Workers’ Day, May 1st every year all over the world, necessary calls for an evaluation of work, workers and working conditions all around the world. This is because work is one indispensable resource by which God made man and by which man sustains the world. We are told that after all the work, God saw that what he had done was good. For this reason, we know that there is dignity in work and work is really love made visible. It is thus befitting to congratulate workers on this day to congratulate all who provide work and do same to all who provide the conducive environment in which work can be done. Important and fundamental though work is however, too many factors deny millions of workers of the joy and fulfillment which they should derive from the work they do. Regrettably today, conflicts, discrimination, unjust structures, scarcity of jobs, bad management and greed hamper the integral human development that work ought to bring to individuals, family and the society. This, to say the least, is unfortunate and deserves urgent attention.

Integral human development, the ideal of all humanity, will remain a mirage if contentious issues concerning work are not resolved. The Catholic Church teaches that just wages are a legitimate fruit of work. It can be grave injustice to withhold or refuse it. “Remuneration for Work should guarantee man the opportunity to provide a dignified livelihood for himself and his family on the material, social and cultural levels…” .

Governments and people cannot honestly desire peace or authentic development without ensuring just wages for work done. Exploitation of others or their resources, forcing down prices of raw materials, inhospitable conditions of work, unjustly taking over the property belonging to others or the like, impugn human dignity, damage social trust and offend the moral law of God. Conversely, at the personal levels workers too must do just work for the wages they receive in order to fulfil the social contract and in order not to be guilty of dishonesty and stealing.

The Catholic Church has always taught that there is dignity in labour and that work is a vocation with a spiritual dimension. Every worker in some way participates in the divine project of advancing the work of creation. According to Pope Francis, May 1st, each year, the feast of St Joseph the Worker, is the day the Church remembers the world of labour. On that day the Church demands “that work be dignified everywhere and for everyone,” and that the work of men and women everywhere “inspire the will to develop an economy of peace all over the world.” The Church also prays for all those who in the course of their work have lost life, limbs, and property in the course of their work, especially victims of corrupt and unjust systems, that their sacrifice be not allowed to pass in vain.

In Nigeria the condition of most workers remains pathetic. Government insensitivity to the plight and demands of workers like doctors, nurses, teachers, journalists, and security agencies is nothing short of cruel, especially when compared to politicians’ remunerations. This, sadly affects the entire masses who rely on the services which those workers provide. In fact, working conditions in both the public and private sectors yearn for serious and urgent overhauling. Nigeria, so to speak, needs a moral blood transfusion. Nevertheless, with the imminent dispensation, employers and employees must embrace a new “regime of merit” and rebuild the crumbling labour fortress. Only a just relationship driven by dialogue and sensitivity can guarantee an escape from the quagmire of resentment and suspicion which currently characterize the relationship between employees and employers in the country. With that new hope it is still pertinent even today to say to all: Happy Workers Day with hope for a brighter future!

By Most Rev Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo: Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Oyo.

Now is an important time for the print industry. It’s a time of change and where new and emerging technologies are influencing its future. The print industry is unique and has developed over many years, transitioning from analogue to digital technologies, but there’s still so much more to come. For it to continue to grow and transform, we need fresh ideas and out-of-the-box thinking. And one way that we can support this growth is to attract the next generation.

Print to you and me is a range of innovative applications that we interact with within our daily lives. However, print to someone who doesn’t know print’s full capabilities or creative potential could be seen as just a book or a poster you put up on your wall. Those outside of our industry don’t realise all that ‘print’ encompasses – everything from a calendar to instruction manuals, or wallpaper to window graphics. In fact, everything you read that is not on a screen (besides a handwritten letter) is printed. But if this is the perception of print, then how do we attract new and young talent to fuel future innovation?

Print is more than just a word

We know that print is rapidly advancing due to new technologies such as automation, augmented reality and robotics, and it’s these additions that present the opportunities for new talent.

