The emasculation of Labour
By Adetutu
Folasade-Koyi
National
Assembly Correspondent, Abuja
Tomorrow, the fate
of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) as a central labour organisation in the
country would have been sealed.
The road to that
emasculation started a long time ago, and as some may argue, it probably
started four years ago.
Four years on, Labour has consistently
provided the alternative voice to government policies it believes are unpopular
and would impoverish the masses. Its activism may not be misplaced, but it
certainly is misconstrued in higher places. So, when President Olusegun
Obasanjo sent a bill to reform and democratise Labour, the groundswell was that
the executive was exacting its own pound of flesh from an overly critical
organisation that was supposed to simply mind its own business about something
else!
Last Tuesday, Labour lost a golden
opportunity to articulate its views to the legislature. A letter written by the
NLC President Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was replied to in succinct terms by the
Senate; they will definitely not be around to listen to whatever it is they
have to say. The letter stopped short of asking Labour to stay away. But the
NLC got the message and its attempts to conduct a peaceful rally within the
precincts of its premises was not even allowed by the Nigeria Police. It is
that bad. This reporter, in company with this newspaper’s Labour
Correspondent, had arrived at the gates of the National Assembly for what was
anticipated to be a ‘swell party.’ After a 10-minute wait for the
NLC and they were yet to show up, the team quickly dashed to the corporate
headquarters of Labour, some metres away. As we had expected, workers of every
hue were gathered, in twos and threes, wielding banners and spotting the red
armband of Labour. Shortly thereafter, a makeshift podium was placed,
ostensibly for Oshiomhole to address his men before proceeding to the same
venue where they were not wanted. But we were wrong. A 10-minute wait soon
turned into more than an hour, because it became evident that Labour would not
even be allowed to go beyond the gate. Later, a careful surveillance revealed
that policemen were strategically positioned such that no one could move
without their express approval. To the National Assembly this reporter
returned.
The following day,
the Senate Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity held a public
hearing on the reform bill. Its chairman is Mr Integrity himself, Senator
Bassey Ewa-Henshaw. He had a Herculean task controlling the anger embedded in
Labour that day. It was clear to everyone that the day belonged to Labour,
having been denied audience by the Senate the previous day. Labour knew that and seized the moment.
But from the submissions of Dr Hassan Lawal, the Labour minister and the
attorney-general of the federation, it was clear that government’s stand
on the bill was a foregone issue.
Lawal spoke so
forcefully, were it possible, the reform would have been approved right there
and then. He was that passionate. At a point, Ewa-Henshaw had to politely
interrupt and remind him, also very politely, that a time limit would have to
be set. At every turn in his presentation, he was taunted and rudely
interrupted by Labour representatives, who literally filled the room. From then
on, it was a free for all. Each presenter took time to reply whatever
insinuation or verbal insult thrown by the previous speaker. But the day
belonged to Oshiomhole, who, naturally, in the order of protocol, spoke last.
And did he regale in it.
In his presentation, Lawal upbraided NLC
and concluded that being the only monolithic central labour organisation
recognised by law, such absolute powers have corrupted them. “I am
appealing to the conscience of all of us to check our conscience and not play
to the gallery. A single central labour organisation is undemocratic and
dictatorial. As it is presently constituted, the NLC is an exclusive club with
54 registered unions in Nigeria and 29 other unions not recognised as labour
organisations. The NLC has absolute powers and it is corrupting them
absolutely. They are arrogating to themselves absolute powers, and they are
behaving as if they are holier than the Pope,” Lawal said.
To support his
argument that the Federal Government’s proposed democratisation and
decentralisation of Labour is in tune with global trends, Lawal reeled out
examples from almost every part of the world. In Central Africa, particularly
in Congo, there are four labour organisations, South Africa has three, and
Tanzania, Togo and Republic of Benin have two each. Some examples from Europe
showed that Italy has three labour unions, Turkey four and Sweden has three. In
South America, Brazil and Peru have three, while Nicaragua and Honduras share
two each. Asia also operates a decentralised labour movement. India and South
Korea and Pakistan have two each, while Bangladesh has five.
The Justice
minister’s presence and presentation was only to give fillip to the bill.
There is something strangely familiar about Chief Gani Fawehinmi and
Oshiomhole. It would be foolhardy to believe that what is shared in secret
would remain sacrosanct. You may just have yourself to blame in the long run.
When it came down to the basics, Oshiomhole did not hesitate to reveal to the
gathering that the same attorney-general, who is so quick to defend the basic
principles of the amendment, was even ignorant of the bill when government
drafted it! Oshiomhole did not hesitate to say, “Even Olujimi had no
input (in this bill). When we met in Geneva, I told him of what I heard from
home, that government had sent a labour reform bill to the National Assembly.
He told me the truth in Geneva. That it is impossible. Those were his
words.”
An unkind
Oshiomhole would later add: “I hope I don’t cause you trouble
because if I do, you do not need this job to survive. You had a job before you
came into government and I am sure you will not starve either.”
Truth be told, the
only problem is that once Oshiomhole starts to talk, it really is difficult to
stop him. And does the man talk. The NLC boss was emphatic that strikes is not
the exclusive preserve of Labour, stating that after all, government agencies
have had to go on strikes to protest not only poor welfare but poor
remuneration as well. This is what he said on strikes as a weapon of
negotiation: “This government is just trying to reinvent the wheel. Even
the Nigeria Police went on strike. They are not affiliates of the NLC. Medical
doctors too have gone on strikes. Workers at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital
(LUTH) went on strike over an unpaid 19 months allowance. In fact, pensions are
left unpaid.” The parting gift from that was that to remove the speck in
another person’s eyes, ensure that there is no speck in yours.
