By Bimbola Oyesola

THE recent turn out of events in the Or­ganised Labour in Nigeria has further demeaned the credibility of the move­ment in the eyes of the public. It is no lon­ger news that the Federal Government, though it denied it, is capitalising on the crack in labour to further widen the gap to the benefit of the administration.

The Federal Government’s announce­ment of upward review of the price of Pe­troleum Motor Spirit (PMS) from N86.50 to N145, considered the best by the gov­ernment to address the perennial scarcity, re-newed the rivalry among the groups.

Within the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the recent drift was a product of its delegates congress held early last year, which was bogged down with allegations of manipulations of the process by indi­viduals.

One of the two presidential candidates, Joe Ajaero, and his supporters then re­jected the result of the election, claiming the entire process was skewed towards achieving a predetermined outcome.

Ajaero and his supporters, including the President of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Igwe Achese, and the General Secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUT­GTWN), Issa Aremu, who both contested for the deputy presidents of congress, re­jected the results of the election.

At a briefing after the election, Ajaero and other labour leaders in the group de­clared that they were conducting a paral­lel delegates conference in Lagos and that 23 affiliates of congress had thrown their weight behind the planned parallel con­ference.

True to their threat, on March 19, 2015, the aggrieved unions held a parallel con­ference in Lagos and elected their officials with Ajaero, emerging parallel president of NLC. Since then, the NLC has not re­mained the same.

Though the veterans, led by Sunmonu and Oshiomhole, had on August 19, 2015 set up a seven-man reconciliatory com­mittee headed by Sunmonu, with three members from both sides, including the leaders, Ayuba Wabba and Ajaero, the cri­sis has remained unresolved.

Despite the initial enthusiasm and meetings in Abuja, Lagos and Benin, rec­onciliation appears to be all motion with­out any movement.

The recent move in the reconciliation process last month was the collapsing of all the factional groups from the states, in readiness for the eventual settlement, but the present scenario may have made the probable reconciliation dead on arrival.

Though painful, the truth of the mat­ter is that unless the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) shun their inter­nal squabbles and come together under one banner, they cannot pose a formi­dable opposition against the government and other employers of labour.

However, there are various lessons to learn from key moments in the past when internal rifts and problems have prevent­ed the labour movement from exercising its rights and carrying out its primary functions.

History in perspective

One of such moments was in 1949 when 21 Nigerian coal miners were unduly mas­sacred by the colonial police at Enugu while holding a peaceful protest to de­mand an increase in their wages and other conditions of service.

The Nigerian Nationalist Movement, which by then was among the few pres­sure groups close to a labour movement was badly fragmented along political and ethnic lines and could barely put up a rea­sonable fight against the government and other colonial elements.

Also in the 1970s, shortly after the for­mation of the second Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), several labour leaders and activists, who were discontented for various reasons mainly due to conflict­ing interests rather than ideology, pro­tested vehemently. The disaffected lead­ers took their protest to the then military government of General Murtala Moham­med, which then took advantage of the protest, and using it as an excuse, the mili­tary government in its usual autocratic style dealt severely with the labour move­ment by instituting a Commission of In­quiry into the affairs of the movement. It also denounced the new NLC and banned several labour leaders from further par­ticipation in the movement.

Another memorable spectacle was when the then civilian administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo made a very calculated move by decentral­ising the labour movement, which it per­ceived as a threat to its democratic dicta­torship. This carefully thought-out move was to decentralise the labour movement by creating another labour organisation called the Trade Union Congress (TUC). The move was welcomed with suspicion in various quarters and generally per­ceived to be a calculated move by the gov­ernment to weaken and shake the labour movement to its very foundations. The TUC has naturally opposed and disagreed with the NLC on various issues and has constantly sent the message to the NLC that it is not in anyway a push over.

If the history of the Nigerian Labour Movement is anything to go by, it has clearly shown that something has been terribly wrong but without a serious op­position, the protection of workers’ rights and Nigerian masses will remain illusive and the average Nigerian worker will con­tinue to be a slave of the larger modern economy.

The present scenario

In the present circumstance, the mem­bers of the organised labour were in uni­son condemning the price increase from N86.50k to N145 and at their various lead­ership meetings had agreed to confront the Federal Government, calling for total removal. But in a twist, rather than pre­senting a common formidable team, they had opted for separate discussions. Even the TUC that was with NLC at the meet­ing with the Federal Government and had issued joint communique, threatening to go on strike on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 backed out of the decision few minutes to the commencement of the strike.

Ajaero, who earlier at a press confer­ence had vowed to go on strike if gov­ernment failed to reverse the price, also turned around to embrace government option of negotiation.

