Panic as Sanwo-Olu’s government sacks 450 workers in Lagos

The Lagos government under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has sacked 450 staff members of the State’s Water Corporation, causing sadness and panic among the employees unaffected by the exercise.

The affected staff who were mostly casual workers were shocked when they were served with sack letters on Tuesday, November 28, 2023, and given an ultimatum to surrender all the government property in their care.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a staff member said in an interview with The Punch that many laid-off staff had spent several years working with the corporation.

The source also claimed that the state government wanted to restructure despite the staff shortage.

She said, “Nobody knew this was going to happen. We were all shocked that a large number of people could be sacked in a day. Currently, these waterworks no longer have casual workers.

“One of my friends was affected by the decision. She has a family she is taking care of. She doesn’t even know where to start. She left the office weeping last week. Even if they are going to sack anyone, they should have given people more time to find alternatives.

“We don’t have enough staff. As big as this place is, only one person is left to clean it. There were many of us at the maintenance units before. They said they are restructuring, but how many staff will need to be sacked before this is accomplished?”

Speaking on the development, the Public Relations Officer of Lagos State Water Corporation, Kehinde Fashola, confirmed some workers were laid off because they breached the contract of agreement.

She said, “The government found out that the Lagos Water management contract staff members have not been in accordance with the contract appointment law. Some of them have been contract staff for 10 years and some for five years, which is not in accordance with the country’s labour law.

“The normal time is two years. So, the government is trying to correct any abnormality without any bias.”

In another development, the Lagos State Government through the Lagos Safety Commission has sealed 19 event centres for safety infractions in the interest of public safety.

This was made known by the Director-General of the Commission, Mr. Lanre Mojola, during a recent routine inspection and an on-the-spot assessment of some event centres across the State.

Mojola said the safety assessment exercise is an ongoing effort to achieve the Commission’s mandate of ensuring zero accidents, particularly during this yuletide season.

He listed some of the event centres including White Stone Event Centre, Lekki Coliseum, Leisure Park, La Madison, Haddasah, The Summit, Villa Park, De Dove, Majesty, The Podium, Celebrations Gardens and Tastee Event Centres among others.

Mojola declared that before the exercise, the Commission had earlier informed all events centre owners through their various associations of the need to adopt safety best practices at all events and duly register all events from 250 guests and above via its registration portal www.lasgsafetyreg.com to obtain an Event Safety Permit.

He noted that the Commission has taken decisive action to enforce compliance with basic safety standards and guarantee safer events by sealing these event centres for nonconformity with already established safety protocols.
He said the Commission will continue to conduct routine inspections to ensure that safety standards are upheld by the events and hospitality sectors within the State.

Mojola also enjoined members of the public to escalate and report safety infractions observed at events and public facilities to the Commission.

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