pension fund are paid prompt as at when due, the pension fund must be a living fund for them.

In the same vein, our society has the responsibility to cater for the aged and that is what happened in every responsible society. If you look at the constitution today, it makes it mandatory for the government as part of its social welfare responsibility as stated under section 16 that “the state shall ensure maximum happiness of its citizenry as to include; a national minimum living wage...” that is what is in the constitution, pension for the aged. Beyond even given them their legitimate allowance, the aged deserve some compassion from the path of the state and that is why a responsible society would make medical facility available to the aged in the society free to any level including free transportation that is comfortable. These among many others are part of the struggle that Joint Action Front (JAF) is all out for, to correct the corruption level in the society.

In your view how have your retiring members benefited from the activities of PenCom especially regarding the arrears of pension owed to them ?

The issue clearly is at the door step of State governments because pensions are legitimate earnings of the workers. As to the National Pension Commission (PenCom), that is just for the purpose of managing the pensions and if you set up a commission to look into pension cases and that commission has now become a vehicle for looting, it shows you the looting character in the government because there is no reason whereby the agency that was empowered to recover and ascertain pension funds thereafter turned itself to a looting. The perfect example is the case of police pension fund.

The law in our society protects the rich and regards as criminal activities individuals that may steal goat and cause him to go to jail for three years without an option of fine but  gives option of fine to those that steal billions of naira The option here is as small as of N750,000 which is easy to pay and still walk freely in the society.

It is the law in our society that allows the rich to escape justice.

The laws are specifically made to benefit the looters in the society, it encourages corruption because if you have an option to go and loot and you return you have the option of paying N750,000 the why will you not loot?

You cannot expect that law to change because it is a deliberate plan to free those who are looting, and you cannot loot without relating on the path of that who have looted the society and that is the linkage.

In Nigeria today there is no poor man that can access the loan of N10,000 without collateral; some of the looting funds becomes a collateral to the looters

Meanwhile if the law has been such that there is capital punishment for those that loot no one we go near looting the resources of the society because those funds are meant to take care of social welfare responsibility of the society.

Therefore if you don't want corruption and looting to be on the rise you have to change the present system that encourages looting and exploitation, we need a system that take care of the welfare and happiness of Nigerians. So the issue goes beyond paying the pensioners. The issue also has to do with the struggle to ensure that the resources of the Nigerians are judiciously deployed to the benefit of every Nigerian.

What is labour doing  about pension arrears owed by other states governments or are you  after only Lagos ?

Anyway, Labour is in the best position to explain it own plan but at the level of JAF, we are committed to taking up the cases of pensioners to wherever those cases may be in Nigeria because what has happened in the last few days has been an eye opening. Before now, Lagos state government use to give the impression that they owe nobody any pension; it took the declaration of this protest by pensioners to unveil the lies that has been given to the public.

We want to encourage the union of every states; either Lagos, Osun, Rivers, Imo, Kaduna, Kano, Maiduguri and others to bring out their fact and expose those government owing them in terms of their commitment to paying them as at when due.

How convinced are you that government will honour the agreement reached with Labour and its affiliates?

There is a caveat in the statement released by labour that if by first week of May 2013, if those agreements are not honoured, they will be back to the streets. For us in the Joint Action Front (JAF), we don't trust this government for any reason, there is no reason why anybody should have confidence in this government; this government have the catalogues of precedents of dialogues, agreements and promises reached that it has refused to honour in the time past.