NLC and the Tasmanian tiger
By Bolaji D'Almeida
IN the 1930s, the Australian government ordered that the Tasmanian tiger be exterminated in its belief that the animal was a threat to the sheep industry, its main foreign exchange earner. In the process, the animal was hunted to extinction and the government celebrated. That was before the advent of animal rights and environmental conservation.
Lately they realised their folly. It was not the Tasmanian Tiger that was the culprit but the dingo. Moreover, there are better ways of handling the problem. Now the Australian government is desperately searching the forests to see if per chance some Tasmanian tigers may have survived. In fact, the DNA of a dead fetus is being used in a cloning exercise. Such is usually the desperation of government or better still people in government in taking ill-considered action. Elected officials in their supercilious attitude ignore the advice of career civil servants to haphazardly execute badly thought out programmes; and everyone is made to look like a fool.
The Adams Oshiomhole-led Nigeria Labour Congress, under threat of extinction from the present government is desperately fighting for survival. The federal government in its crusade for deregulated deprivation wants to decentralise the labour force (divided they fall). In the same way, the Obasanjo PDP government is trying to emasculate the Nigeria Labour Congress in its belief that it constitutes a danger to good government. This singular mission, it seems has become imperative because there is really no opposition party in the land.
While government apostles preach the benefits of deregulation, the government failed to carry out the crusade diligently, thoroughly and in the proper sequence. Rather than crush organised labour because it detests any opposition, government should complete the deregulation of the energy and transport sectors. And more importantly government should crush massive corruption and waste in its circles. The anti-corruption crusade has been vigorous but the results have been a deafening silence. Why has the government found it convenient to publish the allocation of funds to states and local governments and not done the same to its ministries and institutions? Such a step will convince the masses of government seriousness of purpose and sincerity, and would probably have made the recent strike unnecessary.
The national strike is a resounding victory for the Labour community in that despite the economic hardship, the people still participated massively even if the weariness on their faces was obvious from the first day. The president should derive no comfort from such little cracks. He should worry that the people are unhappy at his polices and cannot see the sense in squeezing them when those in government are fighting the bulge of their stomachs.
Should this trend continue, Nigeria may slip into a civilian dictatorship and this may encourage regional disintegration or a restive army. At the end of the day, there will be a situation like the Australian experience with the Tasmanian Tiger. The Nigerian nation, if it still remained, will be looking desperately for a credible representative of the people. The people's hearts are deeply in the struggle against tyranny but their stomachs are empty. The strike has confirmed the importance of the NLC as the authentic representative of the people. The wider implications are that the Obasanjo-led government has provided a good base for the galvanisation of the Labour party.
The current frustration of the masses will end up being the tonic for the birth of a new political movement. Should the government try to undermine or destroy the undergrowth, it may inadvertently encourage sporadic outbursts of the militias or the armed forces. It needs to be stated that every government with foresight and good intention will invariably inflict pain. But pain to kill pain must not kill the patient.
No matter how messianic a government feels, it must sell its programmes to the people. A good government that does not communicate with the people is a dictatorship. Howbeit benevolent. Evidently the present crop of politicians are in government for their own go-and-chop agenda. To them the people do not matter. The ultimate losers are the political class and the Nigerian nation. The strike is a resounding vote of no confidence in the present government, and the people in government. This government has not deemed it fit to talk to the governed and this will be its greatest undoing.
The recent increase in the cost of fuel which necessitated the strike may not have been caused by government since marketers sell what they buy.
Government, however, should have announced a mini budget to show concern for the hardship it will bring about. The excess money from sale of crude oil could in the first instance be deployed to cushion the strain or be openly put towards some helpful project in health, education, transport etc. Setting up a committee in the dead of night is an after-thought. The present situation shows a detached ruling class, a government of aliens.
- D'Almeida is on the staff of The Guardian
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