In order to attract the future workforce, we need to re-look at the term ‘print’. What does it actually mean? For me, the word limits the scope of what print really is – it’s purely the output of what we do. And it’s impossible to encapsulate what our industry can do with just one word.

The magic of the industry is the end-to-end journey behind it including software, hardware, finishing etc. It should be positioned as a creative technology industry and this is what we need to bring to the fore to attract the next generation.

Young people today are digitally savvy, having grown up with smart technology at their fingertips. Some of them see print as old-fashioned and not ‘sexy’ like digital. So, we need to combine new technologies that they’re au fait with – and perhaps that they wouldn’t necessarily relate to print – in order to appeal to them. We need to speak their language and show them the strong role that print has to play alongside these digital and virtual platforms, and how they can be part of its exciting future in bringing the two more closely together.

Attracting the future print workforce

With a perception outside of the industry that print is dying, why would someone starting their career want to work in, what appears to be, a doomed industry? What they don’t know is that there are so many opportunities for growth – it is not a dying industry, but one that is constantly evolving. And it has huge creative and technology innovation potential.

One of the things I noticed when beginning my career in print, is that it offers such scope for variety, bridging the gap between popular career routes such as technology and marketing. My background is in mechatronics engineering and I’ve been able to transfer these skills and apply them to new digital print technologies such as robotics and automation. Today’s digital printing devices integrate significant levels of automation to control virtually every aspect of production, thus changing the skill sets now required to operate these machines.

As a product manager in cut-sheet toner, I need to understand the technology behind the performance – but I also need to understand how to explain this technology in terms of benefits to the customer – the print service provider – and the customer’s customer – the print buyer. And this is where the skills I have developed through achieving a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree have helped in my conversations with customers to explain how to sell and market the technology and the role that print plays in helping them to grow their business.

There are so many different career avenues within the print industry where skills can be deployed – creativity and design, data analytics, technology, engineering, business development, customer loyalty, marketing strategies – whatever their skills, they could find a match within the print.

We need to explore more engaging ways to relate print to younger generations’ hobbies and interests. Take someone who is interested in sport, for instance. They probably don’t know about all of the huge opportunities for print at just one sports stadium – from tickets to flyers to graphics. If they have a passion for fashion, they could get involved with fabric printing or textile design.

Or perhaps one young individual is considering a career as a data analyst. They could be the brains behind a revolutionary software solution that integrates brand-customer relationship management systems with print.

Love to travel? With a calendar of global print and packaging exhibitions and customers located around the world, there’s plenty of opportunities to explore new cities and countries.

The onus is on us, the print industry and large vendors, like Canon, to get out and in front of the younger generation. Attend trade fairs, work with colleges and universities or why not even send personalised print directly to their doors? We need to be in front of them to show them what print is really capable of; demonstrate how they could be part of this evolving industry and how they can contribute to the future of it.

Innovate with new talent

Time and time again I’m told that I’m still ‘new’ to the print industry, whereas, in any other workplace, three and a half years isn’t considered a short period of time. This demonstrates that it’s rare for people from other industries to start working in print and proves the need for our industry to cast the net wider when looking for new talent.

The advantages of hiring from within our industry are clear – people know the markets, competitors and technology. However, all this knowledge can be learned, we can help teach new recruits. And the good news is that younger generations are quick to adapt, so we need to begin imparting our knowledge to help build the print generation of the future.

We know that it’s a combination of people and technology that bring about change and innovation. Technology is rapidly evolving, so now is the time to integrate new talent with new ideas and perspectives to not only enhance digital print technology but also evolve print’s role in the future.

The benefit for us? They will bring innovation and fresh ideas, which will help us change our ways of working, for the better, and position print as an exciting medium that won’t be disappearing anytime soon. Now, more than ever is time to be a part of this creative technology industry and re-shape its future.

