Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State wants Nigerian workers to be in the forefront in the ongoing war declared against corruption by the current federal government.
The governor who made a call to this effect in Asaba said the war on corruption will remain a mere rhetoric if the Nigerian workers do not key into it.
The governor spoke at the 5th National Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the National Union of Civil Engineering Construction, Furniture & Wood Workers (NUCECFWW) in Asaba.
Correspondent Carl Ofonye reports that according to the governor, virtually all political office holders in the country today act on the advice they receive from the Nigerian workers.
But most of the advice offered by these workers, he reckoned, are often based on personal and selfish interest that can only benefit the adviser and his cronies in the final analysis.
This, the governor reasoned, is the root cause of corruption in Nigeria which the leadership of Nigerian workers must tackle now if the declared war on graft is to succeed.
Governor Okowa said the current recession calls for men of vision, courage and character in all sectors of the economy in order to inspire hope and release the creative energies of the people. And workers, he insisted, have a crucial role to play to entrench good governance, transparency and accountability in the conduct of businesses.
Earlier, the President of Nigeria Labour Congress NLC Comrade Ayuba Wabba and that of National Union of Civil Engineering Construction, Furniture & Wood Workers, Amaechi Asugwuni called on government at all levels to rise up to the current economic crisis the nation is facing.
While the NLC President Ayuba Wabba advocated a new economic development framework that is people driven his counterpart in NUCECFWW, Amaechi Asugwuni called for genuine diversification of the economy to quickly end the current recession.
The theme of the conference was “Economic Woes: What Strategies for Nigeria & Trade Union”. it was well attended by different trade unions across Nigeria.