“Right now, the biggest question labour leaders should be asking is how they can maintain the relevance of their organization in the coming years,” ―Ebuka Onyekwelu
Labour unions in Nigeria have attained a near-seamless integration with strike action, such that the only thing they are known for is industrial action. Aside from their frequent fights with the government over price regulation, salary increment, payments of benefits, as well as other demands for better working conditions, hardly, there is anything else for these organizations to show.
From the Nigeria Labour Congress –NLC, which is the central labour organization, to the Academic Staff Union of Universities – ASUU, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics – ASUP, the Non-Teaching staff union of universities and other tertiary institutions, Senior Staff Union of tertiary institutions, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers- NUPENG and every other labour union imaginable, that exist in Nigeria, all with absolutely no exception are synonymous with strike action. As of now, there is a renewed threat from ASUU of another possible strike. Only last week, NLC members matched across the states of the federation in support of universal minimum wage across states. If it happens that government suddenly meets the demands of these organizations, will they now cease to exist?
If it happens that government suddenly meets the demands of these organizations, will they now cease to exist?
Considering the changing times, and the fact which has now been overwhelmingly proven that strike action hardly gets things done in the long run, barely bend the will of the government and scarcely changes a government that is unprepared to govern. Should Nigerian labour unions continue in their traditional, uninspiring, static posturing of always resorting to strike action as a tool to bend the will of the government to consider its proposals? Then when we mull over the lost years and indelible injury ASUU strike, for example, has done to academic activities in Nigeria public universities, can’t they at least make commensurate sacrifices to live up to their expectations from the government? I mean, ASUU and its members subject innocent students to traumatic, near nightmare experience of having an education in public institutions in Nigeria. Nigerian higher institutions are a cesspool of corruption and this is not a secret. I must admit however that this by no means, is not to say that labour unions should be withered or disbanded, but in truth, to be able to matter in any way conceivably beyond the norm, labour unions must offer more than frequent industrial action.
Right now, the biggest question labour leaders should be asking is how they can maintain the relevance of their organization in the coming years. This is especially important because, decades of strike action with no serious progress, years of existence of these organizations without a wider range of interest, have since exposed the limitations of these organizations. For us, labour unions are one of the most outstanding assemblages of the brightest Nigerians in Nigeria, yet there is no ambitious mandate for giant footprints on the society with or without government, this again has altogether exposed them to be as weak, almost as terrible as the government they are often in a fight with.
In any case, the masses, not the government have remained the victim.
In any case, the masses, not the government have remained the victim. Here is the point: for instance, aside from the frequent ASUU strike for pay raise, better working environment, which subject students into wasting months and years they can never recover, what other things can ASUU do to strengthen university education in Nigeria, and what other things are they doing that will strengthen and position higher education in Nigeria better than it is? These are some of the difficult questions most labour unions are not willing to ask, but there, however, lies their relevance in the nearest future. Labour unions must position as central unifying bodies whose main aim is the advancement of the society more than a narrow union’s agenda. Again, what, for instance, is ASUU doing to ensure quality delivery among its members, and what are they doing to ensure thorough discipline among its erring members pilfering on female students or on pocket money of students as bait for better grades. Don’t they know these “bad eggs” among them?
For propaganda and needless grandstanding, labour unions can and in fact rightly claim that the government in Nigeria is insensitive and callous, a badge of dishonour the Nigerian government wears with courage. But then, can labour unions be as bold in assessing their own input and relevance to the betterment of the people of Nigeria? Civil servants at state and federal levels of government are members of the NLC. Yet, senior civil servants; directors, permanent secretaries among others, are the ones helping politicians to divert public funds. Relying on their years of experience and having picked sufficient holes in the system, they are in positions to guide politicians on how best to siphon public money and what we see as a result is a badly done project, or a non-existent one, at the detriment of the masses. NLC cannot pretend to be unaware that its members are some of the major reasons governance has been reduced to a gathering for a feast on the commonwealth of the people. Even the leadership of NLC has been customarily accused of accepting financial inducement from the government in power, for which it is said, they, in consequence, abdicate the cause of Nigerian workers. True or not, the fact also is that the traditional pattern in which the life and relevance of these labour organizations revolving around government and nothing else, has become distasteful, especially when the organization can do much more for the society’s well being, but chose not to.
ASUU should be in front of not just academic research but scientific studies providing practical solutions to problems in Nigeria.
The NLC can make certain investments in critical sectors affecting the welfare of their members. They can invest in a good and affordable transport system, at least for their members. This should be properly managed by the union to serve most efficiently. They can deploy the expertise of their members in various sectors of the economy and provide independent solutions to issues of public concerns, as a union. They can task their members to shun corruption and help expose their members who are aiding the diversion of funds and profiting from same. The ASUU as a beacon of knowledge must be at the frontline in the nation’s quest for progress, even without government. The union should be able to find solutions. They should be at the forefront of reshaping Nigeria’s leadership landscape right from the quality of graduates pushed into the society. ASUU should be in front of not just academic research but scientific studies providing practical solutions to problems in Nigeria. Labour unions can easily partner with the private sector to create value for society, with a lot of ease.
In so far as the Nigerian government is still being expected to be better and do better, labour unions should set the pace and move from constant strike action in the preservation of union interests, to consider ways they can attempt to address societal problems, more so, if they intend to remain useful in the coming years.
♦ Ebuka Onyekwelu, strategic governance exponent, is a columnist with the WAP
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