The Director of Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic Studies (AKCDS), Habu Mohammed, is a professor of Political Economy and Development at the Bayero University, Kano State. He is an awardee of the prestigious US-based Institute of International Education (IIE) and a former Fullbright visiting scholar at Northwestern University, Illinois, USA. He speaks with IMOLEAYO OYEDEYI on the challenges of labour activism in the country, among others.
The Nigerian Labour Congress {NLC), some few days back, declared a nationwide strike and shut down the country’s economy because its leader, Comrade Joe Ajaero, was assaulted in Imo State. In reaction to this, some observers have argued that the labour union appears not to be representing the interests of Nigerians any more; what is your take on this?
The point is: the labour union and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) are not actually against the interest of the larger majority of Nigerians, particularly the workers. But what is happening today is that labour movement is taking a new dimension, due to the involvement of the labour leaders in politics, especially when you consider the heads of the NLC in relation to the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) and the political dynamics of the country, which has invariably made labour unionism to be greatly political. All these made the NLC to look like an arm of a political party.
However, in actual fact, even if the labour unions have a good national interest to protect, it is very difficult, if not impossible, for someone to be convinced that this is in the best interest of the Nigerian workers, because of the political affiliation of the NLC with the LP. And this is a very critical situation, because people have been expressing various displeasure at the state of the labour movement in the country. But I still believe that the demands of the NLC have been very objective so far. The only scar in the whole thing is the issue of politicisation. If not, I wonder why the brutalisation of the NLC leader in Imo State would require a nationwide strike. This is something that should have been taken care of at the level of the state chapter of the union, which was directly at the centre of the incident. But this notwithstanding, you and I know the character of the Nigerian state. Initially we heard that they took the NLC leader away from the scene of the incident, perhaps to protect him. If this was the case, why then was he beaten at the end of the day to the point where people could not even recognise his face? This is to tell you that there was a serious violation of his rights and that of the labour leader to freely participate in any movement or programme that affects his union and the larger majority of Nigerian workers. In actual fact, the man should not have been assaulted to that point. But if such a thing happens and the union also does not react, it will continue like that such that people will be molested as if we are in a military or dictatorial regime.
Â
But what do you say to those that have said the NLC has lost the whole essence of labour activism as they have not been seen to protest against many key policies of the government that have bitten hard on Nigerians in recent times?
Exactly, this is what I have said earlier. But it is just that due to the affiliation of the NLC with the LP, whatever action is taken by the union will be perceived from the prisms of the selfishness of its leaders. And I agree with many people that there have been so many hard policies of the government that should have been interrogated by the labour union at the national level. But unfortunately, because of the smearing involvement of the labour leaders in Nigerian politics, they rarely react as Nigerians expect. Indeed, what we usually see from the labour leaders is simply an impromptu declaration of strike, which they will call off after a day or two once the government has invited them to a meeting. The same thing happened during the week. The NLC declared a strike, the National Security Adviser called them for a meeting and they called off the strike immediately after the meeting. This is simply to tell you that there are so many things underground, either because of their selfish interest or because they are gradually lacking the legitimacy of the Nigerian workers. It is obvious that union leaders nowadays succumb to the dictates of the government representatives at the so-called dialogue meeting. This is one of the greatest dilemmas challenging the labour movement in the country today.
But if you go back the memory lane, you will understand the context in which labour activism started in the country, which came in response to the cries for the increase in the wages and salaries of Nigerian workers and the uplifting of their welfare. If you look at it closely, you will see that the labour struggle requires doggedness, principles, solidarity, mobilization, and effective communication. But what we are seeing today is greatly different from the kind of impactful and dogged activism of old, so much that many people believe that the present-day labour unions have given in to the government, which is why they are even playing with the interest of the generality of the Nigerian workers.
What then do you think can be the solution?
The solution is for the labour unions to disentangle itself from the umbilical cord of politics. This is the first thing to do. Once this is done, the union should then reach out for leaders, who will bring in the collective solidarity of the Nigerian population. This will help them to achieve whatever they want to achieve without being politicised or succumbing to ethnic or sectional interest, irrespective of any threat that may come from the government of the day when it comes to the issue of workers’ welfare, increase in wages, or any other issue affecting the sanity and livelihood of the Nigerian workers in general. Above all, let the labour union not be political, or sectional. As unionists, the NLC must be seen to be waging a consistent struggle against the Nigerian state over the economic hardship that the entire Nigerian populace has been facing. Let the unions also concentrate only on vital issues that affect the general interests of Nigerian workers, rather than political issues that are not necessarily connected to the wider development of the Nigerian workers.
When you look at the frame the NLC has taken in recent times in the country, you will see that it has primarily given to the interest of its workers and executives alone. In some cases, what it often does is just to call for solidarity from the unions affiliated to it like the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), among others. But it hardly pays solidarity to these same unions when it comes to addressing critical needs and concerns in their sector. I could remember that during the Ali Ciroma leadership of the NLC under the regime of former Military Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, the NLC was highly affiliated with ASUU, which was also strongly connected and affiliated with the labour union. This gave the Babangida government a very difficult time, such that it had to detain some of the union leaders and infiltrate labour movements at that time in order to get what it wanted. Today, the situation is quite different, as people now want to get cheap popularity, place their political interest under the surface, and use the money they generate from labour activism to join politics and contest elections. Most times, people like these when they capture power, usually betray the Nigerian workers. This is just the sad reality when are in now in the country.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNEÂ
and then