Acknowledging that Nigeria is facing daunting economic and political challenges, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged Nigerian workers not to lose faith in the ability of the nation under the leadership of President Buhari to surmount these odds.
The former Vice President also proposed a fairer deal for workers in order to reduce the frequency of strikes in the country, which he regrets takes a heavy toll on the economy.
In his May Day message to Nigerian workers, the former Vice President notes that notwithstanding the huge challenges the country and its people are facing, it will take the support of everyone working in tandem with the Buhari administration to lift the economy out of the doldrums.
“President Buhari alone cannot turnaround the fortunes of the country. It requires everyone – elected and appointed officials, the legislature and the judiciary, the public and private sectors and ordinary Nigerians – working together in faith and commitment to bring about the desired change.”
Atiku Abubakar noted that President Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade when combined with curbing wastages and profligacy will free much-needed resources to jumpstart the economy by investing in infrastructure and high jobs yielding sectors especially agriculture as proposed by the government.
The Turaki Adamawa reminds the workers that the envisaged better deal for them is intrinsically tied to increased productivity.
“With dwindling revenue from oil, it has become imperative for us to bake a bigger cake that will be big enough for all partakers. To achieve this, we need to be more creative as a government and more productive as a people.”
The former Vice President also observed that improved conditions of service for workers would help to reduce corruption and fraud among employees.
Atiku however said it is impossible to convince workers to make sacrifices while the public office holders live a life that is inconsistent with the economic realities of Nigeria.
“We all need to make sacrifices in line with the realities of the time. It is not enough to ask workers to make sacrifices while public office holders are ostensibly immune from it. Such a situation promotes industrial disharmony”.