Once again, leadership failed Nigeria massively this past week. Someone said that if you do not know the purpose of a thing, abuse of that thing is inevitable. A lot of those in leadership positions in Nigeria do not know the purpose of their remit and as a result, they abuse it wantonly.  The abuse of the purpose of leadership, stemming from gross incompetence and lack of know-how about modern governance is why the otherwise peaceful #EndSARS protests initiated by concerned Nigerian youths, have been so badly mismanaged, becoming a disgraceful show where the state turned against her own people.

As of Wednesday morning, tens of people, mostly innocent, have lost their lives from violence, (partly state-sponsored, partly instigated by hoodlums) resulting from #EndSARS.

And as I write, almost 24 hours after military men turned their guns on peaceful protesters, (an unspecified number believed to have been killed and 25 being treated in various hospitals), Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), the man elected by these same youths as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has not said a word as to how regrettable the incident was. That is unpardonable. It’s an indictment of the President and an indication of his inability to comprehend the essence of his high office.

In 2014 or so, Buhari told Nigerians that he had become converted to the principles of democracy. Well, the President just faced the most difficult test of that self-proclaimed conversion and failed woefully! In fact, what Nigerians have witnessed in the past 48 hours brings back memories of the struggle for the restoration of the June 12 election during the Babangida and Abacha military regimes of the 1990s. It’s a shame that anyone who canvassed the votes of Nigerians would allow them go through their most recent experience. It didn’t have to get to this extent if the President had learnt anything from democracy and Nigeria’s recent history.

Democracy is built on the culture of engagement and negotiation. Agents of this regime have continued to regale us with their response to the five demands of the protesters. While one cannot take anything away from the regime’s gesture on these fronts and the steps that have been taken by some state governors, the fact that the protesters refused to be persuaded indicates that there is a justifiable distrust of government and that these seeming knee-jerk responses didn’t and understandably so, convince.

For instance, the decision of the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to replace SARS with the Special Weapon and Tactics Team within 72 hours raised legitimate questions about how much rigour went into the formation of the new squad and how much of the ills of the defunct irritant structure might be retained in the new entity.

If your country’s young population refuses to be persuaded by this move, the President should have addressed the issues directly and not through proxies! This is more so because the protesters made it clear that the major disconnect results from a distrust of government. All the President needed to have done was to come off his high horse to calm frayed nerves by making measurable promises that should reassure the youths.   Such relational engagements have proved to be a very effective instrument in the hands of democratic leaders even here in Nigeria when we recall how the late President Umaru Yar’Adua persuaded youths of the Niger Delta to sheathe their swords just a little over a decade back. The failure or refusal of Buhari to seize this unique opportunity left this issue to fester until fifth columnist began to take advantage of it as is wont to happen.

Another instance of leadership failure one sees here is the meeting where the 36 governors could not agree on a single way to deal with SARS. While most governors of the states in the South with the possible exception of Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos and Nyesom Wike of Rivers were either equivocal or totally silent about whether SARS should continue or not, governors of the northern states outright rejected any attempt to scrap SARS. That is very unfortunate. It is unfortunate to the extent that it brought about a conflict in the messaging of the management of the situation. While the IGP had already proclaimed the disbanding of SARS, northern governors insisted on its importance and within long, some youths in the north started to toe the line of the governors and threatened #EndSARS protesters. This, to my mind was the beginning of the pockets of violence that have now engulfed the country.

Also Read: Opinion: NDDC: What manner of leaders are these? | By: Niran Adedokun

Now, without prejudice to the right of governors from any part of the country to decide what is good for them, leaders of the country have to make up their minds as to whether they want a united country with common destiny or not. If SARS had become an object of significant contention in any part of the country, true leaders from across the country should work together to see to the dismantling of the structure especially as the Federal Government already had plans for a succeeding unit. Nigerian leaders, even if they desire to split Nigeria, must realise that what affects one part currently affects the other. This demands a sense of universal responsibility.

The failure to understand that leadership and the privilege of power are service to the people is why Nigeria is where it is today. That’s why head of security agencies prioritise loyalty to the President over the country and her people. Of course, this mentality transcends generations of Nigerian leaders, but nothing exemplifies this abuse and misuse of the people’s mandate as Tuesday’s attack on innocent protesters at the Lekki toll gate and a number of other places in and outside Lagos.

