Nigeria, others move to revive West Africa trade union

Secretariat moves to Abuja from Abidjan

NIGERIA is once again leading other West African governments to revive the comatose Organization of Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA).

To the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, the revitalization of the OTUWA would contribute massively to the regional integration of the sub-region.

Speaking in Abuja at the special delegates conference of the regional organization, Wabba said the NLC believes that trade unions’ regional solidarity is a possible solution to the continent’s deep and prolonged labour, economic and social crisis, at a time when the working people are experiencing the ‘race to the bottom’, prevalent neo-liberal policies of deregulation and privatization of national economies.

He lamented the continued declining of state-imposed barriers to inter-country flows is paving the way for increased regional trade.

He hinted that Nigeria has offered to serve as host of the secretariat of OTUWA to provide logistics support for its initial takeoff for one year as part of its commitments to the existence of a formidable West African regional trade union organization. The NLC Chief said the umbrella body of Nigerian workers shall continue to play a vital role in the sustenance of OTUWA and other African regional trade union organizations for the benefits of the workers in the sub-region and Africa as a whole.

To bring to fruition the dreams of the founding fathers of the region who established the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Wabba stressed the need for the working people as represented by the different national trade union organizations to form a strong and formidable force by having a strong regional trade union organization to be able to effectively engage businesses and remain relevant in the scheme of things.

Wabba maintained that the most compelling reason why the working people of the West African sub-region must come together under a formidable trade union organization, is that like many of the West African countries, they are very small, not only in population, but also in terms of economic output, so also are trade unions or labour centres.

“Since development requires the organization of social and economic activity on a much larger scale, we must have large and big trade union organizations in the region to be able to engage meaningfully. This is because a big trade union organization brings with it opportunities for a wide range of benefits associated with it; increased specialization, technical skills and capacity, competition, access to a wider range of technological knowledge, and greater sharing of ideas and experience in all areas of endeavour,” he explained.

Wabba submitted that looking at all the challenges confronting labour movement in West Africa sub-region, what is require at this time are efforts on all fronts to build and ensure a strong regional trade union organization to address and overcome the sense of disconnectedness in international trade unionism and the global labour movement.

He said: “Therefore, reviving OTUWA for Regional Integration is a reflection of a growing appreciation of the benefits to be derived from regional unity and cooperation of workers as represented by trade union organizations in West Africa, in meeting the challenges posed by current globalization and increasingly competitive world markets.”

In his goodwill message, the Officer-in-charge of ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and liaison Office for ECOWAS, Dennis Zulu, decried the inability of trade unions in West Africa to resonate the success it recorded at the national level to sub-regional level.