Nigeria workers will today join their counterparts the world over to commemorate the yearly International Workers’ Day or the Labour Day, the significance of which is never lost on the toiling masses, their families, labour unions, rights movements and activists. Expectedly, it would be a day of reflections on the plight of workers as they struggle for economic security and wellbeing.
The Day should provide an opportunity for unions to revisit the dispiriting conditions in which a greater percentage of workers toil and contemplate what the future portends for a country and its army of unemployed youths.
The enormous challenges notwithstanding, the Nigerian worker, whether in the public or private sector, still deserves to be celebrated for holding aloft the banner of selfless contributions to the development of the country despite little recognition he is accorded by his employer, or even by the opportunists in government parading as leaders.
Times have changed though. In the past decade or so, the average Nigerian worker’s interest in open air parades across the country on such a significant occasion seems to have waned considerably – and understandably so. Leaders have cared less about workers’ collective welfare. To thousands of them, it’s another off day from excruciating, less-rewarding hours at work. The Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and other labour coalitions certainly have a task to regain the trust of workers and to convince the younger workers about the importance of trade unions. They need to find more creative ways of making this day relevant, once more.
However, all this is in no way suggestive of May Day losing its appeal. Commemorating the Day tends to reflect on the state of workers and trade unionism in the country. It makes more meaning for the Nigerian workers to be reminded that they are part of the global community and to take stock of their gains and losses in the corresponding year.
Today, the Nigerian worker remains a testimony to the disconnect between the ruling elite and the masses. He is still in shackles of political machinery that sacrifices the wellbeing of the people on the altar of selfish interests. Poverty stalks the land, making the average Nigerian worker a shadow of his hardworking self. The ruling elite is still unable to fashion sustainable policies for human development, enough to pull the worker out of the abyss of poverty. Systemic corruption in high places coupled with apathy towards youth employment and other oppressive regimes have, in a way, exacerbated the pervasive insecurity that daily threatens the soul of the country.
Today, poor conditions prevail in most working environments and the workers face incessant threats of disengagement because of little opportunities for employment. The public sector has absorbed more than needed personnel over time. In disregard of Labour laws, casualisation of workers is the order of the day while desperate young girls are sexually exploited. Incredulously, government agencies are charging fees to conduct recruitment into these departments while getting fixed up is known to be for the highest bidders (where positions are not reserved for children and wards of the influential persons in the society).
The much advertised N18, 000 minimum wage for workers remains a deceit in most public services especially in the states. Teachers at every level of education are perpetually on strike over government’s insincerity on the agreements it signed with workers. The hospitals do not fare better either as doctors and nurses are ever on the warpath, on welfare packages.
Many senior citizens who have retired after decades of meritorious service are still suffering in the hands of pension-stealing crooks in government service who take advantage of a corrupt system to deny the elderly ones their due. Everywhere, it is one sad tale or the other for the worker: he rarely enjoys his working life while his retirement days are a continuation of his suffering.
The unemployment time bomb is ticking. Today, therefore, should be a day of deep reflection for all stakeholders. It is not enough to dress workers in uniforms and parade the grounds across the country with speeches that sound like broken chords. Labour unions must wake up to engage the government in constructive discussions on improved labour conditions, but not necessarily by embarking on strike to force demands. Government on its part has to sincerely work on providing the enabling climate for citizens to expend their energy, skills and time for their self-actualisation and for the good of the society.
Only in that can Nigerian workers, in particular, and all citizens as a whole find a meaningful transformation.
