“If the Anambra Assembly was unfriendly to the labour leaders, they would not be granted them access to the complex.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu
Some Labour Unionists led by Chikwelu Adigwe, on Monday, interrupted meetings being held by honourable members in the Anambra State Assembly complex. Several reports have unsurprisingly blamed the House of Assembly or the meeting honourable members, especially Hon. Tony Muobike who was captured in a video clip having an exchange of words with Mr. Chikwelu. Many commentaries and news conveniently reported that the House member had threatened to beat the labour leader. But in the circulating video clip, it was Mr. Adigwe who challenged Hon. Tony to come outside and see how he (Adigwe) would give Tony a beating of his life. This was the remark Tony responded to. But through all the reports on this incident, none made any effort to actually point out this clear and audible verbal threat from Chikwelu to Tony. It is difficult to justify this sort of deliberate omission.
On another hand, some have argued that Hon. Tony is a leader and must be more understanding of such outbursts as demonstrated by the labour leader. Well, the truth is that both Hon. Tony and Mr. Chikwelu are leaders. So, if Chikwelu resorts to a wilful attempt to intimidate Tony, should both not be held to the same or equal moral standard if there are no hypocritical intentions? In the background of the video, voices could be heard, apparently that of the labour unionists, accusing House members of “eating” their money and not even being remorseful or thoughtful to give them some, or something as vague in that line. Well, this is the usual blackmail most Nigerians of means and privilege in private and public sectors have to deal with on a daily. The truth? Anyone who has chosen a career path should not compare notes with others in different career paths. For instance, a journalist shouldn’t be arguing that he should be paid like a brain surgeon. University teachers shouldn’t argue that they should be paid like senators and labour unionists shouldn’t say they should be paid like House members. This is for the simple reason that a university lecturer can become a senator if that is what he wants to be. Anyone can become an honourable member or a senator or anything else they want to become and earn according to their new job. A journalist who desires to earn as a bank executive would need a change of career. It is unfortunate that each time, labour unions have reduced labour concerns to agitation over remuneration in which they often argue that they should also be paid as senators. The comparison is ridiculous in its entirety. Many labour unionists are now in the Senate or who are holding public offices or who have held public offices. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was a labour leader before he became governor of Edo State. Today, he is a serving senator. So, someone can migrate from being a labour unionist to being a politician or a public office holder. Now, this does not deflate the legitimate demand for salary increments based on the prevailing realities of today. However, a labour unionist who desires to be paid like a senator needs to become a senator.
The third part of this argument is that members of the Anambra State House of Assembly could only have been meeting on Monday, because, the House does not sit on Mondays. The regular sitting days of the Anambra State House of Assembly are Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, it does sit on Wednesdays sometimes. Monday is totally out of the House sitting day. Therefore, it couldn’t have been that the Assembly was sitting on that day. Viewed in this light, what transpired was an intrusion into the business of some House members who were meeting legitimately in their work premises, by recalcitrant labour leaders. There is no need to sugar-coat this, as there can’t be any ready justification for intrusion into the Assembly to disrupt a meeting of the House members by labour leaders. This as well cannot be justified. House members are not labour union members. If there were labour union members in the House of Assembly who failed to comply with the decision of their union, there is a laid down procedure for invocation of disciplinary action against them. Again, it is completely embarrassing and pointless that the labour union could invade the Assembly in such a manner to stalk and harass members.
But this is Nigeria where people see the embarrassment of a politician like Hon. Tony Muobike as patriotic bravado. Unionists tend to be highhanded and often get away with it. That is wrong. The truth is that if the Anambra Assembly was actually unfriendly to the labour leaders, they would not be granted access to the complex.
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One comment
Gyra
June 5, 2024 at 4:07 pm
Hi