Civil service job cuts

Nigeria's military government has begun a clearout of the civil service which could cost tens of thousands of jobs before the return to democracy next month, according to a Reuters report on Monday quoting officials in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. "The directive has been given for all heads of parastatals and federal ministries to forward a list of staff due for retirement and those who committed one crime or another, especially fraudulent practices," Reuters quoted an official as saying. The official added that an estimated 800,000 jobs could go, allowing the state to meet promised pay rises. The situation has recently become more serious since the country's leader, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, approved a rise in the minimum wage to civil servants, Reuters reported. Last Tuesday, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) called a strike in two-thirds of Nigeria's 36 states after military administrators refused to pay the minimum wage saying they could not meet the demands without massive redundancies. International financial organisations have asked Nigeria to reform its overstaffed public sector for a long time, according to Reuters.