The revolt of Nigerian workers

Those, who still think that Nigeria is okay and that a civil revolt like the Arab Spring cannot happen here, are joking. Those, who still think that they can run Nigeria as their empire, in total disregard of others that make up the country, whether majority or minority, should wake up from their deep slumber.
Those, who think that Nigeria cannot be restructured in line with common realities of the time and as demanded by most Nigerians, are in deep dream sleep. They should wake up. Like them, I used to think that civil revolt of the Arab Spring stuff cannot happen here because of our diversity, but I no longer think so having watched on national television the recent workers’ revolt in Abuja.
I say all this because the May Day workers’ revolt was a strong indication that the Nigerian civil society is not docile as erroneously described. The way and manner the workers mounted the podium and disrupted this year’s Workers’ Day ceremony demonstrated that the organized labour is capable of disrupting national peace.
If they can cause labour unrest, they can as well cause nationwide civil unrest. I do not think that government and its handlers expected what happened at Eagle Square, Abuja, on Monday as the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari, was about to mount the podium to deliver the president’s May Day address.
I strongly believe that the minister did not bargain for what he saw at the arena. The adamant workers could not be pacified. The ex-labour leader and past governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, could not make the workers see reason and leave the podium. The workers were not scared of the presence of armed policemen. They defied any threat of use of force to calm them.
They exhibited their years of bottled-up rage against a government that has refused to attend to their worsening plight two years after inauguration. It appears the exploited and marginalized Nigerian workers have found their voice once again and openly communicated their angst against the government in action. Their action was swift and spontaneous.
They were united and wanted to die if need be. They were not afraid of death. They were already down and impoverished, they were not afraid of anything again. They were tired of empty and impotent promises of this administration. They used the occasion to tell the government that enough is enough and that “Our mumu don too much. See how these people dey use us.” They are now wiser and can no longer be deceived. They were tired of promises.
They wanted the government to say something about their demand for a new minimum wage of N56,000. They were annoyed that nothing on the minimum wage was forthcoming. They could not stomach empty rhetoric again. That was why they sparked and spit fire. They had a good cause.
They were convinced of the immorality of paying Nigerian workers a minimum wage of N18,000 at a time that recession and hyper inflation had ravished the naira. They did not see any justice in a system that pays heavy remuneration to politicians and their appointees irrespective of their qualifications and pay civil servants pittance.
The difference between the salary of politicians and Nigerian workers should not be too much because all of us buy from the same market. Our market does not discriminate between the poor and the rich.  Even the blind knows that the widening gap between the power wielders and the civil servants is so wide that it is capable of causing civil unrest in the nearest future.  Are our political leaders and politicians aware of this fact? Do they know that majority of Nigerians are suffering? Do they know that many Nigerian graduates are unemployed? Do they know that many Nigerians have no food to eat? Do they know that those that vote them into power are hungry and angry?
The growing army of the unemployed and the under-employed is a direct invitation to anarchy. It is indeed a ticking time bomb that can explode any time soon.  Our politicians should start thinking of ways to redistribute national wealth. They should do so now before it is too late. Redistribution of national wealth will ensure peace and harmony.
They should stop thinking of only 2019 general election because if Nigerians refuse to cast their vote, there will be anarchy in the land. The workers’ protests should be a warning sign to this government that all is not well with the workers and by extension Nigerians. The government should start delivering its campaign promises. They are juicy and many.
State and Federal governments should consider giving Nigerian workers a new minimum wage because it is immoral to pay a worker in Nigeria of today N18,000. No worker in Nigeria can survive on that slave wage. Workers have asked for a minimum wage of N56,000. It is not too much. Government can pay it if security vote and other loopholes for corruption are plugged. Generally, the workers new wage demand is a fair deal which government should look into. Government should sit with labour and find a meeting ground on what it can pay the workers.
The time to start talking is now. It does not necessary require the setting up of committee after committee. Setting up committee in order to solve a problem does not work swiftly in Nigeria. What the government should do now is to start paying Nigerian workers a living wage. That is the only way to stem the impending workers’ revolt. That is also the only way to stem any mass revolt.
Beyond meeting the workers’ welfare expectations, this government should listen to all those that are calling for a restructuring of this country. The government should listen to the delegates of the 2014 National Conference and their insistence on the implementation of the recommendations of the confab. They believe that implementing the confab report will make for a more stable and viable Nigeria.
The APC-led federal government should listen to these patriotic Nigerians and see the need to restructure this country in a way that it will be suitable to all of us. Let this government look into the recommendations of the confab and work towards its implementation. Its studied silence on the matter is disturbing.
It is surprising that a party of progressives will be the one running away from restructuring Nigeria to make it more viable and efficient. Let the APC take the glory of being in the fore-front of a restructured Nigeria by implementing the 2014 confab report. Is government still a continuum in our land?