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  • Trade union veterans ask Ajaero, Abure to resign

    Trade union veterans ask Ajaero, Abure to resign

    The Lagos Assembly of Labour Veterans and Trade Unionists has asked the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Barrister Julius Abure, and the President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, to resign. 

    The unionists at a briefing in Lagos on Friday, April 5, lamented the ongoing crisis, accusing the duo of letting their aggrandisement get in the way of their core responsibilities to the working class. 

    Veteran labour leader, Comrade Isah Tijjani, who was the former vice president of NLC, claimed that the rift between Abure and Ajaero has encouraged government at all levels to implement anti-people policies and to exploit workers unchallenged. 

    Tijjani said: “For many of you that have been keenly following the unfolding crisis rocking the Labour Party at the apex of its leadership structure, the idea of holding this press briefing, will surely come to you, as a foregone conclusion. 

    “It is even more so, against the painful background that at the core of this profound crisis, is the endless tussle for the control of the party going on between the party’s embattled chairman, Barrister Julius Abure and the president of the NLC, comrade Joe Ajaero.

    “The amount of energy, time and resources that have been needlessly dissipated in this raging battle for personal aggrandisement, leave a sour taste in the mouth. The discomforting aspects of this unfortunate situation, is the resultant callous and complete abandonment of the constitutional duties and core responsibilities duly bestowed upon these leaders, namely; to strongly promote and protect the rights and freedoms of their toiling members, against any forms of unlawful encroachment by some individuals, government or the organised private sector. 

    “On the contrary, Nigerian workers have been everywhere abandoned to their fate, consigned to face gloomy future, totally devoid of delightful hopes and cheering promises. As the prospect to thus escape from the grip of multi-dimensional poverty dims for the masses of our people, the space to impose more burdens on the working class continue to be fully occupied by harsher economic policies.

    “With the leadership of both the Labour Party and the apex Labour Center, the NLC, now focusing their full attention on petty squabbles, these rifts were optimally exploited by the governments at all levels, to introduce unpalatable economic measures aimed at keeping the workers and their poor families in a permanent state of abominable penury and social deprivation. 

    Read Also: Obi loses grip on LP as party files petitions against NLC, Ajaero

    “We hardly need to scratch our heads in search of concrete evidence to affirm this, as the real life experience under which workers live in the last few months, bears bountiful testimonials in this connection.

    “From the FG’s sudden and abrupt withdrawal of petroleum subsidy, to the drastic devaluation of the national currency and the newly announced insensitive hikes in the costs of electricity tariff, the abysmal failure of the leaders of the Labour Unions and the Labour Party to provide credible challenge to these anti-people policies are indeed sufficient basis, for Nigerian workers to demand their resignation, without any further delay. 

    “When you devote adequate time to examine the perfunctory manner with which the Ajaero’s NLC, is handling the ongoing Award and the Minimum Wage negotiations, it would be crystal clear to you, that not much should be expected to come out from these razzmataz labour haggles. 

    “It is a sad commentary that many years after the adoption of the current N30, 000. 00 Minimum Wage, more than ten (10) state governors, fully aware of the endemic weakness of the unions officials, have against all entreaties refused to pay the agreed amount.

    “So, on both sides of the Labour front, the reality of the situation is that, workers have been made to suffer a crushing defeat, from which they will continue to leak their open wounds and also find it extremely difficult to quickly heal. 

    “On top of this disconcerting labour leadership ineptitude, our Assembly of Labour Veterans and Trade Unionists, is pained to admit that, what is going on in the Labour Party under the watch of power drunk Barrister Julius Abure, is a rape on democracy. 

    “In his desperate attempts to cling to power at all cost, he egregiously stepped on the big toes of all prominent party and political stakeholders; the chairman failed to hold or adhere strictly to wider consultations with varying interest groups in the party; the embattled Barrister also offended the provisions of the party’s constitution and grossly violated the rulings of the Consent Judgement, which ordered the contending parties to hold an expansive and all-inclusive national convention of the party. 

    “Gentlemen of the Press, I am sure you will all agree with me, that desperate people anywhere are a real threat to human decency wherever. Hence, the desperation of Julius Abure had seen him, concocted all manner of surreal stories with the sole aim of attracting support and sympathy to his deserted side. 

    “Two weeks ago, following the picketing of the LP secretariat by the members of the party who are  sympathetic to NLC, Barrister Abure debased the remaining integrity that could possibly be traced to his battered name, when he disingenuously raised the unbelievable alarm that the salary of his staff was stolen by the NLC-flag carrying protesting party members. 

    “Barely a week after that scintillating accusation, Abure and his gang of supporters regrouped in Nnewi, Anambra State, where they sang party songs melodiously and crowned the raphsody with the report of his return to office by a unanimous acclamation of the well deserted, INEC boycotted and poorly organised national convention. 

    “Bewildered party members and supporters were seriously about to recover from this Alice in the wonderland, when suddenly the strange news of assassination attempt on Julius Abure and the fire that engulfed his family’s Abuja residence gained currency in the nation’s media. 

    “We are sincerely sorry and saddened by this unfortunate development and hereby join all his well wishers in prayer for his speedy recovery and that of the affected members of his family. 

    “Beyond this humane angle of looking at any personal tragedy, our Assembly shall remain ever resolute in demanding that thorough forensic examination and investigation of the party’s finances must be instituted without any further delay. 

    “We shall also here reiterate the position of the Assembly, that, the Nnewi Kangaroo convention is null, void and of no effect whatsoever, as the tenures of the chairman and that of the National Working Committee (NWC) have since elapsed.

    “Given the overwhelming evidence assiduously marshalled and the arrays of well established cases of financial recklessness brought forward by the treasurer of the party against the party’s chairman and in full cognizance of the woeful failure of comrade Joe Ajaero to rise to the challenge demanded by his office, thereby scoring below average in leadership performance, we, the Assembly of Labour Veterans and Trade Unionists strongly lend our voice to the open call for both Barrister Julius Abure and Comrade Joe Ajaero to resign forthwith.”

  • No political motive, says Ajaero

    No political motive, says Ajaero

    Buffeted with criticism and accusation of nursing presidential ambition in 2027, NLC President Joe Ajaero last night defended his integrity.

    He denied any political interest, saying his intervention in the Labour Party is in the interest of the party.

    Ajaero, who interacted with our reporter over the allegations, said:“I have no ambition; I am only trying to finish what my predecessors started.

    “Somebody said Ajaero wants to be president in 2027. Have I filled the form of any political party? What I am doing now, is it different from what other presidents of NLC did? Abdulwaheed Omar president was during the time of Dan Iwuanyawu. We he even had to boycott the convention in Ondo State and set up a caretaker committee then.

    “What I am trying to implement now is the MoU signed between Ayuba Wabba and Julius Abure. I have not even done anything. They were in court. It was Femi Falana that rescued it and there is no convention that brought Abure.

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    “So, for trying to enforce the MoU has become that I want to be president. It wasn’t that Ayuba or Omar wanted to be President. I am following the trajectory.

