Nigeria’s labour laws should be crafted around employees’ wellness,” says Ven. Adesina

ARINZE NWAFOR

The  Managing Consultant of Sages and Scribes Consulting, Ven. Adelowo Adesina said Nigeria’s labour laws need to be crafted around employee wellness and that the government needs to take the welfare of employees seriously.

Adesina, who convened the Employees Assistance Programme (EAP) Programme Summit 2023 said employee wellness is the end to which he convened the summit.

The EAP 2023 Summit is the first of its kind in Nigeria, Adesina said.

“Employee assistance is a global institution used to ensure employee welfare in all ramifications for employees to perform better on their job,” Adesina said.

The summit convener noted that employee welfare is one of the gaps missing in Nigeria, which has worked well in other nations of the world.

“We are doing this to promote employee assistance in Nigeria, especially in these trying times,” Adesina remarked.

“And more than anything, we are looking at not just the workplace, but how we migrate the concept of wellness to become a national issue, where employee welfare cuts across all sections of the nation,” he continued.

Adesina said the aim of the EAP is to get people to focus on psychosocial risk assessment, the mental well-being of employees, financial wellness, family wellness, trauma management, spousal issues and drug abuse.

Adesina appealed to the federal government to provide social services to workers in quantity and in quality, not merely increase salaries.

Adesina told Daily Champion that for social security to gain a foothold, the federal government needs to hold a reliable census in order to plan adequately well for the population.

Adesina said EAP Nigeria has come to stay and is fully endorsed by EAP International and EAP Africa.

“We hope to learn more from them and that by next year, bring one or two speakers to broaden our perspective on the issues concerning employee welfare,” he said.

Further, Adesina appealed to the federal government to engage the public before dishing out policies.

He said the government needs to realise that the results of their policies can cause suffering, even if it is not their intention.

Adesina also advised Organised Labour in Nigeria to consider non-strike options as a way of ensuring that productivity does not keep suffering in the country.