Labour Lens: NUT National President, Audu Titus Amba Speaks On Safety Of Schools Amid Kidnappings

[00:00:00]A year after Nigeria adopted a 70,000 naira national minimum wage, fresh conversations are already emerging over what workers should earn in an economy grappling with inflation and rising living cost. Labour leaders say while some state governments have begun paying above 100,000 naira, the reality facing workers today suggests that even the figure may soon come under scrutiny.

[00:00:25]>> Whether they now know what it should be.

[00:00:30]I will tell you heck no. It took a meeting between Labour and the president for us to gain 70,000.

[00:00:39]>> [snorts] >> It took that meeting for us to reduce the number of years to three years from five years. And then they now went back, the people that say they can't pay more than 60,000.

[00:00:53]And they're paying 85.

[00:00:55]They're paying 100.

[00:00:57]>> Organized Labour maintains that a new wage figure must emerge through the statutory negotiation process involving Labour centers, employers, and government under a tripartite arrangement.

[00:01:10]>> We intend to earliest by July commence the process of negotiation. And the world is expecting him to go and uh back up his proposal with some statistics on why it should be 100,000. And why we should negotiate.

[00:01:28]>> This brings us to the national minimum wage.

[00:01:31]The current act expires exactly next year.

[00:01:36]And we have announced that negotiation will commence by July 2026 to avoid the painful delay of the past.

[00:01:44]As soon as we leave here, we shall write again to the government demanding a commencement of the process for renegotiating the national minimum wage.

[00:01:54]We demand nothing less than a genuine living wage that will replace today's high cost of living to reality.

[00:02:01]We once again demand immediate relief measure by government at all level until the new minimum wage is signed into law.

[00:02:11]We also reject outright any attempt to ask the minimum wage or to levy further burdens on the common Nigerians.

[00:02:20]>> Mission of the International Labor Conference has also centered on decent work, social justice, and income security for workers.

[00:02:29]>> And the the report does a good job of explaining what other risks workers face. So, first of all, there's the question of how old managerial prerogatives are expanded by AI and magnify the power and authority that exists in workplaces. And this increases the pace of work, increases surveillance of work, which creates a risk to occupational health and safety, which in many case are are are not are are not treated in the public sphere.

[00:03:06]>> Across several states of the federation, teachers marched in solidarity with their colleagues and students abducted by gunmen in Oyo state. The protest organized by the Nigerian Union of Teachers highlights growing concerns over the safety of schools and the increasing vulnerability of teachers and learners to criminal attacks. For the union, the abduction of 139 students and seven teachers is yet another grim reminder of the security challenges confronting the education sector.

[00:03:37]The NUT says schools should be centers of learning and not targets for kidnappers and other criminal elements.

[00:03:44]The national president of the union described the incident as tragic and unacceptable, stressing that teachers should not have to risk their lives simply for carrying out their professional duties. He expressed concerns over reports that two of the abducted teachers may have lost their lives, while several others remain in captivity. The union is calling for urgent and coordinated action. The NUT is also demanding stronger security around schools, improved intelligence gathering, and the full implementation of safe schools initiatives across the country.

[00:04:19]The union warns that unless decisive action is taken, insecurity will continue to undermine learning, disrupt academic activities, and erode public confidence in the nation's education system.

[00:04:36]>> The violence against workers and labor leaders in Nigeria was stable in this conference, and a lot of countries supported. Now, again, we are talking about the AI. We're now in the world of AI. Now, if we don't do fast, workers may face a lot of issues tomorrow, issues of retrenchment. Because we talk now, AI is covering virtually all everything. In as much as we appreciate AI and the innovation, we should look at the future of workers in the world, not even only in Nigeria. It is not everything you get on AI that is accurate. Even sometimes they will call it tell you that, "Look, whatever I get there, go and verify." That is to tell you that workers are still important even in the face of the AI. But, because of the kind of society we find ourselves, what will happen to workers tomorrow? We have to look at at that. So, from this conference again, at least we'll be able to study decent work in a platform economy. This is area that people hardly look at. You know, the the the the platform economy is like third party that you'll be bringing the seller and the buyer together. How are these people treated? Are they fairly treated? It's part of the issues and topics that were treated at this conference.