    “During Omar’s time, we had to intervene after the meeting with Olusegun Mimiko and set up a caretaker committee. Ayuba was in court with Abure until he signed a MoU that by June 2023 he will handover. He begged to be there till after the presidential election and after that time he (Abure) doesn’t want to handover. He has overstayed.

    “It is a court judgment that declared that the NLC is the owner of the party and that we have to do an all-inclusive convention from 2018 till now. Now he (Abure) is saying the NLC is a meddlesome interloper.

    “What we are saying is that he (Abure) should abide by the MoU he signed with Ayuba. So, should I abandon what people who came before me agreed on because I don’t want people to say I want to be president?

    If you signed an agreement, you have to live by it. Ayuba engaged this process more than I have started; Omar, the same thing. During Omar’s time, I was the chairman of the political commission and we engaged this process.

    “Have you seen a party that conducted their national convention without ward congress, local government congress and state congress? How do you determine the delegates? Who are the names he sent to INEC for the convention? Which convention produced Abure? Which date? Where was he elected chairman of the LP?

    “Have you heard of any party that secretly went to do their convention? Check the INEC rule and even the constitution of Nigeria. No ward or local or state congresses.

    “It is the people from the ward congresses that will elect the local government delegates. The local government delegates will produce the ones going for state. That is how it is done.

    “When we talk some people will react. Were they there when we formed the party? Where was Arabambi when we formed the party in 2003?

  • Resign as NLC President to contest, LP fires back at Ajaero

    Resign as NLC President to contest, LP fires back at Ajaero

    The Labour Party has asked the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Joe Ajaero to resign and contest for the chairmanship position of the party. 

    The party was responding to a letter written by the NLC Political Commission – the political wing of the NLC- calling for the suspension of the planned convention of the Labour Party in Umuahia, Abia State. 

    The NLC Political Commission also asked the National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure to resign immediately with a caretaker transition committee set up to organise a legitimate and all-inclusive national convention.

    In a statement on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, the Labour Party insisted that the proposed convention would go ahead as the constitution of the party already stipulated those who could take part in it. 

    The party said the rascality of the NLC President, Ajaero has destroyed successes already recorded by the party.

    The labour party said the undue interference of the NLC on its affairs had become worrisome and had become needful to emphasis the distinction that the party had a life of its own different from that of the NLC. 

    According to the statement, the interference of the present leadership of the NLC on the party was “really choking and we can hardly breathe.”

    The statement reads: “The attention of the leadership of the Labour Party has been drawn to a Press Release titled ‘A misadventure in political mischief, mismanagement and misdemeanor gone too far’ written by the NLC’s Political Commission as an agent of the Nigeria Labour Congress. The NLC letter did not come to us as a surprise or a shock, it was long expected before now, having known that the NLC was going to engage itself on this misadventure. 

    “Nigerians will recall that in 2014, NLC has been involved in a war of blackmail and attrition against the Labour Party and its leadership. It was only recently, following the civil and diplomatic approach adopted by Barrister Julius Abure when he assumed leadership that he was able to get the then President of the NLC, Ayuba Waba and the then President of the Trade Union Congress, Olaleye Quadri to a truce where the NLC, TUC and Labour Party agreed to work together in harmony.

    “Unfortunately, the rascality of the current president of the NLC, Joe Ajero has destroyed the successes already recorded. It must be noted that the NLC and its political commission have become a bundle of contradiction and paradox.

    “The Nigeria Labour Congress has written several letters to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and to the party on the need to conduct a national convention. In fact, the NLC has queried even the rationale behind the one year extension which was graciously granted by the NEC in session in Asaba, which is in line with the party constitution. 

    “The leadership of the party in its wisdom has decided to yield to their agitation for a convocation of a national convention.

    Article 14:4b of our party constitution mandates the National Secretary in consultation with the National Chairman to ‘issue notices of meetings of National Convention, NEC, NWC amongst others. It is in the exercise of this power that the national chairman and national Secretary have called for the convention following the decision of the national executive council of the party. It is therefore ironical for the same NLC which has been agitating for a convention to now be demanding the rationale for the call for a convention. 

    “At this point, the leadership of the party wants to ask the NLC, what exactly do they want? If Joe Ajero is interested in the leadership of the party, he is therefore advised to resign as the President of the NLC and join in the contest for the National Chairmanship of the party that is scheduled for the convention on the 27th of March, 2024.

    “We must note that undue interference by the Nigeria Labour Congress on the affairs of the party has become worrisome and it has become needful to emphasis here the distinction that the Labour Party has a life of its own different from that of the Nigeria Labour Congress. In fact, the 1999 Constitution states clearly that once a political party is registered, it has a life of its own whereby it can run it’s own affairs without any interference. 

    “The Electoral Act and the Constitution provide that no organisation can own any other organisation. The NLC as an organisation can not claim the ownership of the Labour Party. The constitution of the party is clear that it is only those who subscribe to the party and those who are financial members of the party are the owners of the party and therefore can have a say on the affairs of the party. 

    “The interference of the present leadership of the NLC on the party is really choking and we can hardly breath. It is this NLC leadership which pressured on the Party not to give His Excellency, Alex Otti the governorship ticket for the 2023 general election on the ground that he was allegedly not workers’ friendly when he was a Chief Executive of a bank. But today, that same Alex Otti is doing Labour Party proud with the work he is doing in Abia state. 

    “Again, the same NLC attempted to prevail on the leadership of the party to upload a different candidate other than Senator Athan Achonu after he won the Imo state party primaries under the Labour Party. 

    “It will shock Nigerians to know that members and officials of the NLC are not even card carrying members of the Labour Party. All over the country, NLC members have been found to be supporting either the APC or the PDP.

    “It is again of importance to make certain clarification as to the so called judgements that were referred to by the NLC, we must indicate clearly that the Labour Party is not in default of any court judgment whatsoever. The agreement reached by the NLC to call for a convention is what we are following, we have fully implemented that agreement and the convention is in line with the agreement. We are therefore not in any default of court judgment as erroneously implied by the NLC. 

    “We therefore want to advise the NLC and its commission that it should focus only on its statutory responsibilities of defending the workers and the workers’ rights. Today the minimum wage is N30.000 while a bag of rice is N80.000. We hear about NLC talk about ethos and ethics of the Labour movement and the Labour Party, this is also an NLC that cannot call or sustain a strike for one or two days without calling it off. This is an NLC which cannot think of calling a protest and sustaining it in order to get the attention of the government for the interest of the workers. 

    “The present NLC should take a time to listen to the opinion Nigerians have formed about them. Can the NLC of today in any way be compared to NLC of the then Hassan Sumounu, Adams Oshiohmole and a few others in the past?”

    The statement added: “We must at this point appreciate the Trade Union Congress, TUC and it’s Political Commission under the leadership of Comrade Festus Osifo who stoutly refused to sign the Press Release with the NLC on the ground that it was baseless, frivolous, unrealistic and an evidence of power thirst, which to them was not necessary at this time considering the successes already achieved at the Labour Party. 

