These concerns were raised during the National Policy Dialogue on Living Wages and Corruption in Nigeria, organized by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, and Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies at ICPC’s headquarters in Abuja.

Comrade (Engr) Festus Osifo, President of the Trade Union Congress, represented by Dr. Tommy Etim, the First Deputy President of TUC, expressed strong condemnation of the attack on NLC’s President, Joe Ajaero, referring to it as a “crime against humanity.”

Osifo highlighted his disappointment with the government’s response and called for officials to publicly condemn such acts.

He emphasized the need for the federal government to provide fair wages for workers, ensuring their basic needs are met, which will drive productivity in the country.

Etim explained that as negotiations for the national minimum wage are underway, the policy dialogue has set a foundation for discussions.

He stressed that a living wage should consider areas such as health, education, transportation, and housing to be truly effective.

Inadequate wages are a major factor contributing to corruption in Nigeria, and it is the right of all civil servants to earn decent wages.

A decent wage is pivotal for productivity, human capital development, and achieving good governance, aligning with the realities of daily life, including education, housing, and health services.

Mohammed Ahmed, Director of Communication at the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF), disclosed this in a statement released on Wednesday in Abuja.

The Federal Government initiated the IPPIS in 2007 to enhance transparency, accuracy, safety, and reliability in managing personnel records. It also aimed to curb unnecessary personnel cost overruns.

In September, the Federal Government delisted over 17,000 government employees from the IPPIS platform due to their failure to comply with a verification exercise that spanned over five years. An additional two-week grace period was granted to the unverified officers.

According to Ahmed, the Office of the HOCSF, responsible for maintaining official records and information on all public servants, was tasked with purging the payroll system of irregularities.

He explained that the implementation of IPPIS initially focused on the Payroll module rather than the Human Resource component, as part of the government’s efforts to combat ghost workers and eliminate cost leakages.

The Office of the HOCSF conducted a series of verification exercises, during which some civil servants could not be properly recorded.

In response to this, some non-compliant officers requested a final opportunity to update their records.

The portal was reopened from October 3 to 13 for these individuals to make necessary updates. They were also required to come to Abuja for physical verification, as the office had already allocated and spent its budgeted funds and couldn’t further deploy staff to states for the exercise.

However, the verification of records for all civil servants will conclude at the end of the ongoing exercise, and any officer whose record remains unverified will be removed from the government’s payroll at the end of the two-week exercise on Friday, October 27.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Folashade Yemi-Esan,  disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at the inauguration of the newly established Employee Wellness Centre for civil servants.

Yemi-Esan said many civil servants suddenly die as a result of work-related diseases that are even preventable.

 She said, “We are witnessing a lot of work-related diseases, a lot of sudden deaths.

“You are sitting down in the office and then, the Director of Human Resources comes and says, mama, somebody has just collapsed in the office.

“It is not only restricted here in our country. The International Labor Organisation estimates that about 2.3 million women and men around the world succumb to work-related accidents or diseases every year.

“According to the Organisation, this corresponds to 6,000 deaths every single day. The available data also reveals that around 160 million victims of work-related illnesses are recorded annually.

It is instructive to know that in the last six months, I have received messages from civil servants and Permanent Secretaries, not less than 10 Permanent Secretaries, who complained to me about one preventable disease or the other.

“They would say they are having excruciating pain in their neck, which they cannot sit down or stand up.

“This is one of the commonest illnesses that Permanent Secretaries have, after sitting down for so many years working in the office.

“This disease is preventable. I have also seen cases where civil servants do not know if their blood sugar is high or low.

“Most of us do not live long after retirement. This is a very sad phenomenon.”

Yemi-Esan disclosed that this pathetic situation of workers necessitated the building and commissioning of the Wellness Centre for them.

According to her, “This trend, necessitates greater attention to be paid to the health and safety of workers, especially civil servants in the country who are the empirical engine of development and most critical resource of the nation.

