WHAT GENRE IS LABOUR’S LATEST CRISIS?

Labour should put its house in order, writes Joshua J. Omojuwa

One of Nigeria’s greatest exports — of any kind — Ayo ‘Wizkid’ Balogun, woke up last weekend and decided to ruffle some feathers by declaring he was not an Afrobeats artist. He later offered some clarification on his stand around the fact even though he had done songs in the past that ought to fit into the mainstream genres in the awards, outstanding bodies of work like his “magnus opus, “Made In Lagos,” album were boxed into the Afrobeats genre, despite its intersections with mainstream genres.

· Matters of genres have always been more subjective than objective. You only need to look at the variety of works boxed into the “Afrobeats” sandwich to know that the term tended more towards the convenience of those who didn’t want to be bothered about separate boxes for the different musical offerings from Nigeria. They conveniently boxed everything together.

· That box, on account of its size and range, came with some blessings. However, as the Nigerian musical culture attained global acclaim, producing its own stars, it is no surprise those stars want more than the tokenism of award categories that as much deny them access to the mainstream as it recognizes the strength of the collective musical culture from the African continent. In that sense, Wizkid is right and wrong, it just depends on whether you are standing beneath the 6 or standing on the 9. Same number here, not two.

· This goes with the Labour Party (LP) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and their latest collabo crisis. Who is right or wrong? And is it really a crisis? Over the decades, the LP has been more in crisis than it hasn’t been. In that sense, is it a crisis if that is its norm?

· About this time last year, those dragging the Labour Party Chairman, Mr Julius Abure, by his trousers today were on his side of the divide when the genre of the crisis was about who the substantive Chair of the party was between him and Mr Lamidi Apapa. It is hard to tell whether that battle ended then and the latest one evolved from it or it remains the same battle but with a different subject matter.

· “The Labour Party of Nigeria, on Saturday, admonished the president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC)…to focus more on the issues affecting workers, instead of tarnishing and undermining the leadership of the party,” goes with, “The National Working Committee of the Labour Party has faulted the nationwide picketing of its party secretariats by the Nigeria Labour Congress, describing it as an abuse of power”. Both references read like the continuation of the same news material, even though they are almost six years apart. The first is from a September 2018 news report whilst the latter is the latest offering of Labour’s crisis normalcy.

· I read the latter with dismay, as news of Labour Party’s clash with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) can appear confusing to those who aren’t able to see that they are two different organisations.

· The NLC on its part should be accorded the acknowledgment it deserves. Its record number of protests and threats to protest since the Tinubu administration came on board has been noted by those who ought to be paying attention to such matters. A former leader of the NLC, Comrade Isa Tijanni, warned the union he once led as a National Vice President that its incessant strikes could plunge the country into crisis. He said, “Strike is beginning to lose meaning. In those days, NLC used to be held in high esteem. Then when labour said they were going on strike, people would be jittery and scamper. But now, if you say you are going on strike, who cares?”.

· There are reports the Abure leadership is looking to prevent members of the party who haven’t been with it for at least two years from contesting positions during the party’s convention. This will rule out the Peter Obi supporters who joined the party en masse starting June 2022 after Mr Obi announced his membership of the party in late May 2022 – Obidients. This rule appears tailor-made to deny this group their right.

· If they are bonafide members of the party, they should be allowed to run for positions in the party. If you say they must have been members for two years, what is the rationale for that number? If someone makes an argument for two years, another could make another argument for say five or even 10 years. The only objective thing here is membership of the party. We cannot make rules as we go along. This should not be assumed that one is defending Obidients.

· Those who have asked the NLC President, Comrade Ajaero, to resign on account of the differences between the NLC and the Party should remember that the Party and the Congress are one and must desist from creating chaos where unnecessary.

· Some have noted LP Presidential candidate, Peter Obi’s loud silence on the matter, especially when you consider Mr Obi is often ready to post things to X about almost every issue, important or otherwise. In his defence, he has been focused on a Ramadan tour of Abuja and its environs — with his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, curiously absent — and may be unaware of what is going on.

· Another big issue on the table is the corruption allegation against Party Chair, Mr Abure. He has been accused of embezzling as much as N3b of the election funds. Here too, one expects that he will get a fair hearing and that those interested in who stole the party’s election funds are aware that it is impossible for one person to steal a party’s election funds alone.

· It is important to let fellow Nigerians know others who may have also been involved. The party must avoid a hush and mum treatment like it appeared to treat Abure’s, until he was deemed to be surplus to requirements by those who once swore by his leadership. Discordant tunes from Labour? Not an unusual genre.

· Omojuwa is chief strategist, Alpha Reach/ author, Digital Wealth Book