    “We equally want to advise Joe Ajero to emulate the leadership of Ayuba Waba, Olaleye Quadri and Osifo in working closely with the party. 

    “The ill-intended Press Release by the Political Commission also made a reference to spurious allegations made by the suspended National treasurer, Oluchi Opara and it attempted to give it some credence. This clearly exposes the mischief by the NLC to hoodwink the people. We have stated clearly that the total money received by the party was N1.3 billion and no other report has contradicted it. So for the NLC to be quoting that spurious allegations goes to show that they are part of the challenges the Labour Party has been facing. 

    “We are shocked that NLC which was a victim of a recent harassment, threat to life and brutalisation of its president would express shock over similar treatment meted to our chairman, Barrister Julius Abure who was brutalized for political reasons and nothing more. The NLC statement has it that Abure was arrested for fraud even when the police stated that the arrest was for attempted murder, which of course was a fabricated falsehood. We are shocked that the NLC which its President suffered the same fate, with bloodied face in Imo state will in one breath speak of Abure in this manner. This goes to portray the desperate characters in the current NLC. 

    “We must also state clearly that our leader, Peter Obi made reference to the audit of the campaign account and not forensic audit for the Labour Party. In any case, we have stated clearly that the Labour Party is open to forensic audit of its accounts. We are even calling on the NLC to send its own external auditors to check our financial books. We are also calling on Peter Obi to expedite action on the auditing of our accounts. And for the NLC to be using this as a cheap blackmail is to show their high level of desperation and mischief. 

    “The conclusion of the NLC’s Press Release is laughable, in fact, it didn’t come to us as a surprise. It will interest Nigerians to know that the NLC has through some proxies gone to court severally to fight the leadership of the party, the most recent being the case filed by one Ado. Passing a Vote of no Confidence in the leadership of the party is laughable. It clearly shows that they neither have nor read the constitution of the party.

    “Article 17:1 of the party constitution is very clear on how the national chairman of the party can be removed from office. We must state clearly that it is only the National Convention that can pass a Vote of No Confidence in the leadership of the party and not the NLC who are not even members of the party. Ironically, members of the so called Political Commission who are being used by the NLC are not card carrying members of the Labour Party. I wonder how people who are staying outside a house are hoping to interfere in what is happening inside. They simply do not have both the power and the capacity to do so.

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    “Members of the Labour Party appreciate the leadership of Barrister Julius Abure who has taken the party from obscurity to the enviable position it found itself now. It is under his leadership that the party has found limelight. Today in the Labour Party, we have a governor, senators, house of representatives and assembly members amongst others. Today, the Labour Party is the major opposition political party in Nigeria.  

    “We therefore urge the NLC to go and learn from other developing democracies across the world, how the Labour movements have given support to Labour Parties across the world in Australia, Brazil amongst others who have captured power in their countries. Such intellectual exploration has become necessary so we can collectively work towards the goods of Nigerians. There is need for us to come together and collectively fight the ruling class that has held the nation down for so long and has impoverished the nation. It makes no sense for us to be fighting ourselves. 

    “In conclusion, we note that the Labour Party will be going ahead with our party programs, our convention will hold. We have consulted with our stakeholders and the consultation is ongoing and we will continue to consult until March 27, when the new leadership of the party will emerge. We have advised the NLC before now that party politics is played at the Ward level and not at the National level. If NLC is interested in taking the leadership of the party, they should go and engage in the mass mobilisation of its members to join the party at the grassroot.”

  • Ajaero on errand

    Ajaero on errand

    Some persons deserve pity for their actions. Others deserve education in order to modify their actions. Yet others deserve outright condemnation. Joe Ajaero, National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, deserves all three for his incessant calls for strikes against a young government doing everything possible to correct decades of social, economic, and structural imbalances in the country.

    Pity

    Ajaero deserves pity for not knowing how to run a slave errand like a freeborn. As the leader of a large umbrella organisation, such as the NLC, he should not have agreed, in the first place, to run any errand for any political organization. But he did, and he chose to run the errand like a hungry lad, who, having come upon some food, used both hands to squeeze big portions into his mouth.

    True, historically, the NLC owns the Labour Party, which was established in 2002. However, under Ajaero, the relationship was reversed. The NLC was subsumed under the Labour party such that Ajaero’s bosses are the leaders of the party with whom he publicly associates, and who often quickly come to his aid, whenever he is in trouble or is simply criticised. Of course, it is well known that he shares ethnic and religious affiliations with the party’s presidential candidate during the 2023 presidential election. But his relationship with that party’s vice-presidential candidate is not all that clear. We do know, however, that he recently earned a law degree from Baze University, owned by the would-be VP.

    It would appear that Ajaero’s political agenda continues to becloud his judgement. That’s why his protest in his native Imo state attracted physical confrontation the other day.  It was election season, and a Labour party candidate was flexing muscles against the incumbent Governor, Hope Uzodimma, who was seeking reelection.

    Nobody believed Ajaero when he argued that the protest was against Uzodimma’s failure to fulfill his promise to the NLC. The timing was wrong. Listen to Uzodimma: “What has happened in this ugly coincidence is that the National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress is from Imo state and has not been able to demarcate the difference between being a national leader of an organisation and then an interested party in local politics”. The non-partisan South East Transparency Initiative confirmed the Governor’s observation, by alleging that Ajaero had a mission to derail the November 11, 2023, governorship election for political reasons.

    Senator Adams Oshiomhole, himself a former Governor and former National President of the NLC, corroborated this view: “Unfortunately, this strike is not about those (economic) issues. And I think we have to be careful not to mix our political opinion with our responsibilities.” Recalling his own experience as NLC President, Oshiomhole added: “I was not anybody’s boy. I wanted to make my decisions. I took responsibility for those decisions. You couldn’t find me in the house of a politician.”

    Let me make it clear: In civilised democracies, there is nothing wrong with a union endorsing a presidential candidate. Just last week, several workers’ unions in the United States endorsed Democrat, Joe Biden, for the forthcoming 2024 presidential election. The unions include the United Auto Workers Union, the Actors’ Equity Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the American Federation of Government Employees.

    What is different from the Ajaero-led NLC is that, beyond endorsements, the American unions do not identify with any political party. Moreover, they do not participate in political meetings, and are not paid for their endorsements. Most importantly, they do not harass the government. Rather, they direct their protests at specific employers. For example, on different days last year, President Biden and former President Donald Trump joined the Auto Workers strike against the leading auto makers, demanding better pay.

    Education

    Ajaero should not be in want of knowledge about the economic situation in the country and why we are in this mess. He is well educated, having earned a Bachelors degree from UNN, a Masters degree in Business Administration from UNILAG, and several diploma and certificate courses from Cambridge and Harvard Business Schools as well as from the International Labour Training Institute in Turin, Italy. He is also a trained journalist.