Explaining the reason the group dissoci­ated itself from the strike option, the Gen­eral Secretary of the faction, Chris On­yeka, said the group was out of the strike until all the issues tabled before the Fed­eral Government were resolved.

He said the group was already discuss­ing with the government and had already reached some decisions.

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According to the General Secretary of the Ajaero-led faction, the group has had a rewarding discussion with the govern­ment on the issue of reversal of the pump price, palliative for Nigerians and mini­mum wage.

“So far, based on our discussion, we have set up three different committees that will liaise with the government to en­sure that all our thoughts are well articu­lated,” he said.

He, however, revealed that the Ajaero group was no longer insisting on total re­versal but had mandated the government to reverse the price to what the group be­lieved would be comfortable for Nigerian masses.

“We will only go on strike if the govern­ment reneges on the agreements. Then we would not hesitate to call out our members for a massive strike,” he said.

TUC on its part said it suspended the strike based on agreement with the Fed­eral Government.

A statement by the Chairman of the TUC in Rivers State, Chika Onuegbu, said the strike was suspended based on some understanding, including immedi­ate setting up of a committee to deter­mine appropriate types and measures of palliatives within two weeks; immediate setting up of a Technical Committee on Minimum Wage to determine a suitable upwardly-reviewed National Minimum Wage for Nigerian workers as well as im­mediate reconstitution of the PPPRA to monitor petrol sales.

Also speaking on the TUC position, Sunday Salako, Deputy President of the labour centre, said dialogue was already on with the Federal Government and that so far, a technical committee had been set up with the names of its members already released by government.

Salako, who is also the National Presi­dent of the Association of Senior Staff of Banks Insurance and Financial Institu­tions (ASSBIFI), said NLC was the one that put itself in a tight corner, as it came with one agenda to the negotiating table with the Federal Government, whereas TUC had two plans.

He stated that there was no division in labour but divergent views, which any­one is at liberty to express. He said, “what happened in NLC is an internal issue as a result of election. I won’t say government is capitalising on the crack in the NLC. It could be intentional or not. It is bound to happen; people are bound to have diver­gent views on issues.”

The TUC leader explained further on the reason the dialogue option was con­sidered, saying, “if you have weapon, it is not in all cases that you use it. But if dialogue is open, then there would not be need for strike.”

He said that labour was still vibrant and should not be compared with the old, not­ing that the era of military rule called for the militancy approach experienced then, whereas, labour now operates in the era of democracy.

“Besides, this government also has a lot of support from Nigerians. We’ve done our home work. If you go out now, people are favourably disposed towards the govern­ment,” he said.

Salako also said Governor Adams Os­hiomhole’s role in the ongoing struggle should not be misconstrued, as the former labour leader is now on the side of govern­ment and no longer an activist.

“Equally, it is unfair to judge him or see him as supporting Ajaero. He has right to listen to the two sides, the Ayuba Wabba faction as well as the Ajaero side. They are his constituency,” he stated.

Labour unity

Issa Aremu, the General Secretary of the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUT­GTWN), however, said that the lesson of the present crisis showed that there is need for unity among all labour unions affiliated to Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

He said members of the congress should learn from the recent developments, fol­lowing the prohibitive increase in the price of fuel to get united for a vibrant la­bour movement rather than undermining one another.

Aremu said, “if we operate separately, we will be defeated separately. But if we operate in unity, we will triumph as one. The recent 70 per cent fuel price increase is indiscriminate on its impact on trans­port cost and cost of living in general. The response of organised labour must, therefore, be inclusive and uniform, not disjointed as we recently witnessed.”

He stated further that, “the worsening poverty, rising inflation, job losses and bad governace must task our imaginations as labour leaders to work as one instead of seeking positions for recognition from governments and employers that do not deliver tangible results for the working men and women.”

He, however, commended the Minis­ter of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, for his reassurance that gov­ernment had no intention of factionalis­ing the labour movement and, therefore, called on the Minister and the Secretary to the Government to initiate another round of all-inclusive engagement with NLC and TUC on the recent fuel price in­crease.

He maintained that Nigeria and this ad­ministration was better off with inherited united NLC if it must win the fight against corruption, diversify the economy and en­throne social and physical security.

He said, “the challenge is for all indus­trial unions affiliated to NLC and TUC to work as comrades and not as class en­emies for the interest of the working men and women. We regret that as we point two accusing fingers at bad governance and bad employers, the remaining three fingers point at us too, who are unaccept­ably divided against ourselves rather than united against common class enemy.