Nigerian workers, arise!

BY FELIX AJIOLA

How do Nigerians cope with the astronomical rises in the cost of living? Indeed, socioeconomic virus have ravaged the country since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 2015. Prices of basic commodities, especially food and fuel have skyrocketed since his emergence in 2015. Initially, these increases were blamed on the exchange rate of the naira. But that tells only half of the story. For instance, locally produced food have followed the general rise in the cost of living, owing to the perceived normalisation and endorsement of bandit and herder’s displacement of farmers in several agrarian communities.

How are Nigerian workers coping with these astronomical price increases? In the past four years, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), appears to have ignored the plight of the Nigerian workers. Indeed, it has been accused of fraternising with the government. NLC seems to have disappointed many Nigerians, because it did not show enough zeal in its commitment to the welfare of Nigerian workers. A case in point, is the forceful implementation of the ” Integrated Personnel Payment System (IPPIS) and concomitant brutal robbery of employees of the federal government. Indeed, many radical groups and Nigerians believed, that the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress have been too close to the government and this could be reason for their palpable silent disposition.
Nevertheless, the NLC should be commended, for the recent reawakening against the obnoxious hikes in electricity and fuel prices.

Workers of Nigeria..! The Clarion rings through the hallowed chambers of the working people and the teeming masses. It sends shivers down the spine of the government and inspire the spirit of the poor masses. It is a call to struggle against their common oppressors. Karl Marx knew what he meant when he was calling for the overthrow of the bourgeoise by the proletariat.

Workers of Nigeria and the poor masses (employed & unemployed), have common adversary and exploiter— the parasitic ruling political class who expropriate the means of production, impoverish the working people and masses, but live flamboyantly to the detriment and peril of the workers and masses. Nigerian workers, army of unemployed youths and masses must unite to fight their common oppressors and liberate themselves from the tyranny of neoliberal and neocolonial agents in Nigeria.

Nigerian masses must mobilise to repudiate the unprecedented increases in electricity and fuel prices. They must combat the greed, avarice, ineptitude, nepotism and opaqueness of this government, which accumulate so much but give little or nothing to the poor masses and workers. Nigerian workers and masses must begin to interrogate the government: must monkeys sweat more to eat less? Must baboons sweat less to eat more? Why should the corrupt politicians be living in opulence while the under-paid and over-taxed workers and masses sweat and struggle to survive? How can the Nigerian economy be expected to grow when corruption goes on with impunity under this government?

It is troubling that this government has turned a blind eye to the sufferings of the masses by opting to further impoverish them through diverse neoliberal permutations. With prices of everything so high, it would be impossible for people to live a decent life, under the already excruciating living conditions in the country.

It is in this light, I charge the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), TUC and other trade Unions never to compromise the struggle or kowtow to any antics of this neoliberal, parasitic and anti-people’s regime. After all, Trade Unions exist so that workers can have a collective voice and collective bargaining power. It is their primary responsibility to protect the interests of the workers and ensure that workers receive a fair deal. Fundamentally, the social, economic and political development of any country depends largely upon the existence— and indeed the degree of strength and political independence of the trade union movement and radical intellectuals and groups. Where these are non-existent, weak or subjugated to any power whether from within or without, either economic or political, there will be poverty, hunger, slavery and lack of human rights and freedom. It requires a continuous struggle and a long-term process to achieve some kind of humanitarian life, lasting peace and human dignity. It should be the common objective of all people to eradicate the exploitation of members by men, if we are ever to reach that goal. In any case let us not despair, and fight for it with all our might.

Workers of Nigeria, arise, resist and upturn every nefarious, draconian and neoliberal economic measures, that breeds inflation, wretched life, hardship and unfulfilled expectations. For we have nothing to loose, except our chains.

Dare to Win, Dare to Struggle!