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    Against these educational backgrounds, Ajaero cannot claim not to know about the plundering of the Nigerian economy by previous administrations. He cannot claim not to know that between the immediate past CBN Governor and the immediate past President, the nation’s debt portfolio reached an all-time high. He cannot claim not to know that the present administration inherited not only a high debt profile but also an empty treasury. He cannot claim not to know that more oil is reportedly being stolen in the creeks, at pipelines, and in the high seas than is reported to the government. He cannot claim not to know that the former President deferred the removal of fuel subsidy for Tinubu to confront on assumption of office, by not including fuel subsidy in the budget as from June 2023.

    If Ajaero knows all this, where does he expect the government to find the funds to meet all his demands? And why not give the young government some more time for its policies to mature and for the fulfillment of its promises?

    Condemnation

    Ajaero’s problem, is his inability to know the appropriate time for action. It is bad enough for him, as NLC President, to wear the cap of the Labour Party. It is worse not to know where and when to wear it.

    After all, he has an alibi for protests. It is true that the economic situation is dire: Inflation is high. Food prices are high. The prices of petroleum prices are high. Youth unemployment is high. Yet, salaries and wages have stagnated. Only the rich can do philanthropy these days.

    Ajaero does not need a strike to make these points. They are all self-evident. They are existential. Nor does he need the militancy once associated with unionist culture. He does not need to shout down from rooftops. What he needs is continued engagement  with government and with other employers of labour. In negotiating with the government, he should realise that, in the present economic dispensation, it is as difficult for government as it is for the people.  

  • Ajaero hot and cold

    Ajaero hot and cold

    Joe Ajaero and his Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) keep blowing hot and cold — confused comrades?  Perhaps. 

    You can’t be lifting a strike but thundering another ultimatum!  How do you reason with a guy whose trademark is endless threats?

    The other time, they declared a three-day total and comprehensive strike — only to scramble back for some redemption to save face, when it was clear the NLC hot heads couldn’t sustain their fury in the streets.

    This latest one, between February 26 and 27, was to last two days — two days of Aluta bliss in the streets.  But lo!  After only one day, Ajaero and co scampered off.  The man Joe decreed a slew of press conferences, in lieu of street mass action!

    It’s interesting: each time Ajaero’s NLC ended up in own ditch, the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the office-suite equivalent to the factory-floor NLC, had stayed away: yet and yet again showing the quality of own introspection against NLC’s rashness.

    Still, TUC would ever rue being dragooned into Ajaero’s Imo misadventure, when some partisan mob beat him black and blue, for his doomed effort to mix-up NLC with Labour Party (LP), his partisan sweetheart, in the gubernatorial election, in which sitting governor and APC candidate, Hope Uzodinma, hopelessly routed everyone to earn re-election.

    For its pains, Ajaero just told TUC that NLC wasn’t bound to carry it along for its Aluta paroxysms.  Ajaero and his NLC sure know how to burn bridges, not caring a hoot about needing the same on their return trip!  A hard, if fitting lesson though, for TUC: always steer clear of Ajaero’s periodic and hardly thought-through Aluta frenzy.

    It’s just unfortunate: now that Labour centres should band together and extract the best deals for workers in challenging times, Ajaero seems to fiddle all away without much thinking.  That could well be a heavy workers’ burden.

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    Then, came the presidential barb, from the brand new Red Rail Line corridor in Lagos — a rather crowing glory to a governor’s — now president — 21-year dream for a multi-modal Lagos transport.

    President Bola Tinubu lobbed — a Molotov cocktail? — at organised Labour’s (read Ajaero’s) sense of balance.  Labour had gone on strike four times during his nine-month-old presidency, which he declared a national record. If Labour wanted to play politics — again, read Ajaero as LP “mole” in NLC — they should prep themselves for 2027!

    Ouch!  Was that politic?  Maybe not.  Was it a fact?  Starkly so. 

    Just say it’s a grim primer in Labour wasting its ace — in a long, titanic struggle — over piffles.  And that from a president that scrambled to meet Labour, to avert its first threat at strikes! 

    What did Chinua Achebe say again — the foolish antelope that danced itself lame before the real dance began?  That can’t be the best position for workers!

  • We were intimidated, threatened not to embark on protest, says Ajaero

    We were intimidated, threatened not to embark on protest, says Ajaero

    President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero said the organisation was intimidated and threatened not to go ahead with its two-day nationwide protest on mounting hardship and insecurity.

    The NLC president said the congress has evidence from Tuesday’s protest of the “importation of agents who were mobilised to the protest routes and grounds to cause violence against the peaceful protest.”

    “We were threatened with all manners of consequences that would be meted on us if we went ahead. We were, however, not perturbed as lifting the heavy yoke of suffering upon Nigerian workers and masses left us with no option than to press on,” Ajaero said at a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja.

    He added: “God is, however, always a step ahead of the enemies of the workers and the Nigerian people. That was also one of the reasons we had to restructure on the second day of the nationwide protest.

    “You may have noticed that almost all the routes to our office have been militarised this morning. It took a lot of time to access our office. These are not things you expect from a democratic society.

    “We want to reiterate that if the government fails to comply within the specified time frame, the NEC will convene again to decide on the next line of action.

    “The NLC remains steadfast in its commitment to defending and promoting the interests of Nigerian workers and the downtrodden masses, who will not succumb to intimidation.”

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    The NLC had declared a two-day nationwide mass protest for February 27 and 28, over the high cost of living being faced by Nigerians since the removal of subsidy on petrol in May 2023 by President Bola Tinubu.

    On Tuesday morning, the protesters commenced their march from the Labour House, Abuja while chanting solidarity songs and slogans.

    Similar rallies were staged in state capitals across the country.

    In a communique issued at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Tuesday, the NLC announced the suspension of the second day of the protest, adding that its objectives were achieved on the first day of the rallies.

    While responding to why the Trade Union Congress (TUC) was not part of the protest, Ajaero said: “The NLC is not under any centre. We may decide to collaborate with anybody, any organisation, NGOs, or human rights organisations but we don’t owe them any explanation on the action we decide to take. And those organisations can still take their action and we will not query them.”

    He insisted that the federal government was yet to meet the October 2023 demands going by feedback from its members.

    He said: “The people they paid the wage award were not up to 40 per cent. It is not on board that any state government or Private Sector Company has paid wage awards. The Federal Government is both an employer and regulator. If an organisation is not paying it is the duty of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment to nip the crisis in the bud.”

    He hailed the conduct of the security agencies during the nationwide rally.

    The Labour leader said the conduct of the security agencies was above board.

    The NLC president said while the Congress will continue to attend meetings with the federal government, it will no longer do so on the eve of any of its actions.

    He said: “Each time they invite us for a meeting, we will attend and listen to them. You are aware we held a meeting with the federal government on Sunday.

    “But while that meeting was going on, they wrote a letter to all the unions to come and undermine us. There is nothing they have not done to subvert the NLC. But if we are invited to another meeting, we will still go and listen.”

