The federal government has announced plans to lay off people in order to reduce the size of the workforce.
According to reports, the administration is already putting together a departure package for those who may be affected.
However, Labour expressed concern, claiming that the decision to fire workers constituted a reversal of the Federal Government’s much-publicized job-creation campaign.
Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, stated that reducing the size of government was necessary due to the large amount of money spent on recurring expenditure each year.
However, there are concerns that this will exacerbate the country’s unemployment issue.
According to Ahmed, the government is working on a “exit package” to compensate people who may be impacted.
Explaining the reason for the proposed sack, the finance minister said: “We are revenue challenged. So, everything we do, we can’t put an exit package if you are not willing to cash it immediately. So, when you are asking people to exit by choice, you must be able to give them that package as they are exiting”.
She added: “There are so many things that are happening. These are not easy decisions to make because they affect people and families. So, you have to make sure that whatever we commit to we are actually going to deliver on it”.
Labour unions have called for caution, urging the Federal Government to have a rethink over sack.
The unions asked the Federal Government to ensure that affected workers should be paid their full entitlements
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
