Many thanks to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for its intervention on the seemingly unending unstructured national shouting matches on the naughty issue of Restructuring. The colloquium with the theme: “The Labour Movement and The Future of National Unity: What Role for Restructuring” took place on Wednesday 23rd of August, 2017 at Sheraton Hotel Abuja. His Eminence Sultan of Sokoto, Mohammed Sa’ad, the royal father of the day resonated with the packed full Ladi Kwali Hall, with the opening remark that NLC intervention “…came at the right time” given that “..people are eager to meet and discuss… instead of fighting over …the issues”.
“There are more important things that unite us together as one people than those things that divide us. And when we meet to discuss, we must try and understand one another and I believe in dialogue” declared His Eminence. He went further to demand for a dignified discourse. Witness him; “It is good to seat down and dialogue but there must be respect. I must respect you and you must respect me. And the greatest thing we can do for this country is always reflect on our history.” With 7 million worker-members drawn from 43 industrial union affiliates in both private and public sectors of the economy, NLC, the biggest labour centre in Africa and a pan-Nigerian organization is most positioned to reflect on the future of Nigerian federation. Organized workforce are not just organized factors of production but organized citizens with organizational resources to fill the vacuum created by inept scores of registered political parties. In a country of all comers and emergency experts, it was commendable that NLC paraded tested patriots and intellectuals who offered real knowledge in place of common sense ( increasingly far from being common in Nigeria!). The guest speaker and a university don, Prof Sam Egwu of University of Jos, who I dared to call the new Professor Claude Ake (soft spoken deep in thoughts!) questioned the notion of restructuring as a cap that fits all Nigeria’s head aches.
According to him restructuring is part of the process of nation building which preceded independence in 1960. With historical facts, he warned against a romantic nostalgia for the old regions, the imperfections of which made the creation of states by General Yakubu Gowon popular in 1967, by Murtala/Obasanjo in 1976, by Ibrahim Babangida in 1991, 1987 and Abacha in 1996. Call for a return to the old regions should not be an excuse for the need to reform the 1999 constitution. He pointedly demanded for a “…review of the long federal exclusive legislative list, .. review allocation of tax powers to the various tiers of government, and … promote efficiency in the operation of our federal system to guarantee equity and progress for all.” On the whole Professor Sam identified crisis of governance as the bane of national development.
The NLC intervention was indeed a continuation of labour’s earlier demands for good governance and against corruption through protest rallies. Nigeria should stop being a debating society but a functioning Republic. It is a new fad for some people to jump on the restructuring bandwagon. But Nigeria must get critical issues of development right; uninterrupted power supply, mass unemployment and halt looting of the nation’s wealth. It was refreshing that at the NLC colloquium, the unity of the Republic was settled. One take away from the conference was that the unity of Nigeria is real, even if there are challenges on how to nurture the unity. Our national anthem opens with the clarion call; ‘Arise O’ Compatriots Nigeria calls obey’. There are forces pushing for disunity and even share disintegration. Again history exposes the familiar trend. Firstly colonialism dealt hitherto African societies a vital blow. Before then it was slavery. Today in the age of globalization, there are global forces that loath a strong and united Nigeria. Compatriots should therefore not wily hilly work the script of the forces of domination and imperialism. At the time the African Union, AU, is planning a common passport for all Africans, it is unacceptable that the biggest African country (Nigeria) toys with dis-integration. The federation is work-in-progress. It’s time to deepen development and development discourse. But as his Eminence Sultan observed, we must begin to respect each other’s views; let there be debate in a constructive manner. We can disagree with our views but not with ourselves as individuals and communities.
Undoubtedly Nigeria must downside the federal exclusive list without compromising on minimum standards for a diverse federation. For instance to inspire of true federalism, we must have minimum labour standards, that will grant you some entitlements no matter where you work. Labour’s take is that we must retain labour’s standards that have been achieved over years. When people shout devolution of powers, we ask, power to do what? Certainly to promote development. This economy is not a productive economy. Nigeria is the only oil producing country without a functioning refinery. We also need to skew national resources to create common wealth. 2017 budget of over N7 trillion is the highest so far. But at budget per capita of $120 , it is lower than Ghana’s $600, South Africa’s $1500. We often talk of resources in terms of minerals. But the greatest human resource is the human resource. Why are we not so concerned about developing the human resource and unleashing the potentials which countries like China and India have done. The best way to motivate and retain the workforce is to train them well and pay them well and have standards for imposing discipline.
Issa Aremu, mni