    “However, henceforth, the NLC will no longer be comfortable attending meetings on the eve of any action. Nothing comes from such meetings than to delay us and demobilise us so we don’t carry out our actions.

    “This is our new resolve. They cannot call us for a meeting when we have an action in two days and then keep us till late at night so we will not come out.”

  • The Ajaero strike and the masquerade’s legs

    The Ajaero strike and the masquerade’s legs

    • By Kehinde Yusuf

    Whenever things are entangled, seeking to disentangle them is the normal course of action. This happens when the respective entangling things are easily discernible. However, sometimes, those things are so similar and yet so different that disentanglement becomes herculean. To describe such complex, ambivalent and confused situations, the idiom called to service in Yoruba is “Esè eégún ti dàpò mó t’èèyàn.” (‘The masquerade’s legs are entangled with human legs.’) The masquerade, by the way, is believed to be a sacred being from the extra-terrestrial habitation of the revered ancestors, while the human being is earthly and non-sacred. So, how do you extricate a sacred set of legs from a mundane one without offending the ancestors?

    A series of such confusing spectacles marked the last nationwide strike of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), otherwise called the Ajaero Strike, which started on Tuesday, 14 November, 2023 and was planned to be total and indefinite. Incidentally, the strike was suspended on Wednesday, 15 November, 2023, after negotiations between the NLC and the government. In spite of the suspension, questions relating to the strike remain nagging.

    First, the entanglement of the masquerade’s and human legs happened in relation to who exactly Joe Ajaero was. In his visit to Imo State, was he a citizen of the state who had visited as a chieftain of the opposition Labour Party (LP) with the aim of promoting his political party in the then-closely approaching governorship election in the state or was he the National President of the NLC who had gone there to promote the welfare of members of his trade union? This ambivalence may have caused him to be beaten up by people who were presumed to be political thugs and who probably thought they were contending with a threatening rival political party member rather than a sacred, masquerade-like labour union personage. It is in reaction to the assault on Ajaero that the NLC and its sister union – the Trade Union Congress (TUC) – declared the indefinite and total national strike.

    Second, the masquerade’s legs phenomenon was manifested in who the aggressor was. Ajaero was beaten in only one out of the thirty-six states, and revenge was being exacted from all of the thirty-six states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. This violated the principle of justice encoded in the saying, Ìka tó bá sè l’oba n gé. (‘It’s the finger that errs that the king cuts.’) In prosecuting the strike, one finger erred, but thirty-seven were cut.

    Third, the ambivalence and confusion were related to the real motive for the strike. Was the strike declared to get restitution for the injuries of Ajaero or was it declared to wreck the economy or destabilise the All Progressives Congress (APC) national government by LP stalwarts hiding behind the unionist screen?

    Note, by the way, that while Ajaero and the NLC were vociferous in claiming that the APC-led government of Imo State had been mistreating the workers in the employment of the state, the workers themselves were adulating the governor. A situation was therefore created in which, as the saying goes, “Alára l’ára ò r’òun, o ló kú àìsùn, ó kú àìwo.” (‘A person says they’re not feeling any pain, but you’re telling them, “Sorry for the sleeplessness the pain is causing you.”’) Granted that there could even have been a few areas in which the state government was defaulting in relation to the welfare of the workers, the NLC should not have created a situation in which it would be crying more than the bereaved. In a more picturesque way, a Yoruba proverb says, “Elékún n sunkún, Láróyè n sun èjè.” (‘The person who has a problem is shedding watery tears, but bloody tears are streaming down the cheeks of Laroye the sympathiser.’) Incidentally, Laroye is another word for Èsù, which some people translate into English as “the Devil”.

    The Ajaero strike showed that the NLC has immense potentials to wreak indiscriminate havoc on the nation. Did it therefore set out of its own volition to undermine the government or was it recruited to do the hatchet job for woebegone opponents of the Tinubu government, in the light of the failure of the President’s opponents to remove him from office through the courts? This question is important, because, in public reactions after the Supreme Court judgement affirming his victory, statements had been made which suggested the willingness to use extra-judicial means to settle scores with the President.

    Fourth, the masquerade’s legs syndrome was reflected in the joining of the strike by some academic affiliates of the NLC. This seeming headfirst joining of the Ajaero strike raises a number of very critical questions. The most important ones here are: What role should academic staff unions play when they affiliate with NLC or TUC? Should they submit zombie-like to the two unions’ directives or should they provide the intellectual compass to the umbrella unions? The academic staff unions listed as joining the Ajaero strike are the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the College of Education Academic Staff Union and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics. The Punch, in its 15 November, 2023 edition, reported the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) as saying as follows about the strike: “It is with a heavy heart that we, as the apex student body in the country, address the irrationality, disregard for the court of law, and apparently misplaced priority demonstrated in this action.” Did this not amount to the tail wagging the dog?

    Read Also: Ajaero in the eye of storm

    With respect to ASUU, one observer remarked that he could not remember the last time ASUU joined an NLC strike. He then wondered whether ASUU’s decision was not motivated by the fact that, since it had become impolitic for it to directly embark on a strike considering the badly-prosecuted 2022 strike, ASUU found it convenient to jump on to the bandwagon of the NLC strike. He therefore seemed to have been suggesting that ASUU’s case was like that of the monkey itching to climb a tree, and then finding a ready excuse when its in-law’s club got stuck in the branches of the tree. The monkey rushed up the tree without thinking twice, and oblivious of the fact that there could be ants with very painful bites awaiting it in the tree. In this regard, our people admonish the monkey as follows: Ìjímèrè, só’gi gùn ko má baà gungi aládi. (‘Monkey, beware of which trees you climb, so that you don’t climb an ant-infested one.’) Going forward, academic staff unions need to be more circumspect about which kind of strikes to join or to declare.

    Fifth, ASUU put itself in an ambivalent position by joining the strike. When the last ASUU strike was called off on 14 October, 2022 and lecturers were paid half-salary for that month, one of the complaints of ASUU was that lecturers had, by that government action, been reduced to daily paid or casual workers. Specifically, in the Daily Trust of 8 November, 2022, the President of ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, was reported to have declared as follows about the ending of the strike: “This we believe, as a union of thinkers, intellectuals, and patriots, will not only aid the process of amicable resolution of the crisis, but will also set the tone for smooth industrial relations between Government and Nigerian workers at large. Unfortunately, the response of government towards ASUU’s demonstration of trust was the so-called ‘pro-rata’ payment for eighteen days as the October 2022 salaries of academics thereby portraying them as daily paid workers!” Now, has the manner in which the union joined the Ajaero strike been sufficiently elevating or ennobling?

    When the Ajaero kind of strike occurs, it is helpful to recall the most comparable events in other climes. After all, as our people say, “Oun tó jo’un làá fí wé’un; èpo èpà ló jo pósí èlírí.” (‘Let’s compare likes with likes; it’s the groundnut shell that resembles the midget mouse’s coffin.’) Moreover, it is necessary to appreciate the wisdom in the proverb, “Afogbón-ológbón-sogbón ni ò jé kí á pe àgbà ní wèrè.” (‘It’s learning from other people’s experience that prevents an elderly person from being called a fool.’)

