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Some days ago, the President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Joe Ajaero, told Nigerians that his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Mr Festus Osifo, spent more time abroad than the country and argued that he was, therefore, not in a position to truly understand the socio-economic travails of his members. That punch was the culmination of a chain of unsteady events. On October 8, the NLC issued a two-week ultimatum to the federal government to resolve their pending agreements and restore prices of petroleum products to the 2024 levels when the last minimum wage negotiations were held.
Sadly, that deadline died without achieving any of its goals. Then, a meeting between the government and some labour leaders, led by the NLC president, was convened and presided over by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi. The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) and Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) reportedly participated also. Essentially, what the gathering accomplished was the government’s six months’ award of 70,000 naira to its workers to cushion the biting costs of transportation. Those present welcomed the assistance like half bread that’s better than none.
The TUC president whose absence there unsettled some industry watchers, however, promptly dismissed the offer as part of government’s “haphazard measures”, demanded immediate increase of workers’ remunerations and accused Ajaero of short-changing those he was leading. The rejection didn’t surprise many people, quite frankly. And soon afterwards, organisations like the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government-Owned Companies (SSASCGOC) Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI) and the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) lined up behind Osifo’s stand. Their premises couldn’t be more cogent. As they put them, “with transportation, food, housing and other essentials becoming increasingly unaffordable, this intervention is no substitute for decent wages, fair remuneration or sustainable improvement in workers’ living standards.” It would take deliberate blindness or aversion to the facts to contest the validity of that argument. But then, how many employers can meet most of their staff’s needs? What can’t be denied, though, is the failure of successive governments to truthfully engage the workers in order to address their legitimate demands.
Ajaero may appear to have compromised the yearnings of the country’s workforce by accepting the insufficient cash subsidy speedily. But his explanation to labour reporters in Lagos the other day could win him sympathisers. His word: “Giving workers ₦70,000 as a transportation intervention for six months is not enough, although it provides some relief. For somebody earning ₦70,000, receiving another ₦70,000 is certainly meaningful. But what happens after six months? There are also other policies that must be considered, particularly transportation. We cannot accept a situation where workers receive ₦70,000 as temporary relief and, after six months, the government simply withdraws the intervention without providing an alternative.
“Nobody should assume that because the six-month period has expired, workers must return to their previous state of poverty. We have left Egypt; we cannot go back to Egypt. As far as the minimum wage negotiations are concerned, the new negotiations must recognise the existing wage structure and the improvements already achieved. You cannot begin negotiating from a position that ignores those gains.” See, some native intelligence won’t hurt. Ajaero may have applied wisdom in embracing this amount which, considering our poor government’s accountability, can soon be frittered away without trace. It then makes sense to take whatever they’re given and ask for more later! Only that the conditionalities for receiving, if any, mustn’t turn out to haunt or further enslave the beneficiaries now and in the future.
Those who think that the bickering between NLC and TUC is orchestrated by the government aren’t alarmist, even if they don’t possess hard proofs. Oftentimes, governments all over the world are the primary enemies of organised labour. For centuries, workers’ revolutions have taught political and business leaders to beware of workers who dare to unite in the pursuit of their common causes. Thankfully, Nigeria had recorded bold, noble and momentous strides by labour unions, many of which were beyond their own jurisdictions, despite the existing difficulties. They confronted colonists, stood against military tyrants, fought for the enthronement of democracy and aggressively canvassed human rights in concert with the mass media and civil society.
Those are some of the legacies handed down to the present labour leaderships – accomplishments they should seek to sustain and bequeath to their successors. True, each dispensation comes with its own peculiarities, so, there can’t be credible reasons to drop the ball now. These are clearly not the best times for the residents of Nigeria. The current cost of living is among the worst since the country was created. In the midst of this stark truth, Ajaero and Osifo must stick together – shoving aside all odds – and remain true to their primary task of safeguarding the dignity of labour.
For, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, “capital is only the fruit of labour, and could never have existed if labour had not first existed. Labour is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” Even in an age when artificial intelligence (AI) is feared to compete disproportionately with the worker, the human element can’t be ignored.
Pope Francis also articulates the supremacy and strategic role of the labourer thus: “There is no worse material poverty, I am keen to stress, than the poverty which prevents people from earning their bread and deprives them of the dignity of work. Youth unemployment, informality, and the lack of labor rights are not inevitable; they are the result of a previous social option, of an economic system that puts profit above man; if the profit is economic, to put it above humanity or above man, is the effect of a disposable culture that considers the human being in himself as a consumer good, which can be used and then discarded.”
Yes, public and private sector workers constitute only a fraction of the Nigerian populace but the magnitude of the responsibilities on their leaders shouldn’t be lost. In the absence of any worthwhile representation in the nation’s parliaments, the unions can be a strong force to extract or enforce good governance. The fast-approaching general polls make this point even more pertinent. Ajaero and Osifo can actually make great, enduring names for themselves by responsibly fighting for the interests of their members and, by extension, those of the rest Nigerians.
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