The thin line between protest and brinksmanship

The protest at the airport by organised labour on Thursday left many air travellers stranded, causing them to miss their flights. The reason? Members of organised labour, including the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), blocked the entrance to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, thereby causing heavy traffic gridlock.

The protesters demanded the cancellation of flights to Owerri, the Imo state capital, as part of their efforts to enforce industrial action in the state following the alleged maltreatment of NLC President Joe Ajaero by the police in Owerri last week.

To say many Nigerians were enraged is an understatement. Why subject most Nigerians to pain because of your issue? When the NLC president was brutalised last week, many Nigerians condemned the move and called on the police to investigate and punish the perpetrators. Such actions should never be allowed in a democracy.

However, the NLC punishing ordinary Nigerians is condemnable. This brinksmanship is taken too far. The irony is that the NLC may get away with the tomfoolery because bad behaviour is not punished in this country. There should be limits to protests, and disrupting other people’s lives and businesses should never be part of it.

Imagine a business person or an applicant missing a crucial business or appointment that could change their life because organised labour disrupted flights. Will that person show solidarity with labour anytime they want to protest or strike? I believe where your right stops is where another man’s right begins. Yes, you have the right to protest to air out your grievances. Other Nigerians also have the right to board a flight they have paid for.

The airlines have the right to earn their money, and you don’t have the right to punish other people for someone else’s mistake. That only happens in a Banana Republic.

The thing is, if it had happened in Imo, most people would not really complain because that was where the assault on the NLC president took place. However, taking the protest to Abuja and making life miserable for other people should never be condoned.

Airlines and businesses have lost millions of naira because of this protest. So, who compensates the airlines and businesses?

With this act by the NLC, they will lose a lot of sympathy and support. You don’t gain the support of people by making their lives miserable. What stops them from going to Imo and stopping the governor and his officials from moving? Why come to Abuja or Lagos to display a naked show of power?

There should be a thin line between protest and brinkmanship. The NLC should be told point blank that their right to protest doesn’t supersede other people’s rights. After all, what is the population of civil servants in the country? A majority of their demands and negotiations with the government only favour federal civil servants. And please, what is their number in Nigeria?

We should learn to do things differently. This primitive method of making the poor masses suffer because of grievances with the government should stop. Most VIPs didn’t miss their flights; they use chartered flights. It’s the person trying to survive whose schedule was disrupted. How long can we continue on this path?