    Once upon a time, there was a very powerful trade union called the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in Great Britain. It had a very charismatic, controversy-courting President called Arthur Scargill. At a point, the NUM was so powerful that it caused the fall of a government. The Secretary of Education in that fallen government was called Margaret Thatcher, and she bided her time. Then she became Prime Minister. The NUM struck again in the early years of her government. The new government buckled and yielded to the demands of the union. Encouraged by this manifestation of power, the NUM embarked on another strike a few years later. This time around, like a ram that had stepped back to re-energise, the government came back charging. It confronted the union, and though the workers remained on strike for a few days short of one whole year, they got no concession from the government. With the government firing on all cylinders and with the strike debilitating the workers and their families, a pitiable Arthur Scargill had no choice but to announce the end to the strike. 

    Does NLC look like the NUM? Does Joe Ajaero look like Arthur Scargill? Does President Bola Ahmed Tinubu look like Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher? Labour unions are immensely powerful. With that power, a properly-focussed union can earn remarkable benefits for its members. And it is when they are preoccupied with seeking such members’ welfare gains that they are on the most solid ground. In contrast, trade unions are on the most slippery ground when they venture into such adversarial environments as politics, in which all is fair as in love and war.

    It is hoped that, as the NLC and the TUC relate with the Nigerian government, push would not come to shove. True, labour unions are powerful. But it is not a zero-sum game. That labour unions have power does not stop government from being powerful or from being more powerful. As the saying goes, “Tí irin bá kan irin ìkan á tè.” (‘When a rod encounters a rod, one must bend.’) In their agitations, the status and motives of NLC and TUC must be clear at all times. It must become unnecessary, going forward, for the question to be asked, “Are the NLC and TUC workers welfare outfits or are they the labour wing of the government’s detractors?” Let the human legs be clear and let the masquerade’s legs be clear. Entangling them can only cause agony. Those who have ears, let them hear.              

  • The agbero way

    The agbero way

    Let us not quibble about this. Joe Ajaero had a black eye from some roughnecks. That was despicable. Why should a labour leader be dragged out like a shoplifter and tossed away to some unknown hovel and beaten black and blue? It is not the path of civilization. It is the register of the brute.

    But wait a minute, is that why Joe Ajaero and his labour group should give the nation a black eye, too? Is that not Agbero syndrome, a revenge on the street? Is this activism in pursuit of personal vendetta?

    What we are witnessing is not labour activism but the hijacking of a noble idea. It is no nod to the greats, the rebellious majesty of Imoudu or the trenchant sublimity of Sunmonu.  It is hysteria as protest and protest as radioactive force. Ajaero has seen the vehicle of protest, especially the deployment of strikes and national shutdown, as a tool and cudgel. He believes if he is angry, he calls for a strike. If he does not like the face of the president, he invokes a shutdown. Strikes have become his propeller, a motor for relevance.

    Does he know the value of a shutdown? Does he know that once a nation goes on strike, it is  like a human body in coma? The nation literally stops breathing. No light, no water, no jobs, no profit. A nation in paralysis.

    That means labour growls because the economy is not working. The strike means the economy is not working. It is fighting poverty with poverty. It is a sterility that Ajaero’s agbero style gives fuel. But the use of strikes signals an end of the imagination for labour. It shows they have no other way of thinking. It is the aggressor’s consolation and avenue.

    But this is because strikes have no consequence. If workers know that when they strike, they lose pay because no work means no profit, they will rethink. Recently, the autoworkers in the United States paralysed industry with a protracted strike. It was a coalition of the injured. But they were prepared to lose pay. They saw it as a risk, and they did not lose in the end because they got much of what they wanted. Strike is an investment, not a harvest.

    Strikes here have no regard for consequences. It is just a way to browbeat the government. We must see strikes as a mutual risk between government and workers. Or else such persons as Ajaero will happen to us. He is already happening.

    He turned labour into a grievance parlour. If you grieve Joe, you offend labour, and labour fumes and jousts. It is not about labour. It is not about fuel subsidy, or worker’s pay, or about lifestyles in decline. It is about a personality cult. He wants to turn himself into a godfather of labour. He has succeeded in corralling Festus Osifo. The TUC guy started with a nuanced and methodical approach. They have somehow convinced him that he should stop acting like a weakling. It is the way the bully convinces the nice guy to punch a friend in the jaw.

    Recently Osifo made a point we must not allow slip. He asserted that labour did not need to follow the court order over strike. Their reason? The government does not follow the rule of law. This government is too young to make that claim. It has not done so yet. So, Osifo and his associates are probably referring to the Buhari government. That man had quite a few instances of defying the rule of law and court order.

    But do we answer impunity with impunity? Is labour trying to canonize lawlessness. Is its agenda anarchy? If that were the case, is Ajaero not justifying the rough arm that gave him a black eye? What happened to Ajaero is the sort of thing that happens when there is no law, when arbitrary muscle-flexing takes charge over commonsense and law. This same group believe when it flouts the law it is right. When others do, it is wrong. Is that not the autocrat’s logic? I believe Labour wanted to dare the federal government to arrest them, and torpedo the government on charges of fascism. But the administration did not bite. Is it not the path of honour to challenge the matter in court. Agberos like Agbaero know no other way.

    Read Also: Ajaero in the eye of storm

    In the Buhari era, the most famous act of defiance of the rule of law happened earlier this year over new currency notes. The Buhari government turned its back against the Supreme Court ruling to revert to the old notes. Labour did not go on strike over it. We did not see Ajaero in his offbeat attire and look of morose distress on the streets. No fascination with a shutdown then. The reason was obvious. The labour movement that endorsed Peter Obi saw the crisis as APC shooting itself in the foot. It was a campaign suicide for its candidate. They gloated in secret while workers groaned and moaned. But labour’s voice was a low murmur in those days. The huge uproar came from the APC candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, when he yelled that it was targeted at him. Even that crisis against the worker galvanized the workers against the candidate. It was the intervening voice of former Kaduna State governor El-Rufai that gave credibility to his accusation. Meanwhile, Obi and Abubakar Atiku did not hide their quiet enjoyment while the APC candidate stormed the airwaves with his frustration.

    So, why is Labour in arms now with strikes after strikes? We can find this in what I call the Imo formula. When Ajaero went to Imo, he did not present himself as a labour man, but a front man for Peter Obi’s party. That, I believe, is why someone changed the architecture of his face. I don’t support the bully’s sense of aesthetics. Joe’s face is good enough as God made it. I hope the doctors help restore it.

    But Ajaero only showed his strikes have been more politics than labour angst. He is angrier against the government than he loves the workers of this country. He is standing on the innocence of the worker to push a political party’s agenda.

