ABUJA – The President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr. Ayuba Wabba, has urged African governments to make the issue of security a priority, especially in the east and west of the continent.
Wabba made the call at the opening of a two-day annual meeting of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Africa Human and Trade Union Rights Network.
The theme of the meeting is, “Insecurity and Threats to peace in Africa and the Migration Challenges in Africa.”
Wabba said that armed conflicts and insurgency in Africa had assumed a new and dangerous dimension that no country could be said to be safe.
‘It is true that insurgency in Africa and, particularly in the West Africa sub-region and some part of East   Africa, have affected a lot of workers.
“ In Nigeria, we have lost teachers and health workers, over a hundred of them because most of them live in the rural areas.
“Therefore, if there is an attack by these insurgents, certainly the workers will be on the frontline, so we have lost a lot of them.
“It is time for all African leaders to stand to up in unity and collaborate to end this menace,’’ he said.
He said insurgency in Nigeria escalated due to a lack of political will to respond to the issue effectively when Boko Haram started, while the military was not initially strengthened to respond effectively.
“But I can say effectively that things are changing, a lot of confidence has been restored and the citizens are volunteering good information.
“We must continue to appreciate and commend our military for doing what is right and also for putting their lives on line to defend the country.
Wabba said that the totality of Africa’s challenge had to do with social -economy and corruption.
“ Corruption has reduced resources that are available for development to create job opportunities for the Africa people, that has led to the issue of migration.
“So, as trade unionists, we have all it takes to try and engage our political leaders and interrogate the process and try to see that those issues are changed for the better.
“The issue of leaving everything about governance to private sector has also proven to be counterproductive.
“Countries in Africa must be proactive in looking at their peculiarities and coming up with developmental agenda that would be able to drive process of development.
“African leaders must be able to return to the bases to drive the process of development in their various countries,” he said.
Also Dr Clement Illo, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Productivity, said that government had developed a migration policy that would address the challenges of migration in a more coherent manner in Nigeria.
Illo, represented by Mrs. Chukwuka Florence, Assistant Director, Trade Union and Industrial Services, said the programme was coming at a time when the problems of insecurity and migration challenges had become major concerns in most African countries, including Nigeria.
“It is pertinent to emphasise at this point that Nigeria is passing through a difficult phase as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast of the country which had claimed thousands of lives and rendered millions homeless.
“Thus, this has made Nigeria one of the countries in Africa with a huge population of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
“You can agree with me that this meeting will be of immense significance to us as some of the solutions to be proffered might support the on-going efforts of governments in addressing insecurity and threats to peace as well as migration challenges arising from it, ”he said..
Illo urged NLC and ITUC-Africa Human and Trade Union Rights Network to critically examine the identified issues with a view to defining roles of trade unions and other non-state actors.
‘ “I am confident that the outcome of this meeting shall provide the roadmap for a more lasting peace in Africa, ”he said.

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