At almost 80, trade unionism fire still burns in my bones activist

By Agatha Emeadi

In a few months, Pa Lawson Osagie will be 89 years old. Age has not diminished his zest and zeal for trade unionism, having been a very committed unionist. For over 51 years, the lawyer and activist has become a veteran.

In this interview, Osagie, an experienced unionist, shares his thoughts on the first strike called by Comrade Joe Ajaero, National President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), stating the International Labour Organization (ILO) rules on negotiation were fully observed.

He slammed radio and television personalities who had no understanding of ILO policies and rules on strike, but went ahead to make negative commentaries on the way Ajaero handled the industrial action.

How did trade unionism start for you?

I was in the youth wing of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in those old good days. During the May Day celebration, we labour leaders would be there to mark the day. I started attending May Day celebrations and all the conventions in 1981 (43 years ago). I was at Kano in 1981, Enugu 1984 and Benin 1988. Hassan Sunmonu and myself were the returning officers. Former President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Sani Zoro, later became a member of the House of Representatives.

I studied Law at Friendship University, Moscow, Russia. I became exposed to ideology in my early years. I was able to see the horror of capitalism and imperialism. Someone produced a video and posted that America only builds military bases, that it does not build hospitals and roads; that leaves you where you are; that l exposed me, though a few of us chose the left instead of right. So, I was sent to the Higher Trade Union Course in 1970 in Moscow. I came back and began to work and in the process, became engaged in organizing the Berlin World Youth Festival. After which I travelled back to study at the French Open University. I graduated in 1980 and came back. Naturally, it was the trade union that trained me. In 1973, I was the Secretary of the youths and part of the delegation that went for the peace congress led by Modu Tai Solarin, Kokori and a host of others. When I came back, I returned to the industry where I belonged, and rose to become the Head of Administration before I retired. One day I received a call from one electricity union official who was the Kano State chairman in 1980, when we held the May Day. Abubakar Rimi and Balarabe Musa were the first to declare May Day free. In 1981 in Kano, Dr. Alex Ekwueme came to represent Alhaji Shehu Shagari at the May Day ceremony. Then, I used to organize, but today I get invited as a veteran who has paid his dues. From 1981 till date, Sunmonu, Alhaji Alli Ciroma, Paschal Bafyau, Adams Oshiomole, Umar Abdul, Ayuba and Joe Ajaero are all well-known persons to me. As of today, we are pioneer members of the Labour Party.

What was the actual reason for the strike, were there underlying animosities that triggered the recent strike?

Well, a memo leaked that an arm of the government was demanding a whopping sum of N3 billion to fund the work of the committee on minimum wage. Trouble started when N48,000 was proposed as minimum wage in present-day Nigeria, where one sizable tin of powdered milk is being sold at N61,000. Any person who says minimum wage should be N48,000 has no blood flowing in his veins. At the time that amount was proposed by the so-called committee, there were no statistics to back up the proposal. When the committee members met with the President, he directed the Minister of Finance to get a template, which meant those guys who proposed N48,000 as minimum wage did not have a template. At least if they were working correctly, Finance and Budget would have given them statistics for the negotiation. It also meant that all of them who were on the side of the government were going for jamboree. Within 48 hours, the minister sent a template to President Tinubu. So, if the strike did not take effect, we would have been negotiating N48,000 as minimum wage for civil servants in Nigeria. I have not forgotten that I was seated at Abuja for the May Day celebration, with Vice President Shettima, Minister of Labour, Secretary to the Government, members of Senate, House of Representatives and all government stakeholders at the podium, when the National President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero read it that if by 31st of May 2024, minimum wage was not concluded, Nigerian workers could not wait further. There was applause from the field. Labour people are no fools because they said they arrived at an amount based on housing, transportation, utility, healthcare for a family of four, that was why we were asking for N100,000. Then you had someone saying N48,000. So, Labour went on a strike for just cause.

What is your assessment of the strike?

A coup that fails, that is illegal. A coup that succeeds is the government. It was clear to the ruling class that the strike was successful. When I heard that some people said workers would return to work and abandon their leaders, I laughed in my mind. One can say that about workers who are not conscious, but for the conscious ones, they would make sacrifice. I can tell you that most of the workers that were interviewed during the strike had more fire in them than their leaders.

What do you think is the final solution to such strikes triggered by hardship, hunger and suffering in the land?

I travelled by road to Benin and Abuja, recently. In Benin, I bought a litre of fuel for N860.00. I spent over N100,000 from Lagos to Benin and back to Lagos on fuel alone. We will do something. When one draws elastic, at a point, the elastic will cut. Some who are conscious, who quickly intervened knew that if the strike got out of hand, people would enter the street. And when they get into the street, it might not be easy to control. We all saw #ENDSARS protest which fizzled away because it was not organized and there was no think tank directing it. Government decided to infiltrate it by sending thugs. If the protest by workers who have leadership all over the states should happen, it will not be easy. Apart from the military, the next most organized group is the trade union and one could see that every state, industrial union all complied.