While it is true that the #EndSARS protests were exploited by hoodlums to unleash terror on Nigerians, that the planners could have been a bit more circumspect  and that no responsible government would allow such destruction and loss of lives go without check, the deployment of military men who fired live bullets at defenceless Nigerians is evidence of overlord mentality as well as the lack of understanding of the spirit of leadership by those who rule Nigeria. This becomes even more obvious when you consider the fact that rather than head for well-known hotspots within the city to arrest hoodlums, the shooters directed their mindless attack on young men and women who had protested for 12 days without violence, had the presence of mind to hold the national flag and sing the anthem as a sign of their allegiance to the country. So, you leave the miscreants who make life difficult for others and fire live bullets at those who represent the best that future could hold for the country! What warped logic is that? In any case, which country puts the lives of those who constitute her future at such jeopardy when they bear no immediate harm?

And in fact, exhibiting such command and control mentality at this time in the history of the country is an indication of the country’s failure to learn from history. Close to two decades ago, the extrajudicial execution of a man known as Mohammed Yusuf was what ignited the Boko Haram sect that has tormented Nigeria for the better part of the last 15 years. For how long do Nigerian leaders want to put the country on the path of avoidable danger?

Having said all of these however, it should be pointed out that the whirlwind that Nigeria is battling with today is a direct consequence of the wind it has sown over the years. The good, the bad and the ugly that Nigeria has made of its youths have come back to demand recompense for the years of neglect and carelessness. Government should also note that no amount of force against the youth would suppress agitations for the very basic things that make life meaningful for them.

In “We kill militants but in vain,” published in this column in August 2016, I wrote: “And this is one of the points that Nigeria needs to urgently contemplate alongside, if not ahead of, military actions like the one under discussion.  According to a 2012 survey of the National Bureau of Statistics, youths in the 15 to 35 age brackets were nearly 70 million of the 166 million Nigerians then. Fifty-four per cent of this number of youths were unemployed as of August 2014. Hundreds of thousands of more youths would have joined the number in the past 24 months, what does a country expect when the majority of its most productive population have no jobs and practically nothing to hope for? There is also the issue of young school leavers who are unable to gain admission into higher institutions while the nation offers no alternative for them…”

Hope for a bright future is all these youths ask for and any attempt to quench this agitation will only postpone the evil day. Strength and the exuberant display of the same are two of the advantages of youth, and the President and other leaders, must employ the advantage of wisdom that is expected to attend age to positively engage the vigour of the youth for national development.  Otherwise, Nigeria will only be building a militarised population (especially from the army of the untrained), which would do the future of the country no good, that is if we allow any future at all.

Niran Adedokun is a Public Relations practitioner, lawyer and journalist.  He tweets @niranadedokun

Independence Day! It’s Birthday Time as Nigeria turns 60.

The President will  light the candles on the nations cake and cut it (- probably imported from Harrods in London) and there will be a big bash at Aso Rock with past presidents, important dignitaries and foreign ambassadors invited. They will drink, make merry and pose for countless photo sessions.

But is there really anything to celebrate?

No!

The country is in a worse state than it was 60 years ago when the Union Jack came down and Nigeria’s green and white flag went up: a Man doesn’t know where his next loaf of bread is going to come from or whether he’ll even live to see the next day; mass unemployment has created a generation of people who’ll never work for a living; the crime wave is spiraling out of control as is poverty and incessant killings; corruption has taken a front seat and with the current Covid-19 Pandemic nobody can see the fabled light at the end of the tunnel!.

If Nigeria were to be a person it would have nearly lived a full life by now having gone through childhood, puberty, adulthood, middle age and about to enter the blissful age of retirement. That is to say Nigeria should have got over its teething problems by puberty, settled into a steady growth rhythm by adulthood and now at retirement should be a nation everybody should be happy to live in.

