Senator Ayo Akinyelure, on Thursday, decried how banking and insurance industry turn many desperate female workers into harlotry and sex slavery.
He stated this when the lawmakers considered a bill titled ‘Prohibition of Casualisation Bill 2020’, which Akinyelure sponsored.
The bill is seeking to end the prevalence of employers in the private and public sectors hiring and engaging employable Nigerian graduates as casual workers.
In his lead debate, Akinyelure said, “Statistics from the Nigeria Labour Congress shows that many workers in the telecommunications, oil and gas sectors are engaged as casual labourers by employers of labours.
“Other sectors with thousands of casual labourers include mining, steel, banking and insurance.”
Specifically speaking on the insurance and banking industry he said, “In the banking and insurance industry, for instance, many young graduates particularly females are employed as marketers and given unrealistic customer deposit targets running into millions.
“They are hired and fired at will when such unrealistic targets are not met. The female among them who are desperate in keeping their jobs turn to harlotry and sex slavery. They, move from one office to the other looking for invisible customers who have large funds to enable them to meet their targets.
“It is high time this evil and devilish act is stopped.”
Contributing to the debate, Senator Biodun Olujimi said it was necessary to have a legal framework that will help end casualization.
She said, “Our girls have been turned into what we cannot imagine. Most of them have been asked to look for funds, and when they come to us, I always tell them, I do not even have the funds to eat; how can I have funds to keep with you in the bank?
“They will never be promoted if they don’t bring in such funds and this is a banking industry that is privately owned, yes but has made so much profit, and from the profit, they could at least take the few that they can manage properly, rather than take a lot that they will be giving pittance.”
Speaking on the vexed issue, Senate President Ahmad Lawan, charged the Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity to strike a balance in the bill to make sure casual workers in the country would no longer be made victims of layoffs.
The bill passed second reading and was referred to the Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity to report back within four weeks.