…NLC remains buffer between Nigeria’s excruciating hardship – Wabba
KEMI OMONIYI
Former National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has said that all the presidential aspirants must be interrogated by the Organised Labour on their policies and manifesto as it concerns the economy.
Oshiomhole, who is also a former National President of Nigeria Congress (NLC), and immediate past Governor of Edo State, stated this at the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), at 40 publication titled, “Contemporary History of Working Class Struggles,” in Abuja.
“Nothing can be more humiliating for you as workers than someone who is elected on your platform is the one taking position that is completely in conflict with what you stand for.
“And that is why I will conclude by saying that, the season we are in, I invite all of us to look carefully. Even I have told APC candidates. If you pursue absolute market forces, you don’t have me on your side because what brought us to this situation, talking about history, we must document the characters of government we interface with.
“So if you say you do not want market forces, say so now to those who want to be president. I want you to use moment to know that there is no such thing as a good person in government or a bad person. Or a short person and a tall person. What will determine your fate is the policy choices that those in government, consciously take.”
While noting that there is nothing objective about governance, he described government as an act of bias, even as he advocated for a country that works for everyone.
He said even as a stalwart of a political party and knowing his background that he was made by labour, he cannot condemn the labour movement if it had decided to protest against high price of diesel in the country.
He said that the privilege of office even as a governor was not enough for hin to forget his background.
“If I was a coward, I wont have been removed the way I was removed as the National Chairman of APC,” advising labour leaders to stop agonising rather they should be organising.
Speaking further, Oshiomhole advised the labour movement to fight for their wages to be dollarised.
“We must teach our younger generation to understand the other side of the argument. There must be more than one way to bail us out where we are.
“Yesterday (Sunday), I had the opportunity to address the APC youth leaders and I told them we are not just interested in building a great country with a huge GDP, the largest GDP in Africa, but the GDP should reflect in our living standard.
“We should have well paid people and the more prosperous people. We don’t just want to say that we have they largest GDP in Africa we want to be able to say that our people are more better off than people in any other African countries. If not then there is crisis of description and we cannot be progressive.
“If we post two condradictory index, the human index is going down and then the economy index is going up, something is going wrong. When I declared to contest for President, and I did it on television not secret, before I realised I couldn’t raise a N100 million.
“I want you to know that what makes us different as labour leaders is that if you are grounded on those core values of labour, nothing in life will make you change.
“I said this before even on national television that the fact that the children of the poor are at home, is not featuring on in conversations on television. It’s all about politics, this is wrong. It is not an act of God. We have to fix it.”
Earlier, the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba said that the labour movement in the last 40 years has always stood her grounds to resist the primitive accumulation of wealth or the essence of public goods by few greedy political leaders.
“We have held countless public rallies and protests against the deterioration, poor sound values in our society, especially the evil of official guts, nepotism, and exploitation of our people.
“We in the organised labour and our civil society allies will continue to engage in such advocacy crusades and popular initiatives to redeem our people from opportunists who have mistaken national advancement for personal aggrandisement.
“It has not been an easy struggle that we have lunch starting from our founding fathers as led by labor leader number one, to the present leadership. We are continuing in this value and direction.
“No other organisation have championed the cause of the downtrodden like the Nigeria Labour Congress in the past 40 years or more. We have been the buffer between Nigeria’s excruciating hardship. We have stood successive governments and their imposition of very extreme living conditions, particularly as marred by incessant increase in the price of public utilities and essential commodities.” He said
On his part, the President of Trade Union Congress (TUC) Festus Osifo said that the Nigerian workers has been subjugated and oppressed by the ruling class.
He lamented that the current minimum wage of N30,000 cannot in the present economic reality pay workers transportation fare to work for a month.
Osifo, who said that labour movement in the country is one with the sole aim to protect the interest of workers, noted that if not for the struggle of the founding fathers of the movement in the country, the story would have been different today.
The TUC boss also told the government to recognise the power of agreement.
Also speaking, the pioneer NLC Chairman, Hassan Sunmonu, lamented the poor condition in the university sector.
He queried, “Why is different in this particular country? Name one university anywhere in the world, where Vice chancellors have to ask for the permission of the head of service before they recruit a professor.
“Name any university in the world, where to pay professors and lecturers it has to be through the accountant General’s Office. Where in the world is anything akin to IPPIS being forced on any university?
“The most patriotic Nigerians are those federal universities. Why should a senior lecturer have the salary of a Sergeant in the army? If we don’t take education serious it will be to the detriment of our present and future.
“I would like to congratulate the leadership of the NLC for this feat. I am very proud of you people.
“The IMF and World Bank want to make Nigeria a poor and undeveloped country forever. Our policy makers are not talking. Most of them were put their by IMF and World bank.
“We don’t have secret in Nigeria. Our secrets are in Washington, London and co.”
