FCSC, NECA sue for industrial harmony
The Federal Civil Service Commission and the Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association have called on employers, employees, and the government to be more innovative in deploying out-of-the-box ideas.
In a statement on Sunday, the Chairman of FCSC, Prof. Tunji Olaopa, made the call when he received a team from NECA led by its Director-General, Mr Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, on a courtesy visit.
The PUNCH had reported that President Bola Tinubu in October approved the appointment of Prof. Tunji Olaopa as Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission.
He also appointed 11 others to direct the affairs of the country’s civil service with effect from November 30, 2023.
Speaking during the visit, Olaopa said that the move was a critical success factor in meeting the aspirations of the renewed hope agenda of the President, Bola Tinubu.
“As a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Productivity, I knew first-hand the crisis and threats of industrial disharmony, the nuances, and how it is almost practically impossible to ward off such threats without constructive tripartism between the three social partners in industrial relations, workers, employers, and government,” Olaopa, said.
He noted that work needs to be done to establish the required institutional framework for harmonious industrial relations, including legislative reform and a revamp of the protocols for collective bargaining and dispute resolution.
He added that the government may need to convene the tripartite social partners in a no-holds-barred dialogue where all the issues would be put on the table and resolved in a spirit of “give-and-take to achieve the working consensus on industrial harmony as a basis for praxis going forward.”
While observing that some of the economic reforms of the President Bola Tinubu administration may have caused a measure of disruption and triggered the exit of some major industries and employers, Olaopa said it was vital to strengthen the institutional capacity of the public sector to harness the full benefits of public-private partnership.
“Due to the FCSC’s deeply weak institutional capacity worsened by the turnover rate of pool staff posted from the civil service to the commission, the FCSC has resolved to professionalise its secretariat and to once institute performance management as key steps in transforming it to a professional hub and centre of excellence for human resource management in the public service,” he added.
In his remarks, the NECA DG, Adewale Smart-Oyerinde, stated that economic growth was in the interest of the association.
“That is why we are fully in support of your proposals for industrial harmony; as such, harmony would be an indispensable condition for growth and development,” he said.
He also pledged that NECA would help to facilitate the staff exchange program, including drawing on similar initiatives that a NECA study team observed at a recent study in Ipswich in the United Kingdom.