But alas, ‘Bad Boy’ Nigeria (- and its inhabitants) has refused to grow up and revels in its alter-ego of a ‘Man-Child’ still acting irresponsibly with no clear sense of direction. Haba! Na only you waka come?

In an attempt to govern ourselves we’ve tried every form of governance known to Man – without success- from military dictatorships to the US- Presidential Style we currently practice. We haven’t tried Socialism or Communism yet because it’s not in our DNA to call one another ‘comrade’, dress and eat like peasants and live in unpalatable hovels. It won’t work unless we adopt the Animal Farm maxim of “ All Animals are Equal but Some are More equal Than Others!”.

Nigeria is probably the only nation in the World that doesn’t have a national airline: Ethiopia we belittle has the best airline in Africa, flying modern aeroplanes that don’t fall out of the sky! What does it take to buy of lease a few planes, slap the national emblem on it and run an airline? In Nigeria that’s a Mission Impossible and recent attempts to revive the national airline have flat lined. That’s probably because they’re still bickering about who’s going to run it: is it going to be Mallam Muslim from the North or Christian Chief from the South? Or how much money they can ‘chop’ from the venture even before it takes off.

We have the largest deposits of crude oil in Africa yet our ancient and crumbling refineries ( – are any of them still working?) can’t pump out cheap petrol and kerosene for the populace to consume: to make matters worse fuel subsidies have been removed and a litre of petrol now costs a fortune. We have to import refined petroleum products – even from countries like Niger who only started commercial oil production in 2011.

Boko Haram and other insurgents are still busy terrorising the land killing and kidnapping hundreds of people at random and sacking villages while the Nigerian Army is powerless to bring their reign of terror to an end. Is it because they are cowering in their barracks or they have no guns to fight?

Still after sixty years building and maintaining simple basic structures such as roads and bridges is alien to our culture. We build them (-if we do!) and forget about them or “Who build that garda?”, as a past military leader once asked. It is the year 2020 and driving from Lagos to Abuja is like a daytrip to Hell! If the pot-holed roads or non-existent roads, rickety bridges and other reckless motorists don’t kill you, you are bound to meet your Waterloo at the hands of marauding robbers, kidnappers – or the police! (SARS are the guilty ones here!).

The minority ruling elite are well-heeled (- and corrupt!); well educated (- well most of them!) ; live in palatable mansions; drive the latest cars (- and may have a private plane or two!); send their kids abroad to proper schools; order cooked pizza from London while the rest of the country wallows in poverty and uncertainty. “Let them eat cake”, they tell the rest of the country – and mean it!

With nothing else to do many are jumping on planes to go abroad – many vowing never to come back home again. Abroad the pastures are greener, the opportunities are unlimited, proper healthcare, police you don’t have to bribe and the chance to live at least a decent life – something you can’t do in Naija (- unless you are ‘connected’) A nation is losing its top brains to institutions and organisations abroad  and the government is doing nothing to stem the flow: there are no incentives to stay other than you’ll earn less than what a cleaner or nurse earns in the U.K (- that’s if you get paid at all!) and you’re not killed by ritualists or cultists or kidnapped by herdsmen! And those who don’t jump ship have to face the humiliating task of finding any kind of job. How many Ph.D. holders work for Dangote driving trucks?

Faced with hopelessness many are forgetting that “Get Rich quick or die trying” is meant to be lyrics in a rap song and not a mantra a great many Nigerians live and swear by: so kidnapping, armed robbery, embezzlement or sacrificing your granny or brother for a money ritual are not honest ways to make a fast buck.

So after 60 years of independence Nigeria has managed to wangle its way into the infamous club of failed nations, hardly something worth celebrating: it’ll be like a younger me coming home from school with ‘Fail’ on my report card and thinking my parents will throw a party to celebrate.

Grow up Nigeria@60!

Tony Ogunlowo is on Twitter: @Archangel641 or visit http://www.archangel641.blogspot.co.uk