[00:06:06]>> For me, the 114th session of the International Labour Conference has been an interesting one.

[00:06:14]So, we've um you know, as you already know, we've touched issues concerning platform economy, um gender equality, technology and AI.

[00:06:25]And then for me, such topics are actually what is turning around the workplace for us today.

[00:06:32]>> Platform economy is already here. You know, platform economy as regards to this year ILO convention is about artificial intelligent AI.

[00:06:43]So, it's already here and we in Africa, we in Nigeria, we have to brave up to support that. The decent to work in the platform as a committee I am and whatever we are discussing there have to centered on how people know that, okay, even when we are going to AI, we should still do decent work. Workers' rights supposed to still be maintained and workers supposed to still have the privileges they enjoy.

[00:07:07]>> We need to identify those people that are captured in this um set up, in this group.

[00:07:14]Because as of today, there are so many people that work from home.

[00:07:19]They do jobs that are not really really captured by the laws, by the guidelines that we have. So, we need to fish them out. We need to know the number because that one will give us um to the extent we need to go about them so that they will be captured. So, it is very important that they are identified, properly identified, and then we need to now make suitable laws. If existing laws have captured them, yeah, very good. But in the areas because people that work from home needs to be integrated properly into the society, into the benefits that they need to enjoy as workers, into enjoying all that social amenities that are meant to be for workers. Not just that they are scattered. Just like we have been discussing, many of them are in silos, not really inculcated into what is happening around them. They may not even know what is in there for them. So, we need to identify them. We need to bring them together, and we need to see to what extent they are covered and protected. So, it is that that will guide us to know how much input we need to give into this to make sure that they are a going concern and the discussion around decent work actually captures them.

[00:08:34]>> On the profile interview segment this week, I will be speaking with the national president of the National Union of Teachers. He brings us up to speed on activities that shape the 114th ILC conference in Geneva, Switzerland, while also highlighting the importance of safety in our schools.

[00:08:55]It's good to have you on the program.

[00:08:58]>> Thank you for having me, Sharon.

[00:08:59]>> A lot has been happening in the world of work, and unfortunately, there's this unfortunate incident that affects a group of workers, mainly teachers. An incident happened in on May 15th, and this led to a mass protest across the nation. Kindly get us up to speed on why it was of utmost importance for you as a leader of NUT to mobilize members to take this step.

[00:09:29]>> Yeah, thank you very much, Sharon, for having me. And this is a privilege, and I want to I you for that.

[00:09:37]Yeah, yeah, we we are teachers we as leaders of Nigerian teachers we felt uh very very very worried about the situation that had happened and or has been happening. Let me put it this way. Because this is not the first time you could recall that numerous incidents have been happening uh attacks in our school even as far back as uh uh some years back the Chibok girls, the Dapchi girls, and all what not. And uh we felt them uh the those incidents that have been happening from the northeast we uh we are all aware as Nigerian that we are tagging it as Boko Haram.

[00:10:23]That is uh western education is prohibited. That's the the slogan then.

[00:10:30]And uh little did we know that uh it would escalate to where we find ourselves today.

[00:10:39]Uh that uh uh we don't know uh the aim of an objective of why it has come down to part of the northwest and even now it is it has moved down to the south most especially the west the west.

[00:10:57]Uh of recent uh the one that happened in in Kebbi state and even Niger where in Kebbi our pupils our learners were uh taken away from their sleep around 3:00 a.m.

[00:11:16]early morning and uh a vice principal of a school was was killed uh in the presence of his family and they kidnap uh of uh uh the the students [clears throat] in one of the mission school, Catholic school in Niger state.

[00:11:36]Uh this incident happened and uh as leaders of Nigerian teachers, we came up with a statement condemning it completely.

[00:11:47]Uh we did mention that uh uh if it persists, uh we'll have no alternative than to take action because uh it is when uh a place of work is safe that you could go and uh maybe work.

[00:12:05]Uh little did we know that a similar incident possibly let me use the word worst incident uh we happen in one of our schools in in Oyo state.

[00:12:18]Um which uh uh brought about the the brutal killing of a teacher in the school and uh after taking away into captive about 39 students and learners uh and seven teachers were also kidnapped.

[00:12:38]And uh we all aware that one of them was later beheaded.

