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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPoorly fed and remunerated, and operating under an excruciatingly inhospitable condition, the occurrence was a recipe for disaster. In a country where tragic incidents have become commonplace, the rescue should be seen as one possible calamity averted. What if there was an outbreak of the dreaded COVID-19 or any other infectious disease for that matter among the workers? The outcome of such a dreadful situation can only be imagined. Perhaps no single person would have been spared. The impending disaster could even have come in the form of a fire outbreak, which is sometimes common in some of the companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was the case in 2002, at Ikorodu, a Lagos suburb. A plastic company owned by some Asians went up in flames, consuming dozens of workers who could not escape because they were locked in while they worked. What country would allow hundreds of people to be working in an enclosed place when what should be done is to provide multiple exit points in the event of a fire outbreak? A BBC report claimed that the Red Cross could only account for 37 corpses at the time of filing their report, while over 200 who were at work could not be accounted for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Questions on why all the entrances were locked only elicited a cavalier response. \u201cThe man who locked the door was not able to get back with the key,\u201d a National Union of Chemical Employees official told AFP. The incident rightly sparked protests as people tried to get at the owners of the company who failed to observe safety standards in their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the fact that the lock-up in the Kano factory was total, it is doubtful if there was any provision made for emergency medical attention in case of any crisis. Consideration for the welfare of the workers was the last thing on the minds of the management of the company. This incident should not be allowed to repeat itself in this country. Although foreign companies are not alone in operating without safety standards or regard for the rights of workers, they seem to have become adept at exploiting the weakness of law enforcement to get away with many infringements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of such areas where the foreign companies succeed in flouting the law is in the area of expatriate quota. Even where there are Nigerians that are capable of occupying some positions, they still bring in people from their country to take over jobs that should be for Nigerians. Both the Internal Affairs Ministry and its Labour counterpart should work together to ensure that the exploitation of the Nigerian system is checked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It should be stated clearly that the responsibility for ensuring that workers perform their duties under a decent environment is not only that of the Federal Government, but also involves the state and local governments. Members of the organised labour should never have been found wanting in Kano because the welfare of workers is the singular most important reason for their existence. Together, the three tiers of government, the organised labour and the civil society groups should be interested in defending the rights of Nigerians whenever they are violated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Punch Editorial NEWS of the recent incident in which hundreds of Nigerians were locked up and forced to work in a foreign-owned rice processing company in the commercial city of Kano is, to say the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[583],"class_list":["post-2092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polity-politics-governance","tag-kano-forced-labour-victims"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n