Opinion
By POEM
YESTERDAY being the 2nd of August, 2023 the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC through its Central Working Committee, CWC and leadership, made good their threat to down-tool. A week-long negotiation with government did not break their resolve.
The history of Labour struggle in Nigeria dates back before our national independence. Then, you could argue, just like currently that their struggle, in concert with advocates of national independence, had a particular purpose; “welfare of their members”. The latch on the independence struggle was a convenient vehicle to achieving that purpose.
Chief Michael Imoudu, who holds the enviable place as the father of the labour struggle in Nigeria, had a clear purpose; struggle for the rights of workers and attacking any obstacles to achieving that – colonial masters and the insatiable imperialist companies. That two-prong approach lost one leg immediately independence was achieved and labour kept cleaning their nose off politics except were it was inevitable to interrogate government. It has been a long tradition through the first president of The NLC that was formed in 1978 and led by Wahab Goodluck.
During his tenure, he led the NLC in negotiating better wages and working conditions for workers and fought against the government’s attempt to deregulate the economy and privatize state-owned enterprises. Years after, with hindersight, it has proved to be an exercise in futility as almost all government enterprises collapsed under the weight of crass corruption. Other notable leadership of NLC have been Paschal Bafyau (1984-1988), Ali Ciroma (1988-1994), Pascal Bafyau (1994-1999) and Adams Oshiomhole (1999 – 2007). Oshiomhole is a running case study, especially in the present dispensation because of the roles he found himself playing in both government and inside labour movement. Same can be said of HE Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Except for Chief Frank Kokori, who was a fiery activist and former secretary-general of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, both Oshiomhole and Tinubu found themselves in one basket in the heady days of General Sani Abacha’s government with the ignoble annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election, which Chief MKO Abiola evidently won. The quantity of impact the National Democratic Coalition, NADECO made in all that, with what Tinubu represents now, remains a paradox
During Oshiomhole’s tenure as NLC president, he led Congress to negotiating better wages and working conditions for Nigerian workers. He also fought against the government’s attempt to increase fuel prices and electricity tariffs, which were seen as anti-workers policies. Under his leadership, the NLC became more visible and effective, using strikes and protests to demand better treatment for workers. He would later be in government as a governor and now a newly elected Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Today he sings anti labour songs in the same manner HE Bola Ahmed Tinubu does.
Recall that Tinubu shot himself to prominence through NADECO formed on 15 May, 1994 to checkmate the military government of General Sani Abacha, to step down in favour of the winner of the 12 June 1993 election, M.K.O. Abiola. A clear struggle to hand power over to the rightful winner!
As the labour strike is currently underway why are some people insinuating that it is Labour Party (LP) that is engineering it and not the NLC? One caller on a live TV programme even went as low as saying that the strike is because the leadership of Labour is from a particular section of the country, with the Labour Party presidential candidate. Didn’t HE Peter Obi say he would remove subsidy, albeit with a totally different format from what this government is doing? Chief Frank Kokori says he too supports removal of subsidy. Every right thinking person knows that subsidy is a rogue and criminal ledger inside our book of corruption.
But the problem right now hovers on TRUST. When you ‘win’ an election without winning the people, the same people you are striving to impose your popularity on will regard you with suspicion.
POEM believes that in an ideal situation, that two months is too short a time to appraise the intentions of a new government before taking to the streets, but antecedents do not lie. The Nigerian masses, through the NLC, have seen the merciless manner fuel subsidy was removed, observed Tinubu’s appointments and his ministerial nominees and could not see any difference from the old order approach that could berth TRUST.
So, the NLC, as led by Comrade Joe Ajaero, decided not to waste time in calling on the government to follow the tradition, through making the conditions of workers less harsh in an economy struggling under the weight of automatic hardship heaped on the people since the birth of this government. Labour’s position is simple: what are the sign-posts in place for ameliorating the suffering of workers and Nigerians alike under a government that is not only struggling with legitimacy, but also looking very likely that it would have another day at the polls very soon?
As we wait for the courts, the nation should not standstill, or worse, step backwards. HE Tinubu should always place the people first in whatever policies he is hurriedly making, instead of suffocating them and further mocking them with _’Let The Poor Breathe’_.
***POEM is Peter Obi Express Media.
A.
– Aug. 03, 2023 @ 12:28 GMT |
Tags: Chief Frank Kokori Chief Michael Imoudu Nigeria Labour Congress NLC NUPENG