[00:12:45]And uh we felt that uh it was worrisome.

[00:12:51]And we as leaders of Nigerian teachers, we felt very worried and concerned about it.

[00:12:58]Uh we have no alternative As I speak, and these learners and students are still in the hand of the captives.

[00:13:06]And so also our colleagues, teachers, are also there.

[00:13:12]Day in, day out, you will see various video uh coming out uh in social media where uh they would they would be shouting, crying, mentioning names of NUT, government, security agencies, and all what not. In fact, teachers in Oyo State, since this incident happened, have been demoralized.

[00:13:37]And we were very >> to that. I was almost getting to that [clears throat] to ask what has been the feedback from your members. Despite the fact that there was nationwide protest against this development, what has been the feedback? And would you say that um you were able to pass across the necessary message needed for every stakeholder to probably understand?

[00:14:00]>> Sure. Sure. Sure, we did. Sure, we did.

[00:14:03]After after uh declaring withdrawal of service of teachers in Oyo State, so that uh they will remain in their houses to press for the uh the release of our colleagues and the learners. We also protested all over the country in solidarity uh to our teachers. And I want to assure you that that action that we did has gone a long way to maybe put pressure on the government to make sure that uh our schools are safe because the responsibility of government is to provide uh protect life and property of his own citizen.

[00:14:44]And uh as it were today, uh the schools are properties, and the teachers and learners, too, uh in our schools are the lives.

[00:14:54]And if these two very important uh aspect are not protected, then there uh something is wrong somewhere. Sharon, you believe with me that as you were in the studio now, because you are sure of your safety, and that's why you are there. And any other person, if >> [clears throat] >> if you are not sure of your safety, you wouldn't be where you are today. So, if at the point of duty you are not protected, you are not sure of your safety, then your life matters first before any other thing. So, if your life is threatened, uh you wouldn't be there. So, that's why we felt that uh for the bandits and kidnappers to now turn the face of attacking our schools, uh is beginning to be worrisome.

[00:15:48]That that the uh the the children of uh the less privileged can't go to school.

[00:15:56]And which is very, very bad.

[00:15:58]If you look at it critically, uh most of the schools that are being attacked are schools that are in our hamlets and villages where uh it is the less privileged that are there.

[00:16:11]>> It takes a lot of sacrifice for a teacher to remain in a particular community, and uh probably does not even have maybe basic amenities. So, psychologically, would you say that you would foresee um a future where teachers would not want to be posted to remote areas?

[00:16:28]>> Uh ordinarily, ordinarily, every teacher, as I speak, that is teaching in a remote area is teaching under fear.

[00:16:36]Take it or leave it.

[00:16:38]Because um as it were, uh he is vulnerable. Vulnerable in the sense that attacks are being perpetrated in our remote villages where there wouldn't be any immediate help.

[00:16:53]So, this bandit comes into such area, do what they want to go do, pick whoever they want to pick, and take into captivity, both the teacher and the learner.

[00:17:06]And we felt um uh that shouldn't continue.

[00:17:10]Uh because uh we we have to be uh sure of our safety before we will go to teach. The student have to be sure of their safety before they will go to school for them to be taught by teachers.

[00:17:25]So, that is the situation we we find ourselves and and [clears throat] government uh need to intensify effort to make sure that our school are safe for learning to take place. Today, we are talking about the basic education that is being attacked.

[00:17:42]That is primary and secondary school.

[00:17:44]Nobody can can say of what may happen tomorrow if uh measures are not taken immediately to be able to nip this thing at the board. And as as we said, uh if it persists, uh then they will have no alternative.

[00:17:59]>> me to the next question. What are your clear demands to the government? I believe strongly that the teachers will be back, the students will be back by God's grace.

[00:18:10]>> Our prayer they will be back.

[00:18:12]>> But as a as a leader leading workers in this um workforce, what are your clear demands to government and relevant stakeholders to ensure that we have safe schools?

[00:18:25]>> First and foremost, Sharon, our responsibilities as as teachers is to teach our peoples, to teach our younger generation. That is the profession that we've chosen to do as teachers.

[00:18:39]And uh no country develop beyond the level of its own teachers. No country develop beyond the level of its own education.