Since the essence of the objective of the strike is not to pull down the government, but we are unionists, we decided to say since you want to negotiate, it will be stupid of any person to reject negotiation. Moreso, ILO’s standard principles of negotiation say you should not negotiate under duress. Strike cannot be going on while the union negotiates. It does not make sense at all. That is blackmail and it does not work.

What do you think about the one-day strike? Should it have been extended by one day?

Trade unionism is an old profession. It has its rules of engagement. I attended the Institute of Labour in Geneva. I studied and have a certificate in trade unionism. Most people who are talking, even the educated ones are very ignorant. Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) is not a trade union per se. There is a centre where all trade unions affiliate. Therefore, when you are talking of collective bargaining, trade dispute and co, it does not affect NLC. NLC is an aggregate of all the industrial unions which is about 50 now. So, when they are saying that NLC should have given 21 days ultimatum. No, it does not work that way. The Minister is representing the l government on what we call tripartite. Tripartite comprises the Organised Private Sector, trade union and the government. The Labour Minister and other ministers represent the government. To your question, the strike was overdue and those saying that Ajaero and team sold out are ignorant of rules of engagement. ILO guidelines are clean and clear. One does not negotiate under duress. Collective bargaining has its own rules. If the government had said take it or leave it, then Labour might not call off the strike. But the government called to say that it wanted to negotiate and asked for one week. Can any reasonable person say no? Except you have ulterior motives, and the moment you say no, you are no longer practicing industrial relations, it has become political because you are no longer within the sphere of collective bargaining, trade unionism and industrial relations. The NLC President Joe Ajaero, did exactly what he should do. NLC has suspended the strike; it did not call it off, to give room for further negotiation. If that negotiation succeeds, so be it. If it fails, the strike continues. If on the day they met, the government had said, take it or leave it, and you called off the strike, what would you have achieved? Why did you push into the strike in the first place place? But we are ready for further negotiation. Because people are really suffering, anything that will push them to action, they will welcome it. So, for this strike, some people are pushing to see if the military will come in. That does not fall within the trade union.

Then some people are saying tell the government functionaries to cut their salaries, that also does not fall within the trade union orbit otherwise it would have also have been taken into political realm. Trade union is to negotiate between parties over welfare. We are not senators and House of Representatives members, which does not fall within the ambit of trade unionism. Civil Societies can join and do it. For the fact that Ajaero is trained, he knows his bounds and cannot work against the jurisdiction. The ILO explained it. Let the civil societies and political parties do that, but unfortunately there are no opposition parties.

What do you think about the manhandling of Ajaero at the NLC office in Owerri, Imo State capital some time ago?

First and foremost, Ajaero has nothing political. None at all. It will not be derogatory if I say he is my boy. I know him very well. Even if he has said he wants to become the president on the Labour Party platform, will merely saying it make him president? Wouldn’t he come to you, to seek votes on election day? Tinubu made a mistake by saying wait till 2027, that is cheap talk. That you are the candidate, does that make one a president? What they have done is to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. Now some people said that switching off the national grid is a treasonable felony. I saw some people on TV saying such and felt they were ideologically bankrupt. So, what will they tell those who pocketed $18 billion? What could be more treasonable than that? So, what did you do when you heard that? As of today, we are using N3 trillion to subsidize the so-called private electricity companies called DisCos, yet someone is saying that Ajaero is taking people for granted. The person working in the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, is he not a worker? Does he not have the right to withdraw his services during strike? Did they damage the national grid? No. It would have been a different thing if bomb was thrown to destabilize the country. But the moment the strike was suspended, they grid was switched on immediately. When some boys who do not have the knowledge and are not well-informed begin to talk about what they do not know, it is most unfortunate. Our crude oil is being stolen every day. How many journalists on television have asked NNPC how much we collect monthly from the sell of crude? Former Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said that asking for how much dollar Nigeria was earning from selling crude oil cost him his job. Let Ajaero haters go and arrest him for treasonable felony, and see how things will fall apart because you left the people who are destroying this country and looking for a scapegoat. You all forgot that Ajaero is having the powers of workers behind him. If not for those elderly people that came to pay solidarity, Imo State would have been grounded. Beating up a labour leader? No, it is not acceptable. Did you see the published amount of N93 billion, which e that three governors spent just for entertainment alone. If you go to some government houses, it is all day buffet. Only for one to come out and see a woman with a baby on her back with a tray on her head looking for survival. Calculate the whole of what she is selling, it will not be more than N5,000. Such women feed on rotten tomatoes and the poorest of foods. Yet, someone is carrying millions on a daily basis. Senators buy Toyota Landcruiser at the cost of N150m each. One of them defended it by saying the roads are not good.