The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC has made public the compendium of its activities and struggle in the last forty years of its existence.
At a public presentation of the book, “Contemporary History of the Working Class Struggle, 1978-2018, speakers at the event were unanimous that Nigeria can only progress as a nation when the authorities and citizens make productivity the centre of people’s daily lives.
In 2018, when the NLC celebrated its forty years of birth, there was the call for the documentation of the movement of its struggles over the years for posterity.
The public presentation of the book was the answer to that call made almost five years ago.
Welcoming the dignitaries, NLC Ayuba Wabba, said the occasion was also to recognise the efforts of NLC veterans’ contributions to workers struggle in Nigeria.
He said that the NLC over the years, has taken up pressing national issues like the campaign for better and quality education, better welfare packages for workers including wages and constantly resisted what he called “ primitive accumulation of wealth” by some individuals.
Accoring to Wabba, “ there is the need for the working class to be vigilant in order to maintain the hard –won benefits from various places of work as accentuated by the fact in the current phase of neo-liberal economic paradigm”.
The Book
Giving an insight to the content of the book, the NLC President, who is the President of the International Trade Union Confederation ITUC, said the book was a brief history of the Congress which is the first step in its resolve to document the rich struggle of “our movement”.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress has evolved from colonial times to the present day as a fighting organisation for the working people of this country from the rendition of the account of our forebears in the anit-colonial struggle up till the time of independence.
“It captures the period of the re-organisation of NLC, through the dark years of the military rule and the struggle of the working class.
“It also covers all the concessions we have managed to win from our ruling elite as a result of hard bargains and struggles”, he said.
The book was written according to Wabba, to allow the main actors in the life of the movement to explain in their own word, the rationale for some of the decision they took while in office or what motivated them.
Also speaking, the pioneer President of the NLC, Mr Hassan Sunmonu commended the leadership of the Congress for the stride in documenting the history of workers struggle in Nigeria.
He said that many politicians are not aware of “the great role that workers played for the country to gain independence.
“But with this book it will tell our stories of the many battles that the movements have encountered just for good things to come to workers and Nigerians”.
ASUU Strike
He also lamented the protracted industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities in Nigeria ASUU and called on the government to prioritise education by addressing its impasse with ASUU.
President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC Mr. Festus Osifo, said that the Nigerian worker had been suppressed and subjugated, that the value of the National Minimum Wage has been eroded by inflation and the crash of the naira.
“Today, our minimum wage is less than 50 dollar per month, when it was negotiated at 30,000 naira, you will recall that it was somewhere around 90 dollars but today due to inflation the value has been completely eroded,’’ he said.
He appealed to the Nigerian Government to place value on the working class as they are the ones that create the wealth of the nation.
The TUC president also called on the Government to ensure that ASUU returned to the classrooms.
Authors
While commending the authors of the book, John Odah, Onah Iduh, Salisu Muhammed, Benson Upah, Asuzu Echesona and the NLC, the book reviewer, Professor Dafe Otobo from the University of Lagos, said the working class struggle are too complex, and occurring in all industries simultaneously.
He said the book was commendable as it covers the major actors from the beginning of the labour movement and their struggle for the working class.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige in his address, acknowledged that labour creates wealth but stressed the importance of social dialogue in ensuring industrial harmony.
Responding to calls for the Nigerian Government to address the requests of ASUU so that they would go back to the classrooms Dr Ngige said that no negotiation is forced.
“You cannot say it is either you give me 200 percent or I will continue my strike. There are laws guiding strike. There are ILO principles on right to strike. Nobody can take it away.
“But, there are things that follow it when you embark on strike as a worker, and they are enshrined in the laws of our land.
“It is written in Trade Dispute Act. The ILO principles of strike talks about the right of a worker to withdraw services. There is also right to picket. These are things that are done”, he said.
The Minister recalled that he conciliated the dispute twice, first on February 22, one week after the commencement of the strike and some agreements were reached, and he brought everybody back on March 1 for another conciliation.
According to him, the only thing left was going back to the Federal Ministry of Education for the renegotiation of the 2013 agreement.
Confidence Okwuchi
