Daily Independent Online.
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Wednesday, June 16, 2004.
The strike and the devil’s advocate
By Sam Kargbo
[email protected]
If teachers of democracy have not added to the list
of the principles of democracy the right of people to embark on strike when
provoked by the government, I advise that they do so. And in explaining the
principle in detail, they should not forget to emphasise that strikes can come
at any time either before a dialogue or after a failed dialogue. Another
principle of democracy that should not be underplayed is the right and power of
the Labour Union to determine what is good for the people and accordingly
defend it at all costs. In this wise, the constitutional representatives of the
people either in the National Assembly or State Houses of Representatives do
not matter as they have in any case demonstrated a shameless willingness to
surrender the people’s political and popular sovereignty to the
executive. Also, the fact that the powers of the President of the Labour
Congress is not limited to the members of the Labour fraternity but to all the
citizens should not be omitted.
Although my admonition above is just side- talk, it
nonetheless brings me to the contest for popular power between Field-Marshal
Comrade Adams Oshiomhole a.k.a. ‘the Strike Force’ and General
Olusegun Obasanjo a.k.a. ‘make dem Strike’. These two political
giants who seem to be on a fight to finish illuminate the saying that when two
elephants fight it is the grass that suffers. Both of them have accused the
other as being a threat to democracy. On my part, I will say that they are both
not just a threat to democracy but seem a disgrace to Nigeria as they seem
quite incapable of interpreting simple democratic principles. I will come back
to this later. What I should however quickly demonstrate is the danger posed to
democracy by these two blind gladiators who have made it a habit to sodomise us
at each point they are possessed of the need to satisfy their lecherous,
egoistic instincts.
To start with General Obasanjo, he tragically
believes that the democratic space is a military barracks where he as General and
Commander- in- Chief presides absolutely and unquestionably and accordingly,
all other mortals must be under his mercy. He does not brook any advice, not to
talk of opposition. This is the reason why he has been so stubborn and
embarrassingly insistent on handling the down stream sector of the petroleum
quite out of sync with the economic realities of the day despite the precarious
nature of the economies of the average and below average Nigerian. As a
General, he knows the polity’s enemies and their strategies and would
want to counter them with his own without the input of any other lesser mortal.
This is wrong. No matter how altruistic Mr.President could be, he needs the
voice of the people to guide him away from the ambush of the Oshiomholes of Nigeria
who in reality are only cashing in on the vulnerability or perhaps naivety of
the people to extend their economic empires. The prices of petroleum products
have hit the roof globally and almost all economies are affected. It is
therefore very obvious that the pump prices would have to be adjusted to
reflect the reality. But unlike what sensitive and responsible governments are
doing the world over, General Obasanjo is not talking to the people and letting
them know the heart of the matter. It is that gap that Oshiomhole is
capitalising on and has indeed made political fortune out of it. Although I am
certainly not impressed by Oshiomhole’s opportunistic soldiering, I feel
that he is just doing what any other politician will do-cash in on the opponent’s
woes and garner support.
As long as Mr.President continues to shut the people
out of the decision-making process and invariably out of government, he will
continue to make the otherwise irrelevant characters relevant and accordingly
strengthen them to disrupt social and economic activities for no positive
objective. Mr.President should know that he is absolutely responsible for
whatever economic woe that befalls any individual in the course of his fights
with his opponents who the in any case do not have any social contract with the
people. I have heard the president’s supporters casting aspersions on
Oshiomhole, whom they see as a usurper and who they see as cleverly using the
naïve citizenry to shore up his (Oshiomhole’s) political machine.
From my utterances, it should be clear that I am not impressed by
Oshiomhole’s tactics though I must reiterate the fact that the buck stops
at Mr.President’s table and not many people will be distracted with
flimsy excuses. Mr. President should be serious enough to be able to carry the
people along in matters as serious and vital as the prices of petroleum
products. Many of us carry the erroneous belief that being a major producer of
crude oil, the country is insulated from global oil crises. Many pedestrian
commentators have lent support to the divisive and destructive cause of
Oshiomhole and his perennial strikes. These charlatans are having a field day
because Mr.President does not seem to have an effective machine that will
candidly and with integrity explain the plight of government to the people. But
for this, I cannot imagine how people like Oshiomhole can hoodwink the people
into believing that he is fighting the people’s cause.
Coming to Oshiomhole and his guerrilla NLC, I think
it is time he is told that his game is up. No matter how hard he may try, I do
not see how averagely intelligent person would not see through him and know him
for what he is-a simple- minded opportunist. What is the entire craze for
strikes when it is obvious that whatever envisaged gains would be offset
beforehand by the hardship and shylock economies that would reign during the
course of the strike? Why is it that after five years, Mr.Oshiomhole has not
been able to invent another weapon against his perceived enemy? It is sick, and
highly abusive of the Union process for Mr.Oshiomhole to resort to destructive
strikes anytime he has a score to settle with Mr.President. If he must be told, he must know that
his game is up and henceforth he should employ some more meaningful tactics
that will justify his position as the president of the Labour Congress of the
largest black nation on earth.
