EARLIER this week, President Tinubu announced a palliative of a meagre eight thousand naira (N8,000) monthly to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal. The palliative policy (not the N8,000) is a recommendation by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) when the policy was forced down the throats of Nigerians when the new president was inaugurated.
“Attending a May Day event in Nigeria today will leave you disillusioned, as the discussions often revolve around empty rhetoric and political posturing by labour leaders. The NLC, once a symbol of hope and resistance, has compromised its principles and failed to address the systemic issues that oppress the Nigerian working class, and as such become almost irrelevant. There is mass questioning of the character of labour leaders with many believing that they are as corrupt as the politicians with their knees on our collective neck. Their structures are as undemocratic as the structures of the Nigerian authoritarian State.”
Asides from the fact that palliatives like this don’t get to the people, N8,000 can hardly buy anything tangible to serve any family in the context of the galloping inflation since the subsidy removal. In post-petrol subsidy removal scenario, N8,000 can only afford a little less than 15 litters of petrol. Realistically, this can not take anyone to and back from work for two days in a week.
Meanwhile, the NLC has said that the negotiations for a new minimum wage can only begin in the last quarter of 2023. In the context of this declaration by the NLC, the question to ask the leadership of NLC is whether its members – Nigerian workers – are able to wait or survive this long wait, especially when their class enemies, the politicians who are already feeding fat from public resources are, like Oliver Twist, already asking for more to cushion the effect of the petrol subsidy removal.
The NLC, as the largest labour centre in Nigeria, and which has historically been at the forefront of challenging the exploitative socio-economic policies, has for some time now abdicated its emancipatory role. This role renunciation by the NLC manifests clearly since the new Tinubu administration, which from Day One has bombarded Nigerians with suffocating policies – from petrol price increase (subsidy removal) to naira devaluation to tuition fee hike (Students Loans Act) to increment in electricity tariff. Regrettably, in this cascade of vile policies, the NLC, and its sister trade union centre, Trade Union Congress (TUC), failed to meet the expectation of both their members and that of the majority of members of the Nigerian working class, whose support the NLC in particular had relied on in the past to successfully hold military dictatorships in check. In simple terms, Organised Labour has succumbed and obviously been compromised by the ruling class; and therefore, in bed and cavorting with the class enemy.
“The perpetuation of long-term leadership without proper succession planning has stifled fresh perspectives and ideas in the unions and undermined the working-class principles of democracy and collective decision-making. Do you know how many cases of union sit-tight regimes are presently in court? Do you know how many corruption cases by unions are with the EFCC? Some of these labour leaders have become entangled in the same web of corruption cases that plagues the political class.”
The Nigerian masses, who had relied largely on Organised Labour to protect their existential interests now find themselves trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and inequality. The co-optation, or do I say the conquering of Organised Labour, by the rapacious Nigerian political elite has had a significant negative impact on its ability to effectively represent the interests of its immediate constituents (workers) and generally the spirit of solidarity of its allies as well as the Nigerian masses.
Of course, it had been noted overtime that the leadership of Organised Labour has become entangled with the ruling class, compromising their independence and diluting their historical revolutionary spirit. This co-optation first manifested in undemocratic delegates conferences that unfortunately replaced workers’ congresses. Invariably, this created a disconnect between the leadership of Organised Labour and the grassroots, as they (leadership) instead prioritised their personal interests which inevitably compromised genuine struggles of the working class.
I had personally investigated the extent of corruption perpetrated by the leadership of the Food Union, an affiliate of NLC, a corruption precipitated by a sit-tight regime that did not want to exit union office even after exceeding the term limits. Just last month, it was Kwara State’s Nigerian Union of Pensioners that got its own dose of leadership corruption that was reported by an online news medium.
“Can these same people stand up to a regime with an albatross hanging on its neck like the Tinubu administration? The answer is capital NO! We all know that’s the answer. And that’s the problem with leaving everything to Organised Labour. The present state of co-optation only means hopelessness for the masses. Placing the burden of all our transformative aspirations as a people on Organised Labour alone can only lead to a sense of stagnation while the systemic oppression continues.”
