NLC commendably holds today the 40th anniversary public lecture entitled NLC; Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow in Abuja. The importance of history (Yesterday) of a pan-Nigerian organization of working men and women cannot be overemphasized. I recommend Dr Yahaya Hashim’s in his Master Thesis on the State Intervention In Trade Union; A Nigerian Case Study 1975-1978, ISS The Hague, 1987) in order to come to terms with NLC yesterday with a view of understanding Congress today.
Dr Yahaya Hashim is the pioneer Head of NLC industrial Relations department. The significant finding in Hashim’s original study of the 1978 restructuring is that contrary to the wish of the Murtala/Obasanjo military regime to control labour, the new NLC emerged as an independent, strong, democratic and united labour movement just as the defunct NLC of 1950 and dissolved NLC of 1975. NLC has held as many as 11 delegates’ conferences in the past 40 years, that produced as many as 11 labour’s democratically elected administrations.
It is therefore self-evident that Nigeria labour movement is long-dated in democratic processes and experiences. Labour movement shared together with Nigeria ill-fated history of unwanted military meddlesomeness. Of the 11th Delegates’ conferences, there were special confabs. ‘Special’ to the extent that, they were fall-outs of military disruption of independent and autonomous democratic union process; 1977/78 (Murtala/Obasanjo military regime), 1988 (IBB regime) and 1999 (AbdulSalami regime), following Abacha’s dissolution of the NLC executive in 1994.
NLC cumulatively could be said to have been under the heel of military appointed administrators for 10 years (the highest being under Abacha dictatorship!). Notwithstanding the self-inflicted crisis that followed the 11th Delegates conference in 2015, we must salute the comrades for putting an end to the myth that trade unions as non-governmental organizations cannot organise their affairs unless they are controlled or made to do so by some big-brother governments and petty dictators. The proceedings of NLC delegates’ conferences are rich materials in studying internal democracy in the unions and in larger Nigeria as a whole. Labour, national and global issues that often featured at the conferences. They include; minimum wage, pensions, decent work agenda, internal capacity development, job-creation as well as poverty eradication strategy and economy.
If we add regular organ meetings such as that of Central Working committees, National Executive councils meetings in the past 40 years, NLC passes democratic test in quantitative terms. In the years to come, NLC can only qualitatively improve on it’s democratic heritage. Comrades must avoid the pitfalls of exclusion which often undermine unity and cohesion. In the years to come, all unionists must be united and stop divisive leadership tussles. If unionists operate separately precarious work will defeat them collectively through non-payments of salaries of some civil servants, devaluation of the Naira, retrenchment and wholesome unfair labour practices by many employers in the private sector. It is also a good news that NLC is financially and organizationally independent.
Independence does not mean unions operate as islands. NLC necessarily contests and engages employers and governments alike but also cooperates to ensure collective bargaining and advance common interests. Such is the complexity of series of NLC’s engagements with various governments on serial fuel price increases which often confuse many observers. In all these engagements, NLC had over the years despite many challenges maintained its independence of thoughts and views and carry members along.
Significantly too NLC and it’s affiliates depend on members’ financial contribution (check-off) rather than on external funding. Of course the persistent economic crises of capitalism leading to factories closures and mass job losses have undermined the financial fortunes of the unions. The challenge in the coming years is to deepen its organizing efforts of unorganized workers, especially women and youths in both the formal and informal sectors of the economy. Again the key is trade union unity without which NLC will find it difficult to resist the attack on the trade union movement by some state governments and private sector employers.
At 40, NLC must put pressures on the likes of Governor El-Rufai of Kaduna State to stop undermining union organizational and financial independence. The Governor must withdraw the recent reported illegal anti-union stoppage of Cheque-off dues to public unions in Kaduna State. The governor’s reported directive is reminiscent of colonial and military anti-union discredited unsustainable decrees and measures aimed at undermining the unions. President Muhammadu Buhari must impress on all governors to follow his commendable steps in bailing out the state workforce through payments of bail outs to the governors. President Buhari must also defend the 1999 constitution with respect to labour matters. Labour Issues are purely Federal exclusive issues not state affairs. Of course anniversary celebration also offers opportunity for NLC to acknowledge and commend labour friendly governors dead or alive. I bear witness that Kano state has always been labour friendly from 1979. NLC second triennial Conference took place here in 1981 hosted by the Late governor Abubakar Rimi . Together with governor Balarabe Musa of Kaduna state, of PRP he declared May Day a public holiday. President Shehu Shagari of NPN commendably made it a national holiday after. A Kano state government under His Excellency Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje the Executive Governor has also sustained the defense of workers’ rights through prompt payment of salaries, ensuring security of jobs and playing host to many unions.
The ultimate assessment of NLC at 40 is how it has improved on salaries and wages of its members. With the so-called collapse of socialism, capital and capitalism had become arrogant and dominating as a factor of exploitation. When shares and stock prices go down as we witnessed during the 2008 global financial crisis, the whole world including the media was in frenzy. Yet with massive Naira devaluation, spiral inflation, salaries diversion, delayed and wage thefts, wages have almost collapsed in Nigeria. Can we imagine that for four months there are no capital gains on the floor of Nigeria Stock exchange? It is Economicide, (an economic equivalent of political genocide) to systematically deny workers adequate pay. NLC at 40 must quickly conclude its negotiations on the new minimum wage. NLC should demand for ease of living and working as much as organized businesses demand for ease of doing business. Happy anniversary comrades!
Issa Aremu mni
