National President of Association of Senior Civil Servant of Nigeria, Dr.Tommy Etim Okon,has tasked the union members on increased productivity and exhibition of requisite outstanding performance through research.
Okon,who gave the charge in a chat with select journalists in Lagos,said the development was necessary in order to add genuine value in their places of work
He added:”When you read you develop ideas, you develop new theories, you analyze new theories, you see different concepts, nobody can take you for a ride, because what is in you will always be there for them to use on, and they will look and continue to work for you, I want my members to be most sought for because we are talking about 21st century trade unionism’
According to him,the union is deemphasizing reliance on check off dues to run its operations profitably
He added that the association is about putting finishing touches to its huge complex in Abuja which houses conference hall, a shopping mall, and a lodge.
According to him,when completed the complex will provide huge revenue for the association in addition to its investment in bond.
He spoke on some of the union’s demand and emphasized the need for wage review every five years.
“We need to also have a review on repatriation allowance, we need to also have a review of the death benefits and the rest of things, those are the issues, but fundamentally the Government should also understand that there is a need to say thank you when someone has put in 35 or 60 years whichever comes first, that gratuity that has been suspended, government needs to look at it again, that is why I was so glad that the pension act of 2014 is being reviewed and we are saying let that gratuity come which was a lump sum”
He told reporters that there is no internal crisis in the union as insinuated.
According to him,the union is rather on aggressive capacity development drive which took some of the union members to Dubai recently for training.
He added union would be vindicated over the ongoing corruption probe of some of its officials by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC).
He based his position on the massive support given by the union since the petition was filed before the anti-graft commission.
The petition,he insisted,is frivolous,adding that his union would emerge stronger at the end of the day.
“When the report is out, it will be very clear to the public. Why the workers decided to defend the union is because they also believe in the activities and program which have been a …greater benefits to them.You can see from the last publication, the numbers of workers that went to the site of the building which was allegedly sold, and also here now,
” You can see I’m in the office which was allegedly sold, so most of those petitions are very frivolous and we feel there is no need for us to pay any attention to it, but we should rather than begin to move forward and get to the mission of where we are confident that the association is driven”
