In this painstakingly written article, S.K Adams justifiably explains the underlying issues as its concerns Npower Disengagement Saga.
Let us read his interesting epistle in he titles: “NPOWER DISENGEAGEMENT SAGA: The Questions, the Answers and the way Forward”
Covid-19 has not left us but some of its long term impacts are beginning to show their ugly head in the form of the various attempts to make adjustments in most government budgetary proposals for the year 2020.
Private sectors have been making adjustments here and there to sustain their feet in business.
Most major companies have retrenched their workforce secretly under the guise of suspension, adjustment and the rest.
These are quite expected especially for companies that are very well known with the ultimate aim of minimizing cost and maximizing profits.
But the most horrible idea is for a government suffering from the clutches and effect of the covid-19 pandemic itself, to initiate the thought of retrenching its workers.
Ordinarily this is sickening but what even made it worse is that it failed to take into consideration the various implications of this ugly uncalculated step.
Ever since the idea to disengage about 500,000 beneficiaries of both batch A and B of the Npower program from the scheme by the end of June and July 2020 respectively was made known by the Nigerian government, there have been noise and shouts here and there from three angles.
Firstly, were of course those of the beneficiaries who felt that it was unfair for government to treat them this way especially in a situation like the one occasioned by the pandemic.
Secondly, was the government through the office of the honourable Minister for humanitarian affairs disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Farouq Umar, who kept justifying its moves on the idea that firstly, the batch A have overstayed their term and the batch B will be due as well coming up July ending and that there is the need for the batches to give room for others to enjoy what they had enjoyed.
Further, the government said that both batches shall be transited to the next stage what it termed the entrepreneurship stage which according to its farsightedness, is more productive.
The third side of this saga is the unknown and faceless group with the alias ‘prospective or incoming batch C’ who believe that the government is doing the right thing by disengaging the two present batches whom they see as being too selfish and self-centered and full of greed.
But to be fair to both parties in this drama it is important to analyze the issues one at a time instead of the usual hullabaloo by especially the beneficiaries and the attempt to malign the beneficiaries and their portrayal as selfish and egotistical by the Minister.
The Npower programme as one of the social investment programmes of the federal government was initiated for a purpose, and that was to reduce the menace of unemployment among youths.
It was flagged off to support Nigerian youths to gain skills while sustaining their little demands as well as serving as supporting staff in their various place of primary assignments.
What drove the government to initiate this program was to fulfill the campaign promise of President Muhammadu Buhari who was elected for his vow to fight corruption, reshape the economy and tackle youth unemployment.
At the start of the program in 2016, beneficiaries were informed that they signed a two year program with the government and they all agreed to this, every single beneficiary have settled his or her mind to this fact.
If only the government just kept to this agreement we would never have had the controversy of the present time.
But unfortunately government was of politicians who will always play politics with anything to get votes.
As the 2019 election came the government decided to play politics with the program and the beneficiaries.
Government perhaps was not aware that it was biting more than it could chew by promising the beneficiaries that government would not send them back to the streets.
This gave beneficiaries hope and pushed them to campaign for the government.
No Npower beneficiary that I know of ever thought of campaigning against the government.
In most of their whatsapp groups hardly would any group tolerate any member making any post against APC or president Muhammadu Buhari, because they were promised permanency though not openly but tactically, and this raised their hopes and unto this idea did the beneficiaries held onto tightly.
To bolster this, the government refused to terminate the contract of the batch A which was due for more than 15 months back, this not only raised the hopes of the beneficiaries in the first batch but also that of those in the second batch whose tenure was to end in July, 2020.
Batch B were of the belief that even if they were not given permanency they would not be disengaged after just two years as their predecessors served more than three years.
It was to me this informal promise that invalidates the one signed by the government and the beneficiaries to serve for two months and the government is to be blamed for this.
As I have mentioned earlier, the Npower programme like the rest of the Social Investment Programmes was created for a purpose and that was to reduce the menace of unemployment in the country.
With the disengagement news, It appears that the government has not considered whether or not this purpose had been achieved or not, even though the Minister for humanitarian affairs kept boasting and romancing the unverified notion that about a hundred and nine thousand beneficiaries have so far set up businesses in their communities through Npower.
Whether this was true or not is left for research to prove, but one thing is clear, if we assume that 109, thousand beneficiaries have set up businesses is this something to boast of when experts tell us that every month, about 400 thousand new unemployed youths come into the labour market?
What is government doing by disengaging about 500,000 beneficiaries who support more than three million other family members?
Is the government fighting unemployment in the country as promised by the president in his campaign and reiterated in his swearing in ceremony on June 12 or feeding it?
Also is the government really serious about lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty?
Has the government really thought of the consequences of youths who are used to receiving 30,000 naira monthly back to receiving zero naira in a Nation ravaged by security threats ranging from kidnapping, banditry, insurgency etc?
Has government thought of the students whom these beneficiaries have started nurturing?
Have government thought of what their studies would be like after they have left them, shouldn’t they be utilized the more when school resumes because of the gap occasioned by the corona virus closure?
Has the Minister really thought these over and over again?
Isn’t it glaringly clear that the Npower programme will have no purpose if it means to employ or engage youths for some years and just disengage them back to the streets?
Part 1.