“The establishment of the Employee Wellness Centre within the Federal Secretariat Complex is one of the proactive responses by the government to the critical need of mitigating many preventable medical conditions which have become prevalent in our society in general, and among civil servants in particular.

“For this reason, it is important to emphasize the need for every one of us to seek useful, adequate and accurate information on common health conditions and how to prevent or successfully manage them.

“The need to comprehensively pay attention to our health status is more crucial, especially due to the sedentary nature of our jobs as civil servants coupled with the tendency to be solely committed to the demands of office and neglecting one’s physical well-being,” she explained.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan disclosed this at a ceremony on Tuesday in Abuja.

The computerized buses numbering 20 in the pilot phase would be deployed along the various routes in the Federal Capital Territory to convey workers to and from their various offices.

According to the Presidential Steering Committee On COVID-19 domiciled in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the directives was part of measures aimed at preventing the spread of deadly strains of COVID-19 in the country.

Amid concerns about deadly COVID-19 strains in India, South Africa, Turkey and Brazil, the government also reintroduced some measures which were put in place during the second COVID-19 wave in Nigeria which include restricted gatherings at worship centres and banned night clubs.

The National Incident Manager, Mukhtar Mohammed at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday said a nationwide curfew would be introduced from midnight of Monday.

He said the curfew would run from 12 midnight till 4am daily, adding that gatherings for worship or weddings should not be more than 50 per cent capacity.

For civil servants, he said, “All Government staff on GL. 12 and below are to continue to stay at home until 11th June, 2021;

“Permanent Secretaries and Chief Executives to be held accountable for enforcing NPI rules in their domains with frequent spot checks; and

“Ensure that all NPIs are observed. Mandatory and proper use of face masks in all government premises.”

For non-government workers, the official said, “Encourage virtual meetings by offices. Avoid large meetings, decongest offices and ensure they are well-ventilated;

“Encourage staff to work from home where possible;

“Mobile courts to enforce on-the-spot fines and close premises that repeatedly violate rules;

“Mandatory use of face masks and other NPIs. no face mask, no entry;

“Personalised services to ensure face masks are worn when selling goods or providing services and ensure provision of sanitizers and appropriate PPEs to all workers; and

“Encourage the use of approved Ag-Rapid Diagnostic Tests as recommended in the guidance for the use of approved COVID-19 AG-RDTS in Nigeria (on NCDC website).”

Mohammed said security agents had been saddled with the responsibility of enforcing all the non-pharmaceutical measures put in place by the government.

This was contained in a statement on Thursday in Abuja signed by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF), Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, NAN reports.

The new directives according to the statement is in compliance with the COVID-19 guidelines.

“All public servants on GL12 and below have been directed to continue working from home till the end of March 2021.

“This new directive is in adherence to the advice of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.

“The coronavirus downward trend needs to be maintained, therefore, the need for the extension of the work-from-home directive,” the statement said.

Yemi-Esan also emphasised the need for all public servants to continue to ensure strict compliance with the existing guidelines on the prevention and spread of the pandemic.

The details of the extension was contained in a  statement on Monday issued by the Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola.

According to the statement, the extension is in a bid to further curb the spread of COVID-19 within the public service and other stakeholders.

He expressed the government’s delight that measures put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the state has resulted in a steady decline in the number of recorded cases in the preceding weeks.

Muri-Okunola maintained that in order to sustain the success so far recorded, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has reviewed the directive to all public servants on Salary Grade Levels 12 and below for four weeks, with effect from Monday, 1st to Friday, 26th March 2021.

The HoS said the directive does not preclude any of the exempted Grade Levels from reporting for duty whenever the Accounting Officer deems it necessary.

“All Public Servants are advised to continue to stay safe by observing all COVID-19 protocols such as Physical Distancing, regular use of face masks and hand hygiene.

“Also, Accounting Officers are to ensure strict adherence to all extant directives aimed to guarantee physical distancing in the workplace by preparation of weekly Duty Rosters as considered germane to effective service delivery in respective MDAs,” he said.