From Idu Jude Abuja
In readiness for the 2027 general elections, political experts have tasked Labour Unions in Nigeria to prioritize their numerous needs by fully involving the strength of its membership in partisan politics as a springboard to achieving its numerous demands.
This was highlighted Wednesday in Abuja during a capacity-building workshop organized by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) political commission with the theme: sustainable development through popular political participation.
Delivering a keynote address, former Chairman of Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission ( NERC), Dr Sam Amadi, stated that the NLC and TUC with their affiliated unions would be able to take over the Nigerian political space with the strength of its union members cut across the 774 local governments in Nigeria using its strength and various platforms.
Dr. Amadi said, “It is worthy of note that the union has failed to utilize its strength, which is an opportunity to advocate for the welfare of its members.
“Today, the various unions can not be heard because they have no platform to be heard. “This makes the LA, our party, a very viable political platform, which, if it holds power, would implement the demands of the Nigerian masses.
“It is also worthy of note that even if the leadership NLC and TUC, are not yet card-carrying members of the party, then how can they be represented?
“The NLC should be able to have policy direction and a platform for advocacy. They should be able to begin the match in 2027 by utilizing the strength of their population and mobilizing over 30 million members from the 774 local governments.
“Also, the NLC should rebuild its social trust with civil societies so that they have a strong advocacy front.
“What we are saying, in essence, is that the structure of the party has been hijacked by other parties. LP must come up with a policy that any of its Leaders must be a card-carrying member.”
In another key paper presentation, former National Chairman of INEC, Professor Atahiru Jenga, who was represented by Professor Mohammed Kuna, emphasizes the missing links between the Labour Party’s political existence in developed nations and that of developing countries.
Prof. Jenga further stated that the strength of the stakeholders must be centred on the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, which is a masses-oriented Programme of the United Nations.
He said that counting down to the 2027 general elections efforts should be channeled toward making policies that would address numerous needs of the Nigerian masses.
“It is pertinent to note that all over the world, Labour Unions have formed political parties that address the needs of the people. It started in countries like the United Kingdom, Brazil, France and so the Nigerian labour unions should not sit on the fence while they are not even card-carrying members. So they cannot negotiate from outside.”
Meanwhile, the Acting Chairman of the NLC political commission, Professor Theophilus Ndubuaku, said that the time is ripe for the Labour Party to begin the process of matching towards the 2027 general elections.
Now that the 2023 election and the ensuing litigations are behind us, we must brace for the challenges ahead of us.
“The 2027 general election is not as far as we think. In a few months from now, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is expected to announce the timetable for the conduct of the 2027 election which would signal the commencement of active politicking.
“It is important that while we look forward to the looming electoral cycle, we must assess our performance in terms of mobilizing workers for effective and productive engagement with the last electoral cycle. We must assess the level of participation by workers.
“We must also look into the state of health of the only political vehicle available to workers for meaningful political participation – the Labour Party.
“We must look at the prevailing issues of governance, especially in light of recent widespread protest by the Nigerian people on economic strangulation.
“Comrades, all is not well with our country. Our performance on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remains poor. From our struggles to build a productive and inclusive economy to the provision of quality and accessible healthcare to effective education, to environmental integrity, gender equity, infrastructural development, and the security of lives and property, all we see is brokenness. Even the most renewed hope is broken.
“Our youths, who are tired of several years of broken politics with its leaking promises, are fleeing the country in droves. This is not the Nigeria that our founding fathers, especially workers, fought for its independence from colonial rule. Our situation is dire and sad.
“It was Bertolt Brecht who said that it is only the political illiterate who does not understand that the shoe he or she wears, the coat on his or her body, and even the food he or she eats are all products of political decisions.
“It is even more delusional to think that the solution to the political issues of the day would be solved outside the perimeters of political organizing, especially as availed by a political party. This is why we are all concerned about the state of the Labour Party of Nigeria.
“Comrades, we are all conversant with the struggle by the NLC Political Commission and Labour Party Stakeholders to rescue the Labour Party from the treacherous grip of political merchants.
“This explains the birth of the National Transition Committee, which is poised to execute the decisions of the court and agreements signed to reposition the Labour Party.
We can happily report that our struggle is bearing the needed fruits. As it is today, Mr Julius Abure’s reign of tyranny and mischief has been brought to an end. It was the NTC that achieved that. As it is today, INEC no longer recognizes Mr Julius Abure as the Chairman of the Labour Party.
“It was the commitment of the NTC on the side of truth and justice that made that happen. As it is today, Nigerians, especially workers and the ordinary people of our country, now have a rekindled sense of hope in the potential of the Labour Party to drive Nigerians to true economic emancipation, social justice, and a national re-birth that delivers the Nigeria of our dream.
“As you already know, our country is beset with a host of very debilitating developmental challenges. These crises of development are firmly anchored in broken politics.
“Therefore, there is no gainsaying the fact that it would require very deliberate political reconstruction and committed political leadership that is hoisted on ideological and pragmatic persuasions to remedy the ill of the successive years of bad governance.
“As a Political Commission, we are committed to changing the narrative not by mere polemics or sloganeering but by active engagement with the political process.
“In this regard, we are conscious of the paramount role of knowledge as an enabler of effective political thought and action. This is the reason the NLC Political Commission developed and disseminated a Workers’ Charter of Demands in the run-up to the 2023 general election.
“That Charter of Demands, which covers the gamut of social, economic, and broader political concerns in the polity, was the handle with which we engaged candidates who contested the 2023 general elections from different political platforms, including those who contested under the Labour Party.
“The NLC Charter of Demands became a rallying pillar for the advancement of issue-based politics and popular participation in the 2023 general election.
“The impact of our engagement with the political class delivered some measurable markers with which Nigerians are using today to assess the performance of public elected officers, especially on the issue of the petrol subsidy and the payment of decent wages to workers.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of the National Transition Committee ( LP-NTC), Abdulwaheed Omar, emphasizes the collective need of all stakeholders to rebuild the Labour Party, which is the committee’s mandate.
He said that efforts are being made to correct the anomalies of certain mistakes made during the 2023 general elections by the former Julius Abure-led NWC.