By Meletus EZE
Africa Solidarity Centre (ASC), an International NGO, has commended the Federal Government for showing uncanny commitment in the fight against Boko Haram.
Imani Countess, Regional Director for ASC, gave the the commendation at a programme tagged “Employment and Decent Work for Peace National Feedback Meeting,” on Tuesday in Abuja.
According to Countess, the purpose of the meeting is to increase understanding of the various ways unions are working to advance employment, decent work and social protection in conflict and post-conflict situations.
She said the establishment of a special committee for the rehabilitation centre of the North-East and the use of military force against the insurgents were laudable.
Countess, however, said the ASC had observed that the rehabilitation approach had yielded marginal results due to “unsystematic planning and execution”.
According to her, key labour stakeholders, who ought to have been carried along in the design and execution of rehabilitation activities in the state were neglected.
She noted that the fight and defeat of Boko Haram using military and brute force might not sufficiently take care of the insurgency, if the causative factors that gave rise to the insurgence were not addressed.
The ASC regional director said without the creation of strategies to ensure the meaningful employment of the teeming Nigerian youths, especially in the region, Nigeria might not win the war against the insurgents.
She noted that the unions were the worst-hit by the insurgence, adding that they had proactively shifted from core trade union functions and were now more involved in humanitarian assistance.
She added that the humanitarian service were not limited to members but other affected victims of Boko Haram in their community.
She noted that the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) secretariat was converted to a temporary shelter for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
According to ASC, the death toll of teachers in Maiduguri as at May 31, 2018 was 546, while medical and health workers lost 101 members at the same time.
Similarly, she said the Agriculture Allied Employees Union of Nigeria (AAEU) lost 129 members while the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) lost six members.
She said while there were some measures of clarity on the impact of the insurgency on worker organisations in the formal sector, little was known about what informal economy workers lost to the conflict.
