Nigeria Labour Congress to the rescue

SIR: Not having virile trade unions to champion the cause of their members in a most pragmatic manner is the bane of all Nigerian workers and even the country at large.

Imagine how the Central Bank has swung into action following the threat of total shutdown of the economy by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and imagine what could have happened if such threats had been issued long before now.

This is the same Central Bank, which has acted most irresponsibly in the last couple of weeks thereby subjecting the entire populace to so much excruciating pains.

The workers’ union has so much power to force any recalcitrant government on its knees but the problem Nigerians have often encountered is that most of the unions are led by those who know next to nothing about how to use their position to bring succour to their members.

And quite unfortunately, those who lack ideas of how to make positive impacts on the lives of the people don’t always allow those who can do so to occupy such positions. Almost all the trade unions in Nigeria are under such limitations of leaders bereft of ideas and that explains why Nigeria and Nigerians are in deep waters.

Imagine how Nigerians have suffered under the leadership of the immediate past labour congress leaders and compare it to now that another responsible leader has emerged.

With the new NLC leader who has announced his plan of action to  the nation, the Central Bank which has held everyone captive in the past couple of weeks has now woken up and rushing to do the needful to avert the wrath of the workers’ union since everyone in the country is well aware of the level of damage that will be caused should the threat of strike action throughout the country be carried out.

Hopefully therefore, Nigerians may now have a cause to smile within the next few days going by all the recent promises and actions  being issued by the apex bank.

To take up the issue of the plight of Nigerian workers further, there’s need for the NLC to also wade into the plight of pensioners in Nigeria. It’s easy to see the horrors being suffered by pensioners in Nigeria, which should not be so with a good labour union to champion their cause.

Whatever it is going to cause the country, people who retired having served their country until their statutory retirement need not go through such stress and torture known with pensioners in Nigeria, so much so that many continue to die before their entitlements come through. This is completely unacceptable.
Jide Oyewusi is coordinator of Ethics Watch International, Lagos.