The organized labour recently came out from their prolonged minimum wage talks with government clutching a N70,000 deal, a far cry from N615,000 they demanded at the onset. They brandished before the nation a mass of figures and aritmetical expressions which they said had helped them to arrive at the amount. They were sure it was what the average Nigerian worker should receive to be seen as getting a living wage in Nigeria’s present economic circumstances.
The fight was fierce, vigorously executed, and laden with threats of nationwide strikes and protests. At the end of the war, who was the victor and who was the vanquished?
Without hesitating to give the Bola Ahmed Tinubu kudos for a fine political maneuvering in the talks, it is also proper to ask whether the organized labour prosecuted their war of economic survival in a way they should.
First, everyone understands that the nation’s economy is plagued by a crippling inflation; too much money chasing too few goods. In other words, productivity is at its lowest ebb. The value of money depends on what it can buy. It should have touched Labour to understand that injecting more money into the system through raised salaries could compound the inflationary trend.
A disturbing amount of money is already in circulation.
Another way around the economic problem would have been for Labour to demand that specific policies be put into place to ameliorate the workers’ plight. At the start of the fight last year, Labour called for the fixing of the nation’s refineries to ensure internal production of petrol which is at the centre of the galloping inflation.
They succeeded in getting a commitment from the federal government that the Port Harcourt refinery would begin production in December, 2023. We are in the month of July, coasting into August 2024. Neither the Port Harcourt refinery nor the Dangote refinery has begun production to assuage the dire need for petrol, which indeed fueled the inflation that has kept the larger population of the nation in hunger and penury.
Down the line, Labour abandoned pressing for the unfulfilled promise on the refineries and focused on minimum wage. With the dollar as benchmark, the new minimum wage of N70,000 is $42. In the time of Goodluck Jonathan as president, the minimum wage was N18,000, which translated to $118 at that time. What commendable job has Labour done eventually? Had they come out with a workable policy to enhance the value of the naira in the foreign exchange market and demanded for its implementation, it would have been better.
It would have made meaning, had they forcefully demanded a cut in the cost of governance, a change in the excessive wastefulness of a government that buys expensive vehicles from abroad for hundreds of legislators in total disregard for the ailing economy. Labour would have dug in for a downward review of the humongous salaries being paid public office holders across the nation. They would have called for the revitalization of relevant industries, especially agro-based ones, and the creation of new enterprises to ease off unemployment.
It is not to ask Labour to take over government functions but to remind government that measures are abound. The government, certainly, is not clueless. It is acting out the script of some hidden paymasters, internal or external.
Apparently, Labour has reached its zenith. It no longer, at this moment, has a locus standi to carry the fight further for better economic conditions for the nation. Nigerians are disappointed because the problem is not yet solved. It is indeed about to escalate. Of course, with Labour off its back, no other institution can tackle the insensitivity of government headlong without having its hands burnt in the fire. And so, garri can continue its astronomical rise in price. Petrol can sell at any cost. What about cement and other building materials?
Every sector is in danger – education, health, politics, justice. Who will save Nigeria? And presto, the youths decided to protest come August 1 to 15 against the rising cost of living and economic hardship. Suddenly, another war front is opened right in the face of the Tinubu-led Federal government, a hydra-headed one that has no handlebar for control.
The youths tried an experiment popularly known as endSARS barely four years ago. That protest had a focus. It was targeted at the police and their incessant harassment of young people and their unlawful incarceration over usually trumped-up charges.
Although it succeeded in making government change its mind on the offending police unit, the protest ended on a sour note. Some of the protesters either lost their lives or are still in detention four years after.
August is fast approaching. Will the looming protest take place or not? At the new war front, the Federal Government has fired their missile at what they perceived as the enemy territory. The missile was aimed, rightly or wrongly, at the supporters of Peter Obi, the Labour Party candidate in the 2023 presidential elections.
Presidency spokesman Bayo Onanuga had accused the Obidients of masterminding the protest, invoking the archaic law of treason. That law characterized the obnoxious colonial rulers who, knowing that they were unpopular in the land, had to find a way to rope in voices of dissent. It has no place in a true democracy. But the Obidients have quickly washed their hands off the planned protest.
The efficacy of protests in such matters have not been proved under repressive regimes and the ends are not often positive, even though they significantly bruise the people in power. Kenya stands as a recent example which government and the people would not wish to happen in Nigeria. Members of the House of Representatives have offered 50 percent of their salaries for six months in aid of the economy. Where this money would go to is another issue for clarification.
The matter, in essence, is not about money and palliatives but about policies and programmes. It might appear odd for youths to pour out in the streets protesting against such a nebulous matter as hardship without giving a focus to their demands.
The youths of Kenya pinned down their president, demanding his resignation. What if Nigerians ask for an end to banditry, the ripple effect of which is depleting food as farmers no longer access their farms? Can they press for a return to the less expensive parliamentary system of government to change the narrative of profligacy in government? It is still okay to dabble into the kernel of Nigeria’s woes – the much-needed restructuring, true federalism and the change of a constitution skewed against the majority.
The matter of the constitution seems to be good on the eye of the dart board. Let the youths hit the streets demanding a We, The People constitution. A good constitution would surely bring back the peace that has eluded Nigeria in decades and make the lot of the people better. A Tinubu-must-go protest yields no dividend. If Tinubu goes, who comes in?
“Every sector is in danger – education, health, politics, justice. Who will save Nigeria? And presto, the youths decided to protest come August 1 to 15 against the rising cost of living and economic hardship. Suddenly, another war front is opened right in the face of the Tinubu-led Federal government, a hydra-headed one that has no handlebar for control”
Dr. Odu can be reached through dirimrich2018@gmail.com or SMS 07016722929