FEDERAL MIGHT, ORGANISED LABOUR AND THE GRASS BETWEEN

Fighting for higher wages must be balanced with economic realities, argues Aoiri Obaigbo

Iya Kudi was looking crushed on Tuesday mid morning. For her, it would appear that it never rains but pours. A wind storm two month ago knocked down our electrical poles. For six weeks, there was none of what we all still call ‘Up NEPA’ in the neighbourhood. In the prolonged darkness, her business—eking out a living by making ice and chilling drinks —was grounded. Then ‘NEPA’ brought light to other streets but our own ‘transformer had serious issues’, we were told.

We had two options. An indefinite wait for them to bring us a new transformer with a hint that some areas have been waiting for years. The second option was for us to raise the money—N25,000 per house.

 Iya Kudi made a lot of trouble with her house mates to make their contribution as she needed ‘up NEPA’ more than the others.

At last, Friday before June 3, there was the joyous shout of “Up NEPA” as darkness took a break for eight hours.

 According to her, she had eaten deep into her slim capital and had to take a loan from the local Sherlock. Hope was only beginning to seep back into the gloom of a life she endured, only to wake up this morning and ‘enemies of life’—translated from Yoruba—had gone to switch off the light.

‘It’s like they just want everyone to go jump down from Third Mainland Bridge in this country. Let’s just die and leave the country for only the rich and strong. They have no consideration for mekunu at all.’

One never thought the day will come when Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress would be counted as enemies of the poorer citizens.

June 3, 2024, the organised labour commenced an indefinite strike over the demand for N494,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers.

Last-minute efforts to avert the strike ended in a deadlock, leading to full compliance by workers to the directives of the labour unions. Angry looking officials positioned themselves at the entrances to prevent workers from going into their offices.

“Alluta Continua!”

These industrial actions would usually have little or nothing to do with Iya Kudi and the mekunu she’s bemoaning, but the unionists forced themselves into control rooms and shut down the national grid. If Iya Kudi had worked herself up into a medical emergency, she’d have had to use a native doctor as organised labour had also shut down the health sector.

The rules of engagement has been changed to exclude any consideration for people who are neither in a position to implement the wages demanded nor likely to benefit from whatever wage the combatants arrive at. Iya Kudi is about 70. In all these years, she must have experienced quite a few labour union agitations for money. Her late husband was a vulcaniser. Kudi, her daughter, makes dish washing liquid for a living and is married to a washerman in Kano. She’s the one who commissioned the construction of the freezer for her mother. So the entire family is in no situation to benefit from organised labour, but are suffering from the tyranny of the strike nonetheless.

Stephen Ochai, chairperson of the Amalgamated Unions of Nigeria at the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, was reported to have affirmed labour’s commitment to the strike until the government adopts a more reasonable stance and expressed the opinion that 80 per cent of Nigerians on social media support their demands and actions.

It’s difficult to ascertain how Stephen Ochai arrived at that percentage, but about 92.3% of Nigeria’s workforce operates in the informal sector. No matter how the fight between government and organised labour ends, these workers often earn below the official minimum wage and lack formal employment contracts.

The official wage policies have limited impact on the informal sector, where earnings are often as precarious as in Iya Kudi’s icy business.

NLC and TUC should always consider that while their salaries will be paid, no matter how long they mount barricades, every hour the national grid is down puts in peril, the livelihood of the mekunu majority, most of whom aren’t on social media.

For the voiceless majority, staring into space like Iya Kudi, inflation has been the enemy. Galloping prices have been terrorising the populace and it’s inconceivable that increasing payment for a slim but organised minority can make inflation disappear.

The labour leadership has to review their strategy of seasonally demanding more pay and disregarding other economic variables, including the bottlenecks of extortion created by their members in their individual duty posts.

They should also dig deeper on ways to tackle government on the rising cost of existing in Nigeria. Nigeria’s minimum wage currently stands at N30,000. Despite periodic revisions, over the years—including those from the melodramatic days of Oshiomole—it hasn’t ever matched the rising living costs, nor decreased greed and extortion among the civil servants and other members of organised labour.

Empirical evidence over the years suggests that increasing the minimum wage merely increases unemployment and inflation rates. Because when wages rise, businesses pass on the cost to consumers, contributing to inflation.

One expects a grand battle against the rising cost of governance and reactions against episodes like deflating an ailing economy by buying insanely expensive toys for members of the house of assembly to gallop over our bad roads. One expects leadership in demanding transparency about how the huge constituency votes of NASS are utilised. One expects TUC, especially, to actively engage and sensitise communities to know the difference between a senator’s legitimate earning and what’s meant for social investment in their communities. Waking up from slumber to demand for pay rise is way below what the masses expect from Labour leaders.

It’s baffling that Labour set up a political party years ago and has remained stunted all these years in terms of political relevance and has shown little or no sensitivity to national gaps that need to be bridged. They have remained a reactive rather than proactive organisation.

It’s disappointing when one looks back to where organised labour is coming from. The impact of NLC before it became a Congress, when it was in fragments but led by men whose names we can never forget because of the leadership of courage and character they gave the masses at critical moments in our history.

Who can forget the altruistic era of men like Michael Athokhamien Omnibus Imoudu, popularly known as Pa Imoudu, a labour union leader and activist? His relentless advocacy for justice and independence left an indelible mark on Nigeria’s labour movement.

We grew up to hear his name on the lips of our parents and his unwavering fight against colonial authority remains an inspiration. He encouraged workers in both the private and public sectors to form unions, advocating for their rights and welfare, emphasising the importance of collective action and solidarity.

Imoudu began his labour union activities as a member of the Railway Workers Union which became one of the most militant in Nigeria during the colonial era.

Imoudu’s leadership waged battles not only for higher wages and improved conditions, but also to end casualisation and preferential treatment.

Imoudu’s strike actions and advocacy forced the British colonial authorities to address workers’ rights and change oppressive laws.

Frank Kokori was another labour union leader who transcended wage wars to play a pivotal role in Nigeria’s democratic struggle. He spent four years in jail for leading an effective oil and gas workers’ strike in 1994.

The strike demanded the validation of the annulled 12 June 1993 presidential election and the release of the winner, Moshood Abiola. Today, June 12 is hallowed in the Nigerian calendar. Kokori’s struggle was instrumental to ending 29 years of military rule in Nigeria and opening the gates to this Fourth Republic.

It’s true that the labour movements face new challenges grappling with globalisation, technological advancements, and changing work dynamics as the informal sectors have exploded, making it harder to organise and protect workers’ rights. But the means of engagement have also become way faster and more democratic than ever before, so one rather sees the lack of will to mobilise beyond the fee paying membership.

Pioneers like Pa Imoudu went beyond struggling for fair wages, safe working conditions, and were fully committed to social justice. This larger commitment is what echoes from the colonial days to this fourth republic. It’s also what’s missing in the labour activism dangling over the nation at this time.

Nigeria faces economic challenges, including high inflation. The government struggles to meet basic responsibilities due to debt servicing and revenue constraints.

Fighting for higher minimum wages must be balanced with economic realities. Increasing the minimum wage in Nigeria requires a delicate balance, and the two elephants in this present tussle should consider both the formal and informal sectors, inflation dynamics, and overall economic stability.

 Obaigbo is the author of The Wretched Billionaire.