[00:18:50]And if the life of teachers are threatened, if the life life of our peoples, our learners are threatened, then there is more to what we are seeing.

[00:19:03]So, all that we are saying is that government should intensify effort to make sure that our places, our schools are protected. Our teachers can go to school and teach the younger generation without any fear of being kidnapped, without any fear of being killed, without any fear of being taken away into captivity by by some group of hoodlums or by group by some group of kidnappers. So, there must be a deliberate action to make sure that our school are protected. And let me see it for free.

[00:19:45]As I said earlier on, it is the responsibility of government to protect life and property.

[00:19:50]As we as we are here, as we find ourselves today, the position that we find ourselves today, I want to appeal that government, community leaders, individual, all of us all hands should be put on deck be- because this is a threat to our country's survival and development.

[00:20:13]If our school will be attacked, ordinarily, uh the future of the country is at risk.

[00:20:23]So, my appeal is that government should have a deliberate move to be able to see that our school are well secured for teachers to go there and teach. Our learners should have the confidence parents should be able to say that they are my son can go to school and come back life and safe.

[00:20:46]Not having the fear of being kidnapped or or being attacked.

[00:20:51]So, that's our plea.

[00:20:54]Because if our life is not guaranteed by government, protected by government, then we as teachers, we cannot guarantee the continue of going to school uh to be attacked and to be kidnapped.

[00:21:11]So, as I said earlier on, it is the responsibility of government to make sure that they protect us because we are ready to teach. That is the profession that we have chosen to do and that is what we have pledged that we also do. At the same time, we need protection.

[00:21:28]We need protection to be able to to to exercise our responsibility to the development of this country. So, and I appeal again, as I said earlier, that security as it were today should be should be seen as everybody's business the way it is.

[00:21:47]It should be seen as everybody's business.

[00:21:51]The the saying is that constitutionally it is the responsibility of government to protect life and property, but as it were, it is now beginning to go beyond what we have seen. So, our community leaders, our citizens within the community, every other community person, every other Nigerian, we should be on alert.

[00:22:13]When once once you see any movement that is not in time >> say something.

[00:22:20]>> Yeah, if you see something, say something so that we can be able to safeguard our educational system.

[00:22:27]>> On a final note, you part of the delegates of the 114th International Labor Organization conference. Can you bring us up to speed on what your assessment is and what would be your expectations moving forward, especially in line with the theme of discourse for this year?

[00:22:43]>> Yeah, thank you very much. Yeah, you I think you were part of you were in the press press briefing that we had and I want to believe that the Congress president, the two Congress presidents of NLC and TUC spoke the mind of all of us as labor leaders in Nigeria. And we have high hope that going forward uh things will work for better.

[00:23:11]The Congress President Ajiro and Osifo ably represented by his deputy we are we are set forward in putting the issue uh forward as it affects uh workers in Nigeria. As it affect union movement also in Nigeria. So uh it's we are in at the right track. All our plight, they will listen to all our demand. And all what not. And we believe >> [clears throat] >> uh we will get it right there. And you rightly you had it clearly uh regarding the issue of minimum wage, the position of NLC and TUC.

[00:23:50]Uh that uh >> All right. Are you ready for the new conversation?

[00:23:54]>> Of course, we are ready for it.

[00:23:56]100,000 proposal has been alluded.

[00:24:01]Because as it were, there are some state governor like Imo state governor he spend over 100,000 naira minimum wage.

[00:24:08]So, we shouldn't be talking about 100,000 naira minimum wage uh when already that is what is even >> Is it existing?

[00:24:15]>> existing. It's already existing in some states. Minimum wage awards have been >> given even at the federal government level and state level too.

[00:24:22]>> Exactly. And so on and so forth. So, I think conversation will be more elaborate when the committee uh the to sit and discuss with government. But in reality in reality, issue of 100,000 is not an issue to to discuss because as I said, as the Congress President did say, already there are states that are paying quite above 100,000 naira minimum wage.

[00:24:48]>> All right. Thank you very much for your time.

[00:24:51]>> Thank you and you're welcome. It's a privilege.

[00:24:53]>> And that's all we can take on today's edition of the program. Join us next week for a fresh edition of the show. I am Sharon I Jackson. Thanks for watching and remember that labor creates wealth.