    Hence Osifo exercised the effrontery to say that labour is above the law. It is a dangerous trend. This set of labour leaders have been accused of ethnicising protest. The word is out there that its leadership is ethnically skewed, and that accounts for its hypocritical belligerence. That is a matter for the entire labour spectrum to look at. They voted them into office, and if they are not satisfied with their conduct, they have to respond. So far, that demographic is mute on that matter for most part. But time shall tell. What is clear is that labour seems beholden to the party that bears its name.

  • Ajaero in the eye of storm

    Ajaero in the eye of storm

    As a trade unionist and president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero probably enjoys hugging the headlines. But it is not likely he bargained for the events of the last two weeks. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI examines the ordeal of the NLC president, following the attack on him last week and the after-effects, which shook the entire nation

    The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero was in the spotlight during the week over the decision of the NLC, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and their affiliate unions to embark on a nationwide industrial strike to protest the brutalization of the NLC president. This is a fallout of last week’s feud between the organised labour and the Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma over their disagreement on issues bordering on the plight of workers in the Southeast state. This is despite a court order restraining the unions from doing so.

    The indefinite industrial strike, which was embarked upon for three days between Tuesday and Thursday before it was called off, practically grounded the country’s economy. The labour protest grounded commercial activities at banks and other financial institutions, seaports, airports, railways, the petroleum sector and public schools in most parts of the country. Observers believe the three-day strike has compounded the woes of the country’s ailing economy, by worsening inflation and impacting negatively on the credibility of the economy in the eyes of foreign investors.

    The development emanated from the brutalization of Ajaero in Owerri, the capital of Imo State, by unidentified persons. Ajaero was reportedly picked up from the Imo council secretariat of the NLC in Owerri last week Wednesday by heavily armed police officers. The NLC said its president was beaten and blindfolded immediately after he was arrested by security operatives. He was said to be in the state to mobilise NLC members for a strike. Before the Imo strike, the NLC president had accused the Imo State government of “violating the rights of the Nigerian workers in the state,” and therefore vowed to mobilise members of the union in the state for a strike.

    Denying the arrest, the Imo State Police Command said the NLC president was taken into protective custody to avoid being lynched by a mob. The police said the NLC president had a heated argument with some individuals who resisted the picketing of the airport in Imo. The police added that they rescued the NLC president from the hands of the thugs beating him and took him into protective custody.

    The spokesman of the Imo State Police Command, Henry Okoye said when the police received a report that Ajaero had been attacked, they went there on a rescue mission and took him into “protective custody”. He said the police were not present at the venue when Ajaero was addressing the workers but only intervened to rescue the NLC president when they were called upon to do so.

    The mission of the NLC and the TUC in Imo State is not clear because there are grey areas in the position of the two unions and that of the Imo State Government. The NLC and the TUC said their mission was to call out the workers on a strike since according to them, the state government was owing workers in some sectors as much as 20 months’ salaries. But Governor Uzodimma has reiterated several times that he is “not owing anyone”. He accused Ajaero, an Imo indigene of mixing Labour Party (LP) politics with union activities.

    However, one thing is clear:  the timing of the labour unions’ strike in Imo, led by Ajaero and Festus Osifo of the TUC, tends to lend credence that there could be some political undertone in the whole matter. The strike was embarked upon a few days before the Imo governorship election.

    Read Also: Ajaero’s Labour pains

    Besides, following the attack on the NLC president, the two unions could have opted to go to court to enforce the violation of Ajaero’s rights by those who manhandled him. But they chose to plunge the economy into another agonising industrial strike; the fifth one embarked upon this year by the labour unions. It is perhaps the first time labour unions in Nigeria would embark on an industrial action to protest a personal injury perpetrated against one of its leaders.

    Ajaero and his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo strongly believe they are fighting for the rights of their members. But, coming against the background of the relationship that exists between one of the political parties that contested the just concluded off-cycle governorship election in the Southeast state, the LP, Governor Uzodimma is adamant that there is an attempt to mix partisan politics with labour issues in the state to blackmail his administration.

    Speaking with reporters at the presidential villa recently after receiving the APC flag from President Bola Tinubu, the governor said he has been paying salaries regularly since he assumed office in January 2020. He said his administration does not owe any state worker. He accused the leadership of the NLC of attempting to blackmail his administration.

    His words: “When I came into Imo State as the governor on January 15, 2020, from 2020 January till date, there’s no month we have not paid salary before 30th. The situation is that before this time, I thought that the trade union was a democratic entity that allowed the opinion of people. I challenge any Imo State civil servant to come out and say that between January 15, 2020, and till date, he has not received a salary in any of the months.

    “What has happened in this ugly incident is that the national president of NLC is from Imo State and has not been able to demarcate the difference between being a national leader of an organisation and an interested party in local politics. But God will manage the situation. So, I understand the sensitivity of this event but I want you people to be very careful because there’s an attempt to mix up partisan politics or an attempt to blackmail my government.

    “But I can tell you that my people are already aware and that was why the Nigerian Labour Congress Imo State chapter, addressed a world press conference, that what their national leadership is saying is not correct.”

    Observers have decried the use of Nigerian workers as pawns in election campaigns, describing it as barbaric and inhuman. The romance of the Ajaero-led NLC leadership with the LP does not portray the union as a neutral arbiter in the matter, particularly with elections in which the LP was expected to participate coming in a few days. Ajaero, they added, like any other person, has a right to participate in politics but he has no right to use labour as a shield for partisan politics.

    The National Industrial Court had stopped the NLC, TUC and their affiliates from embarking on any form of industrial action last Tuesday (November 14). President of the Court, Justice Benedict Bakwaph Kanyip, issued the restraining order following an exparte application to that effect brought before the court by the Federal Government and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice. The intervention was to ensure peace and tranquillity in the country. But, the unions went ahead with the strike, despite the controversy surrounding it.

    After the usual back and forth, the labour unions announced a suspension of the nationwide strike on Thursday, adding that the development was intended to facilitate further discussions with the Federal Government, which had on Wednesday indicated that those who attacked Ajaero have been arrested. The National Security Adviser NSA), Nuhu Ribadu made the revelation on Wednesday, in a statement through the Head of Strategic Communications in the Office of the National Security Adviser, Zakari Mijinyawa.

    The statement indicated that some arrests have been made concerning the Ajaero saga and that the outcome of the investigation will be made public as soon as it is concluded

    Ribadu, therefore, urged the movement to call off the strike. The apprehension of the perpetrators was one of the demands listed by the unions as conditions to call off the strike.

    The NSA apologised to the organised labour over the attack, adding that the Federal Government regretted the incident that happened in Imo and condemned it in its entirety. He said it was against the rule of law and the principles of freedom of association and expression subscribed to by President Bola Tinubu and his administration.

    The statement read, “The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) is concerned by the declaration of a nationwide strike by the leadership of the organised labour led by the NLC and TUC.

     “The NSA is particularly worried about the implications of the strike action on the livelihood of ordinary Nigerians and its potential impact on economic security and other strategic national interests. As attested by the NLC leadership, the NSA immediately intervened upon learning about the travails of the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joseph Ajero who was assaulted in Owerri, Imo State.

