The National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, has applauded the intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bankers’ Committee to halt job losses in the banking industry.
Rising from a meeting at the weekend, the CBN and the Bankers’ Committee agreed to halt any disengagement of workers, whether temporary or permanent ones, until further notice.
Responding on Monday, Oshiomhole described the decision as patriotic.
He said: “I must commend the central bank and the Bankers’ Committee for their patriotic intervention on behalf of bank workers against the reported plan by one of the top banks to embark on mass retrenchment as their own response to the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While there is no doubt that these are tough times nationally, continentally and globally, I am of the opinion that what the moment demands is creative thinking to minimise the social costs. Job losses only mean plunging more people into hardship and trauma.
“As President Muhammadu Buhari has said, more creativity is what is needed at this moment to cut waste and get our priorities right at all levels.”
According to him, the president had already taken the initiative by setting up a high-powered think-tank headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to draw up an action plan to help the nation mitigate the consequences of this global problem.
He said he was confident that with everyone working together, the nation would emerge from the prevailing challenge stronger.
“From records, our banks have been doing well in the past years by making profits that put smiles on the faces of shareholders. I am sure that such shareholders, being patriots themselves, won’t mind sacrificing a fraction of their profits for 2020 to preserve jobs and ensure that workers and their dependents don’t suffer on an account of job losses,” Oshiomhole said.
Source: THISDAY