During the 2023 General Election in Nigeria, the then President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, and the NLC CWC/NEC directed all civil servants in Kebbi State to vote for the APC gubernatorial candidate, Dr Nasiru Idris, who once served as a Deputy President of the NLC and a National President of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT). This is despite NLC’s claims to owning the Labour Party! Co-optation? The current leadership of TUC emerged after a fractious litigation because the undemocratic process of choosing leaders in the centre failed to produce a consensus. For a while now, the executive members of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (a TUC affiliate) have been under investigation by ICPC, and perhaps EFCC, over alleged financial fraud in the association.
While some within labour circle may contest my claim about the co-optation of leaders of Organised Labour, but have you been to a May Day event recently? Have you had any political discussions with a labour leader in Nigeria? The ideological emptiness! Our fate cannot be at the mercy of those people!
Attending a May Day event in Nigeria today will leave you disillusioned, as the discussions often revolve around empty rhetoric and political posturing by labour leaders. The NLC, once a symbol of hope and resistance, has compromised its principles and failed to address the systemic issues that oppress the Nigerian working class, and as such become almost irrelevant. There is mass questioning of the character of labour leaders with many believing that they are as corrupt as the politicians with their knees on our collective neck. Their structures are as undemocratic as the structures of the Nigerian authoritarian State.
“We need to organise the masses around other human rights issues that are important to them and use that to confront the establishment. The establishment is attacking the masses on every possible front. The oppression we face is intersectional and it is high time the resistance transformed into intersectional struggles and that requires that we show up on every front of struggle. To build a collective resistance that targets the systemic causes of oppression, we must acknowledge the interdependence of what we regard as our personal battles.”
The perpetuation of long-term leadership without proper succession planning has stifled fresh perspectives and ideas in the unions and undermined the working-class principles of democracy and collective decision-making. Do you know how many cases of union sit-tight regimes are presently in court? Do you know how many corruption cases by unions are with the EFCC? Some of these labour leaders have become entangled in the same web of corruption cases that plagues the political class. While corruption is a systemic issue that permeates various sectors of Nigerian society, it is just disheartening to witness instances of corruption within organisations that should champion equality and accountability.
Can these same people stand up to a regime with an albatross hanging on its neck like the Tinubu administration? The answer is capital NO! We all know that’s the answer. And that’s the problem with leaving everything to Organised Labour. The present state of co-optation only means hopelessness for the masses. Placing the burden of all our transformative aspirations as a people on Organised Labour alone can only lead to a sense of stagnation while the systemic oppression continues.
No one is saying the masses should not be organised around workplace rights or working conditions. What we are saying is that the resistance is very weak on that front and we must explore other fronts sufficiently, to reinforce the strength of that front. The struggle for social justice encompasses many issues, including but not limited to economic inequality, gender oppression, ethnic oppression, environmental degradation, religious intolerance, and political disenfranchisement.
“Just like our poverty is multi-dimensional, our oppression is intersectional, and our resistance must be on every front, or else we will spend all our days waiting on Organised Labour to wake up when we could’ve used our resistance to wake them up.”
This means we can engage with social movements, grassroots organisations, and civil society groups that focus on various dimensions of oppression to build alliances and solidarity across different struggles and create a more comprehensive resistance movement.
We need to organise the masses around other human rights issues that are important to them and use that to confront the establishment. The establishment is attacking the masses on every possible front. The oppression we face is intersectional and it is high time the resistance transformed into intersectional struggles and that requires that we show up on every front of struggle. To build a collective resistance that targets the systemic causes of oppression, we must acknowledge the interdependence of what we regard as our personal battles.
While the labour movement remains crucial, it is EQUALLY important to mobilise around issues such as gender equality, environmental justice, anti-corruption efforts, access to education and healthcare, political participation, etc. We can engage a diverse range of voices and experiences, and amplify the collective power of the masses by broadening the scope of our resistance instead of narrowing it down to Organised Labour.
Just like our poverty is multi-dimensional, our oppression is intersectional, and our resistance must be on every front, or else we will spend all our days waiting on Organised Labour to wake up when we could’ve used our resistance to wake them up.
Comrade Ibukun writes from Abuja, Nigeria and he can be contacted on 09167636201
