Professor Noah Yusuf of department of Industrial Sociology at the University of Ilorin, has reprobated the apparent poor work attitudes of the Nigerian public employees, saying “My personal experience of the lackadaisical attitude of Nigerian public servants to government job during my one year National Youth Service period further ignited my interest in the issue of workplace democratization, a step towards enhancing democracy at the larger society.”
Such were the submission of Professor Noah Yusuf, when delivering the 151st Inaugural Lecture of the University, entitled; “Work, Industry and Society: The Synergy that Mirrors the Reality of Our Everyday Existence”.
The Don Stressed the need to be conscious-minded of the values of hard work in the society. While piloted the huge gathering through the Origin and Evolution of Work in Human Society: “work is the antidote of poverty, a transliteration of a yoruba Nigerians to begin to appreciate the value of hard work. He said, “It is obvious that if Nigeria must develop, people must work diligently”.
In the lecture, entitled “Work, Industry and Society: The Synergy that Mirrors the Reality of Our Everyday Existence”, the don also said that “the crave for flamboyant lifestyles among the political class and the rich in the society should be discouraged because it is sending wrong signals to the youth that they can also live a good life without hard work.”
Prof. Yusuf disclosed that studies have shown that the dominant ethnic groups in Nigeria cherish hard work and detest indolence or laziness. He then wondered where public employees in Nigeria found their poor work attitude that is at variance with the attainment of national objective of accelerated socio-economic development.
Lamenting the non-challant work attitude of public service workers in the country, the don told a huge gathering of university audience, including the Vice-Chancellor, Prof AbdulGaniyu Ambali, Principal Officers, Provost of College of Health Sciences, Deans, Directors, several royal fathers and other well-wishers that “Public sector workers in Nigeria are associated with negative attitudes like lateness to work, idleness, non-challance, low commitment among others. All tiers of government must take measures to reverse these attitudes to positive ones”.
The don, who is the second Professor from the Department of Sociology to deliver the Inaugural Lecture since the Department became a full-fledged academic programme in 1984, advised Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of positive work ethics, saying, “They must be industrious, committed, dedicated and transparent.”
Prof. Yusuf said, “The realisation of these goals would lead to the building of a prosperous society capable of meeting the needs of today and preparing for the challenges of tomorrow. Indeed, the synergy among Work, Industry and Society serves as the mirror which reflects the reality of our everyday existence!”
The lecturer noted, “Nigeria is a fatalistic society where people believe more in divine intervention than hard-work (Examples are traders and businessmen who keep talisman for good luck and quick sales in their trades); most Nigerian public employees engage in private practice (the excuse has always been that the salary is not adequate; but even those who earn fat salaries – medical doctors, engineers, lecturers and other professionals in public service also engage in private practice); there is low commitment to work among Nigerian public workers (This is evidenced in the frequency of people leaving one job for another, lateness to work and eagerness to leave the office immediately after the closing hour)”.
According to Prof. Yusuf, there is the general perception among Nigerian public workers that government work is “nobody’s work”.
The Inaugural Lecturer, however, advised private organisations and government agencies to begin to appreciate and celebrate few individuals among the citizens who have demonstrated the positive values of work and industry.
He suggested that these could be done by instituting awards such as “Best Worker Award”, “Worker of the Month/Year Award”, “Honest Civil Servant Award”, “Incorruptible Officer Award”, “Transparent Officer Award”, and the likes, saying that the University of Ilorin has provided a model in this direction through its “Researcher of the Year Award” and “Staff of the Year Award”.
Prof. Yusuf described the inclusion of the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, and his immediate past predecessor, Prof Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede, on the list of this year’s National Honours Awards recipients on September 29, 2014 as yet another confirmation of the foremost position of the University in Nigeria.
The don enjoined all stakeholders in the nation’s industrial relations to take practical measures to ensure a peaceful industrial relations environment in the country. He said, “While industrial conflict is a natural process of industrial relations, it must not be allowed to degenerate to a level of protracted strikes”.
Saying that a peaceful industrial environment could be achieved through a virile collective bargaining process, Prof. Yusuf noted, “Whenever trade unions declare their intention to embark on strike, it must not be allowed to prolong unnecessarily as was the case with previous strikes of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the recent strike by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).”
On gender issue, Prof. Yusuf observed that “women are at receiving end with regards to their conflicting roles as caring mothers and responsible wives at home and simultaneously be hardworking and committed at work.
He then called for specific legislations on the protection of female workers in Nigerian industries, regular inspection of factories to ensure strict compliance by employers of existing safety laws and regulations, wider sensitization on the need to improve the condition of workers with emphasis on the female workers and enlightenment campaign for female workers on the need to take precautionary measures against risks and dangers to their health and safety at the workplace.
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