From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has called on labour to focus on advancing workers’ rights rather than engaging in partisan politics.
Speaking to State House Correspondent after a meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima, Oshiomhole, while maintaining that he will always be on the side of Labour because of his background as a worker and union leader, voiced his concern that the current strike appeared to be motivated more by political considerations than by a clear worker-focused purpose.
“Labour cannot be apolitical because politics is about the people. And I have argued when I was in NLC that nobody has a right to be partisan, much more than those who turn the will of our industrial progress.
“But in saying that, we must recognise that however how hard you try, when it comes to politics, people are going to have different reasons for supporting different candidates.
“You have to be careful not to be seen to be doing the bidding of a particular candidate or a particular political party. As President of the NLC, I made no friend with any politicians in Edo State.
“So Ogbemudia once asked me, ‘we want to be able to say leave the matter to me he’s my boy, I will call him.’
“I am not anybody’s boy. I want to make my decisions. I take responsibility for those decisions. You can’t find me in the house of a politician jot because I hate them. Because they represent the value that I represent.
“I represent those guys who can only vote. Even though the law allowed them to be voted for, unfortunately, the system hardly throws them up.
“So I have to prioritise what is it that I’m ready to die for. And what is it that I’m ready to accommodate.”
Oshiomhole who was former NLC president, questioned why the workers were not mobilising against states still failing to implement the approved minimum wage yet were targeting the federal government that had already granted N35,000 increase.
He said he would rather the organised Labour hold state governments accountable to the N30,000 minimum wage agreement, which also covers local government and state workers.
He cautioned workers against actions perceived as overtly partisan, noting that he expected discussions on minimum wage to be for and on behalf of not only the federal government workers, but on behalf of all workers in Nigeria, including those employed by local governments and state governments.
“Now, I would have wished that somebody in the NLC would recognise that the hunger in the stomach of federal employees is not any worse than the hunger in the stomach of those state employees, nor local government employees.
“If these are the issues on the table, even as a senator I will publicly support an action against any government that thinks that we should lament away our hunger and while the people do what they do.
“Unfortunately, this strike is not about those issues. And I think we have to be careful not to mix our political opinion with our responsibilities, because the issues confronting workers are so many that they should become the priority.”
Oshiomhole who stressed that he abhors brutality against any Nigerian, insisted that addressing the hierarchy of workers’ needs should be NLC’s focus.