By Gbemiga Ogunleye
The year was 1996. I had just been appointed Editor of The Punch. The Chairman, Chief Ajibola Ogunshola told me my mandate, among others, was to make the paper the most widely read newspaper in the country.
Perhaps to ensure that I achieved the target, he added: “Editor, you have the power to review all editorial appointments.”
In a capsule, the man was telling me I could hire and fire any staff.
I thought that was an awesome power and I quickly reminded myself of the saying: power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely!
That power I told myself must not be used whimsically.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero and his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo are very powerful men. And in the last 24 hours, have been using their enormous powers whimsically.
Following the failure to reach an agreement on a new minimum wage, both men have shut down the country.
The have asked their men to shut down the national grid, so the country is in darkness. Their foot soldiers have taken over the control towers at both the domestic and international airports, so flights can neither take off nor land. Hospitals have shut their doors to patients. The courts have been put under lock and key, so those awaiting trial and those hoping to get out of detention on bail have their problems compounded.
To be sure, the cost of living is becoming unbearable. Prices of commodities, especially food have risen astronomically. Things are particularly bad for most Nigerians, especially those of us who are retired, who will not even benefit when the salaries of workers are Increased.
But in spite of the terrible economic situation we are facing, I ask: is the medicine for headache the cutting of the head?
Couldn’t Labour have given more time for the government to respond to its demands? Is wage increase the only solution to economic woes workers are facing? Couldn’t Labour have made other demands like calling for the scrapping of one of the two arms of the National Assembly to save costs in this trying time? How about Labour asking government to provide workers with essential foodstuff at subsidised prices?
This was done in the mid 80s when the country was facing a similar economic crises.
One is tempted to ask if Labour is aware of the law that prohibits those on essential services like electricity workers from going on strike?
Are Ajaero and Osifo aware that some electricity workers spent time in jail in the past for going on strike?
Besides, by beating workers who chose not to be part of the strike and locking them out, is Labour not violating the rights of its members to freedom of association and freedom of thought?
These are fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution.
It’s not too late for Labour to have a rethink and return to the negotiation table. Insisting on over four hundred thousand Naira as a minimum wage is carrying the sacrifice beyond the mosque. How many states are paying the current minimum wage of thirty thousand Naira. Besides, the argument can be made that acceding to Labour’s demand will not only fuel inflation but that it will lead to the mass sack of workers in both the public and the private sectors.
In conclusion, the Federal Government should realise that, indeed, the people are hungry! It should persuade the governors and the organised private sector to agree to a minimum wage of a hundred thousand.
Beyond that, the government should fast track its implementation of the importation and production of the CNG buses; ensure that local refineries are working so that we can stop the shameful importation of refined fuel and thus bring down drastically the pump price of petrol.
And finally, can the Federal Government do something about the value of the Naira.
These measures, will no doubt have a significant effect on the suffocating cost of living.
– Gbemiga Ogunleye is a lawyer, journalist and former Rector NIJ, Lagos.