Workers of the Nigerian
Railway Corporation (NRC) on Thursday hailed the National Industrial Court, (NIC) Lagos Judicial Division’s judgment that gave them the right to possess the corporation’s staff quarters.
The President of NIC, Justice Babatunde Adejumo, made the pronouncement in his judgment over a suit filed by the workers against the corporation on the acquisition of Federal Government landed property.
Adejumo ruled that the workers should be given first consideration to buy their quarters from government.
The president in a suit number NIC/LA/11/2011 said: “My judgment is fair to all the parties in the sense that the rights of Nigerians must be protected.
“It is proper that people who are working or have worked in a place should be beneficiaries of any unbundling of the organisation or sale of it to private individuals.
“The principal policy of this court is to protect rights and, therefore, I order that the claimant be given fair opportunity in the bid to re-possess their accommodations.’’
The Tide correspondent reports that the workers under the aegis of the Nigeria Union of Railway Workers had in 2011 instituted a suit against the management of NRC and the Federal Government over the sale of their official quarters.
The sale of the official accommodations was in line with the privatisation policy of the Federal Government.
After the ruling, one of the plaintiffs in the suit and the President of the Senior Staff Association of Communications, Transport and Corporation (SSACTAC), Mr Mohammed Yunusa, said the judgment was ‘’well deserved.’’
Yunusa said that judgment justified their earlier demand that they should be given the right to buy back their accommodations.
“The management of the corporation refused to monetise our quarters to us based on their claim that it is a policy of the Federal Government.
“ We are happy that our prayers have been upheld by this court, but I urge our members to be peaceful and be more focused on the next level of action we want to take,’’ he said.
Also speaking, Mr Raphael Okoro, the President General, Railway Workers Union, told NAN that the managers of any government agency ought to be considerate first to those who had worked to build the organisation.
Okoro added that some of their colleagues who had died during the cause of pursuing the victory would also be part of the beneficiaries as long as their families were still occupying the quarters.