Redesigning Labour Structure to Deepen Economic Competitiveness

By Jola-Michael Samson

I was unable to sleep on a fateful night when the thought of one of Nigeria’s major issues came to my mind. Immediately the perception of “HALF A LOAF of BREAD IS BETTER THAN NONE” came to my mind. So, I decided to share it to get your critics or support, possibly we could finally arrived at the lasting solution which may be embraced by our government for implementation.

This concept may not be totally appreciated by many of us that are presently employed but if it is properly communicated and cushioned with the suggestions hereinafter, it will reduce and almost wiped out the malaise.

This concept is all about the following key points

1. Changing the working days of all workers (Government & Private) to 15 days per month and the salary should be cut by half the same way (i.e. 15 days work = 15 days pay).
2. Employing another set of people to cover the remaining 15 days in the month with the remaining 15 days salary.

(Please Note: this may not be applied to workers at management levels).

Cushion Suggestions

1. Privately owned company may not found this difficult to implement.
   1. For government workers, a “Personnel Management Agency” (PMA) should be created whose Head Office will be at the Governor’s Office and branches across all the local government. Its core functions will be:
   a. Staff Identity Management (SIM)
   b. Salary and Pension Processing (SPP)
   c. Staff Loan Management (SLM)
2. Government should increase its pension contribution to the workers monthly (e.g 2:1 ratio).
3. Government must provide “Business Loan” (present salary of employee times 5) at a very bearable interest rate in conjunction with a reliable financial institution in Nigeria to the affected staff. New staff that will be employed under this scheme should be entitled to this benefit at a specified time.
   (Please Note): Workers who seem to be successful in their business will definitely quit job to focus more on business as time goes on.
4. Policies to avoid staff distraction on the job should be formulated to promote commitment.

Benefits of this Concept

1.  The unemployment rate in the state will drastically reduce.
2.  It will increase the political and economic power of the state.
3.  It will encourage immigration
4.  It will give government and private organizations the opportunity to utilize vast ideas and capacity with little resources.
5.  It will create more employment for the semi-skilled and unskilled labour.