NLC Links Workers’ Welfare to Success of Federal Government Reforms, Development of SMEs

The president of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero has charged federal
government to focus more on developmental projects for Nigerian workers as it leads to fast track success of small and medium-sized enterprises, which would lead to the positive contributions of job creation.

Ajaero reiterated that achievement of industrialisation depends largely on constant, stable electricity as it is fundamental social service and primary driver of national fundamental key driver of small and medium-sized growth and development.

He reminded government
that without constant electricity industrialisation would be a mirage because it is only with constant electricity supply that transformation SMEs would be guaranteed.

Ajaero pointed out that sustaining small small and medium-sized enterprises, artisans and other small businesses like barbers, welders, tailors even frozen food dealers will contribute to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) when there is constant energy.

Addressing participants in the just concluded 2026 Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN), Ajaero re-emphasised
that mass industrialisation depends on constant electricity

Also he warned that mass job creation depends solely on staple power supply constant power acts as an antidote to mass unemployment, allowing the formal and informal sectors to expand and hire more workers

Just as a lecturer at the Lagos State University, Ganiu O. Okunnu, urged government to balance public sector reforms with workers’ rights, warning that policies driven solely by cost-cutting could undermine public service delivery and weaken institutional capacity.

Okunnu of the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Lagos State University
(LASU), said sustainable public sector reforms must prioritise efficiency, social justice and workers’ welfare rather than focus exclusively on reducing government expenditure.

Okunnu identified fiscal sustainability, operational efficiency, service responsiveness and institutional integrity as the major objectives of public sector reforms