PALLIATIVES, POLITICS AND DISSENT

There is sense in integrative bargaining, argues Dayo Sobowale

It is most intriguing that the word ‘ palliative ‘  which  in   its simple meaning  should convey succor and relief from a present suffering is the most maligned word globally ,  after COVID , and most especially in Nigeria given the on-going government effort to cushion the effect of the hurried removal of fuel subsidy at the beginning of a newly elected government. I take issue with this attitude today and align it with the right of dissent in any democracy as  well as the need for compromise and dialogue in resolving nagging political and socio-  economic issues, in the global quest  for making democracy work well and making it serve the collective  good of all  of us especially the electorate,  as it is really  in theory expected to do.

·         I will examine the nature of perception of palliatives in Nigeria on a political divide of support by those on government side in pursuing the urgent  release and  relief of palliatives ;  and those  in the  opposition who query vociferously the integrity of the last  elections and have no sympathy or understanding of  the unexpected but much  desired removal of fuel subsidy , that  hitherto has been roundly accepted on all sides to be in the larger public interest, at least on the eve of the last presidential elections. I will compare this with the removal of Kevin Macarthy the Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives by a powerful minority  in his party and the bold defiance of the opposition Democratic Party to come to his aid. This is in spite   of the glaring fact that he came to the aid of the Democratic Biden government to pass a temporary relief budget  package  to avert government  lock down a few  days ago . In effect then I see palliatives not only in terms of mitigating economic sufferance,  but in dialogue and right of dissent  terms, and the need for compromise in solving democratic  problems in an  integrative, honest and principled manner,  as much  as that  is  pragmatically possible.

·         Certain global events as well as negotiations and end products of such arrest my attention in illustrating the objectives I have set for myself today. They start with the recently concluded negotiations between government and labour in Nigeria that culminated in TUC  and NLC calling off the strike scheduled to begin on September 6 and tailored to protest government’s   perceived inertia in putting palliatives on the ground   fast enough to cushion the effect of the most  unexpected fuel subsidy removal. There is also the issue  of the brisk but disgraceful dismissal of the US Speaker Kevin Macaarthy in historically  bizarre fashion founded on the mistrust of his close colleagues in the House while a   bemused  but vigilant  Democratic party watched  at the ringside and washed its  hand off  the matter  like  Pontius   Pilate  in   a clear   way   of telling the Republicans most callously to stew in their own urine.  The dispute in Canada too in which the former Speaker was replaced by the first black Speaker in Canada’s  Parliament  because the former  wrongly  poured accolade on an  old  man with a Nazi  past in Canada’s   Parliament , will not take much of our time especially  as the issue  has   been   satisfactorily  resolved with the removal and apology of the erring former Speaker . 

·         The aborted strike in Nigeria and the removal of the US Speaker at the instigation of his own  party  are worthy  of an analysis that I at the onset  find very  exciting and illuminating  on  the style of government, the  political culture , and unique nature of the execution of the principle of separation of  powers in the presidential system of government practiced in both democracies.  This is made more interesting by the fact that Nigeria has just concluded a presidential election dogged by litigation awaiting adjudication at its highest court , the Supreme  Court  while  the US is  on the eve  of the 2024 presidential  election which  is beclouded ominously  with unresolved issues from the last presidential election of 2020 . It is therefore my considered view that lessons from collective bargaining  and  industrial  relations  are  not mutually  exclusive in resolving both industrial  issues and political  logjams. Indeed   unexpected consequences from either or both may be  a  boon or a bane  in resolving nagging political and industrial  conflicts  and disputes.

·         A cursory look at the mood  of the opposition in Nigeria showed the belief that since the president unilaterally announced that fuel  subsidy is gone he must  face the consequences of the attendant effect and probably  be consumed by the envisaged political instability ensuing from  his brash  action. The government party sees things differently and is asking the populace at large to show understanding and empathy, and vowed  that the president meant well in announcing the fuel subsidy removal from day one. The  labour  leaders are under pressure to  make the president walk his talk  and have threatened twice now to stage strikes that would close the economy and bring the government to its knees . Integrative collective bargaining however prevailed and  the government climbed down from its high horse of seeming indifference and lack  of haste and  gave some concession in terms of wage increase, transportation measures  and other palliatives that stayed the hand of labour at the last minute to call off its strike . Thus while competing demands on government have largely been  met integrative  bargaining is ongoing to put a focus on the direction of government action and commitment   henceforth . Such that there may be no need for another mass strike threat in the nearest future as labour has vowed to unleash if government does not honour the agreements that made it to call off its  last strike.

·         On the other hand the collaborative style that resolved the strike threat in Nigeria was  totally  absent  in the way and manner the US House of representatives   removed its  Speaker  this week. The removed Speaker bent too backwards with his colleagues in the  House  to get  the Speaker’s gavel . In a politically  competitive environment  polluted  by hatred of the two  parties for what either stands for,  bitterness prevailed and the Speaker got no mercy  from either his party or the opposition . Indeed his initial  sin in getting the Speaker’s gavel after a hectic 15 house votes was that  he was perceived by  the powerful minority  in  his party  that  ousted him for  not  being  loyal  enough to Donald Trump,  the leading  candidate  of  the Republican Party for the 2024  presidential election. Even though majority of his party stood by him  he could not survive the wrath  of those  who  did not forgive him for once criticizing Trump  sometime in the past .Obviously  in American  politics   nowadays            it  is winner  takes all syndrome .’ Everybody for himself, the devil takes the hindmost ‘ . That indeed is the recipe or algorithm for the politics of bitterness. A real pity indeed.      

Sobowale is of Arise News