    “The NSA regrets the incident and condemns it in its entirety as it was against the rule of law and the principles of freedom of association and expression subscribed to by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his administration.

    “The Federal Government will never condone such an act. As a fallout of the incident, relevant authorities were directed to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the assault and bring to book the culprits. An available update indicates that some arrests have already been made in this regard. The outcome of the investigation will be made public as soon as it is concluded.

    “The Federal Government, through the Office of the NSA, therefore, appeals to the labour leadership to call off the current strike action and allow the dialogue process underway to be exhausted.”

    Similarly, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) condemned the brutality against Ajaero and called for an investigation into the incident to bring the perpetrators to book.

    Its Executive Secretary, Anthony Ojukwu, said the brutality meted out to the NLC president was an abuse of his fundamental rights. The NHRC scribe said people’s rights to peaceful protest and freedom of expression should be respected for the progress of human and Nigerian society.

    He said: “It is a reprehensible act, a flagrant violation of human rights and an affront to the principles of democracy and the rule of law. Brutality on Mr Joe Ajaero, a senior labour leader, represents impunity and a direct attack on the fundamental rights of individuals to associate and express their views and opinions freely, which is the cornerstone of a democratic society like ours.”

    Born on December 17, 1964, Ajaero hails from Emekuku, Owerri North Local Government of Imo State. He recently succeeded Ayuba Wabba who served two terms from 2015 to 2023.

  • Ajaero’s Labour pains

    Ajaero’s Labour pains

    For the past five months, the threat of a strike by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has hung over the new government and country like the Sword of Damocles. At 12.00 midnight on Monday the union carried out its threat. 

    Usually, such strikes are executed in pursuit of workers’ welfare. But this is a peculiar action called not because earnings have been eroded by hyper inflation, or as a result of delay in unveiling a new minimum wage. A shutdown is happening because NLC President Joe Ajaero was set upon by a band of thugs at Owerri airport – leaving him with a black eye.

    Ajaero by reason of his position as Congress’ leader has a place In the pantheon of VIPs in Nigeria. So, for him to have been assaulted and dragged on the floor by unknown roughnecks, as he has reported, was shocking. Not only was he bruised physically, his ego as head of the nation’s main trade union was battered. In a sense also, the institutional ego of the almighty NLC was affected.

    Not surprisingly, its response to the manhandling of its leader was a recourse to the nuclear option – a nationwide strike. Such an action should ordinarily be a weapon of last resort. Deploying it over this matter shows how stunned Labour leaders were by the development.

    The immediate trigger to the assault was the decision of Ajaero and his union to visit Imo, ground activities across the state, ostensibly because workers were owed 30 months salaries. This claim was vigorously denied by the state government which promptly secured a court injunction stopping the planned action. Labour would not be deterred; they pushed ahead in defiance of the judicial restriction.

    The NLC claims thugs who beat Ajaero were supervised by a certain aide of Governor Hope Uzodimma who, interestingly, has a portfolio designated “Special Duties.” What followed the rumble at the airport is still mired in confusion. The union leader says after the assault, he was handed to the police. Initial reports claim he was arrested. The cops insist they only took him into protective custody to prevent his lynching by an angry mob.

    But why would the visit of a union leader to lead protests over unpaid salaries stir up such passions? It was scheduled just days to the governorship election in which the NLC’s client Labour Party was a major participant. Imo also happens to be Ajaero’s home state. The conclusion on the part of the government was that the supposed protest was just a brazen intervention to tilt the poll outcome in favour of his allies. 

    As the union cried for justice over the attack on its leader, there were two important reactions. Governor Uzodimma went on television shortly before the election to wash his hands off the assault. He said even if the beating was meted out to a lesser personage he would have been displeased. It was an expression of sympathy that fell short of an apology. 

    A few days later, Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, ordered an investigation into the the incident. But these interventions were not enough to mollify the NLC which clearly wanted more. But what is more? Perhaps President Bola Tinubu censuring Uzodimma? Would the arrest and prosecution of the ‘Special Duties Adviser’ who allegedly oversaw the assault have sufficed? Perhaps some imaginative punishment for the Commissioner of Police would have done the trick. 

    The Owerri incident is a prime example of the bloated expectations of the powerful in Nigeria. They expect special treatment and when that is not forthcoming, they attack institutions. The incident at the Imo State capital was a local one and the perpetrators were locals. The options for redress should logically be local. 

    Since the NLC leader and his associates are not in doubt as to those behind the attack, they could have initiated legal action against them – whether they are governors, police, Special Advisers or thugs. To declare a national strike over this local assault is to mismatch crime and punishment. To use your Congress in this way to exact revenge is abuse of power.

    To drag in the Federal Government is to perpetuate something very wrong in this country, where the president has to get involved in every little matter: he has to order an investigation if a couple has a domestic falling out in Enugu, or a local government chairman and his governor are at daggers drawn in Bauchi. This country doesn’t have to revolve round the office of the president.

    Between the abortive Imo protests and the current strike, the NLC leadership hasn’t come out smelling of roses. It marched into Owerri nonchalantly disregarding an existing court order. It has now embarked on its strike disobeying another injunction stopping it from doing so. In Nigeria everybody is a law unto themselves. They obey what laws they choose to and justify their lawlessness by pointing to some other person’s recklessness. 

    The grand hypocrisy of it all is that organizations like the NLC are always quick to preach about the rule of law. They claim to want a better society where things are done in an orderly fashion, yet have embarked on an action that diminishes the judiciary as an institution. 

    Read Also: Old banknotes remain legal tender indefinitely, says CBN

    If governments in the past have been caught ignoring the courts, we don’t have to join them in the gutter of disobedience. There’s a higher moral ground for those willing to climb up there. But in embarking on the path it has chosen, the union is no better than the thugs who took the law into their own hands by beating Ajaero.

    As things stand NLC has taken a calculated gamble with the timing of its action. It comes at a period when millions across the country are struggling economically. For them daily income is vital for survival. Can they afford to join the union in their indefinite flight of fancy? 

    There’s nothing novel about calling such strikes. What the current Labour leaders should ask their predecessors is sustainability of the action. We may just be seeing a situation where union leaders are disconnected from average workers who just want to get on with their lives with minimal disruptions.

    The objective of this strike is so nebulous that it verges on the ridiculous. The union says the walk-off would continue “until governments at all levels are alive to their responsibilities.” At what point would this landmark have been attained? What are the indices for making this judgment? More importantly, who appointed the NLC assessors of government performance?

    For a young administration battling economic turbulence and trying to find its balance, a national strike is bad news. It would be under pressure to restore normalcy. But how it does that would determine how it would be perceived going forward. Will it bend in the face of every pressure or stand its ground as indication it won’t be pushed around? It is the NLC today, but there are other groups and interests just waiting to test the government’s will. The coming hours and days would be very revealing.