The labour veterans and trade unionists’ assembly has again on Friday, urged the embattled National Chairman of the Labour Party(LP), Mr Julius Abure, and the President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr. Joe Ajaero, to tender immediate resignations from their respective positions.
They declared that the two individuals are no longer competent to continue to function in the capacities of the offices they occupy as their continuation in office would neither do the two organisations nor the people under them any good.
Addressing newsmen on Friday in Lagos shortly after their meeting, veteran labour leader and former Vice President of NLC, Mr. Isah Tijjani, again, highlighted some of the issues that warranted a call for the immediate resignation of both Ajure and Ajaero.
He listed the power tussle between the duo within the Labour Party, the recent purported Nnewi National Convention that saw Abure’s emergence as the National chairman of the party, the lackadaisical attitude of labour leaders to fight for workers in the face of daily increase in the costs of goods and services, poor performance in party performing opposition roles, and weak negotiation for better minimum wage for workers, among others as their offences.
Tijjani, a former presidential candidate of the party, stated that the power tussle between both Abure and Ajaero as regards who controls the soul of the Labour Party has made a nonsense of democracy.
He opined that the excessive energy, time, and resources they both expended on the personal power tussle would have rather been used to address what would be of benefit to the general party members, Nigerian workers and Nigerians in general.
“What is even more troubling,” he pointed out, “is the neglect of their constitutional duties and core responsibilities.”
According to Tijjani, under offices, the duo represent their tasks are to promote and protect the rights and freedoms of their members against any unlawful encroachments from any quarters be it individuals, governments, or the organised private sector.
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But as it is, he noted, Nigerian workers have been left to fend for themselves facing a bleak future.
He said that was why the government continued to impose harsher economic policies on Nigerians and also exploited ethnic and religious differences to divide the people.
Tijjani explained further that this development had kept Nigerian workers and their families in a perpetual state of poverty and social deprivation.
He made references to the sudden withdrawal of petroleum subsidy by the Federal Government in May last year, devaluation of Naira, as well as the newly announced hike in electricity tariffs under whatever guise as enough manifestations that the labour union leaders and the Labour Party have failed to challenge government against policies he termed as “anti-people”.
He said all these conditions are sufficient grounds for Nigerian workers to demand their immediate resignations.
In her contribution, Mrs Omotola Rafiat, who is the Women’s Affairs leader of the Assembly, also faulted the recent hike in electricity tariff, saying the new rate is too high and that is part of what the leadership of Labour Party and workers’ unions supposed to fight against rather than to be fighting over the soul of the party.
She said it was not only disheartening that many years after the adoption of the current N30,000 minimum wage, more than 10 state governments are yet to implement the policy.
She said something like this happens just because the worker’s unions are weak and the political class, particularly state governors, capitalise on the weakness to do whatever they like.
She, just like Tijjani, also urged both Abure and Ajaero to without further delay, resign their positions and allow their organisations to function well.
