WE NEED A COMMON PLATFORM FOR GENUINE DEVELOPMENT

IN 2010

                                         Being a New Year message from the Nigeria Labour Congress

On behalf of the National Executive Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress, we salute all Nigerians for our ability to collectively survive the political, economic, religious and social turbulence of the past one year. We hope that the next twelve months would be transformed into months of prosperity, national rebirth, political renewal and cohesiveness.

We particularly recognize with great sense of responsibility the sacrifices and services made by workers under very traumatic and unstable conditions up to this very moment of our existence as a nation. We are also very conscious of the very precarious economic, social and political situation as we enter the New Year due to a variety of demanding challenges facing our nation.

These challenges make 2010 a very special one to workers and the masses to form a common platform that would promote genuine development through effective democracy and good governance.

Undoubtedly, there are inbuilt weaknesses in our current democratic structures and institutions. Our political elites in both the executive and legislative arms of government have in the departing year failed to conclusively put the interest and welfare of the mass of Nigerian people above their narrow interests as politicians. The executive arm of government in all three tiers of governance has largely failed to impact positively on the lives of majority of our populace. A striking example of this has been the remarkable failure of budget implementation year in, year out. The last twelve months have been no exception.

At the federal level, the current administration's insistence that unspent monies be returned to the treasury by MDAs in the last couple of years has exposed a problem seldom commented upon: that is, that many of our ministries, departments and agencies are ill-equipped to implement yearly allocations or follow prudent financial management systems. If our budget implementation process must improve, then the Federal Ministry of Finance must systematically organise a vigorous re-orientation programme for the MDAs.

At the state levels, with the exception of a very few states (Lagos and a couple of others), the situation is perhaps worse; not to mention the local governments.

At the legislative level, 2009 also witnessed embarrassing display of egocentrism by the two houses of the National Assembly to the detriment of national development aspirations – the fiasco of the Joint Committee Retreat on Constitution Amendment earlier in the year, and the debacle over which chamber of the National Assembly to host the presentation of the 2010 budget proposal are two cases in point 

The reality is that the shortcomings of our 10 years of democratic governance have pointed to us that our greatest challenge remains clearly the inability of the political elite to deliver what in popular consciousness has been termed "the dividends of democracy". The challenge for us as Nigerians in 2010 is that we must become more active citizens, take our destiny in our own hands and push for a better society built on the principles of participatory democracy and good governance.

It has been on that basic concept that we have stated time and time again that the prevailing standard of living is not acceptable because it is not commensurate to the enormous wealth of our nation. We therefore urge the Federal Government to take the lead in a renewed quest to find our bearing by implementing policies that are egalitarian and emancipatory in content such as employment generation, provision of infrastructures and social policies aimed at reducing the level of poverty and deprivation in the country.

PETROLEUM PRODUCTS AND DEREGULATION

We have noted with sadness that the crisis in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry persists. The continuing products scarcity, non-functioning of our refineries, inefficiency and corruption in the regulatory agencies and almost total dependence on importation of fuel is indeed a national disgrace.

We consider this situation not only fundamentally dangerous in social and economic terms but also grave in relation to our national security. We had in the preceding year campaigned for the restoration of our four refineries and the establishment of new ones. Being the commanding height of our economy, we have continued to canvass for active and full participation of the Nigerian State in the up, middle and downstream sector of our petroleum industry.

We do not share the belief that the problems of production, supply and distribution of petroleum products which we have continued to witness is simply because the four refineries are state owned. Publically owned refineries are working very well in many parts of the world including those that don't have oil.

We must ask deep questions why these institutions are not working in this country. Many institutions - in fact our entire industrial sector; the banking sector, the textile and clothing sector, to mention just a few, are in a state of profound crisis not on account of state ownership.

As organised Labour, we will continue to defend the well-thought-out Section 2 of our Constitution which makes it mandatory for the Nigerian State to participate fully in those sectors of our economy considered as key to national development.

We call on the Federal Government to strengthen anti-corruption agencies to confront the endemic problem of corruption in the oil sector that has led to the existing unwholesomeness in that sector.

While we are conscious of the fact that total restructuring of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry is needed for effective operations, we restate our unequivocal opposition to any reform that, like in the past, will only translate to increases in the prices of petroleum products with its attendant spiral effects on the entire economy.

A challenge which all Nigerians must desire in 2010 is for government to fix once and for all the problems of the downstream of the oil industry so that we can have an end to arbitrary increases in prices, artificial or genuine scarcity of products and the sharp practices that have become endemic in the sector.

PRESIDENT YAR'ADUA'S HEALTH

We join other Nigerians to pray for the good health of President Yar'adua who is in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment. We believe that the president, like any human being is not immune to ill health. We therefore wish to use this opportunity to urge all members of the Federal Executive Council, other public officers in position of authority and institutions of government not to allow the president's ill health to distract governance.

In doing this, we urge such public officers to tow the line of the rule of law and depend the provisions of the Constitution to ensure that Nigerians and indeed, Nigeria as a corporate entity do not suffer any form of retardation as a result of the president's ill health.

RETRENCHMENT IN THE BANKING SECTOR

Congress commends the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for its bold move to sanitize and stabilize the banking sector which started in August 2009. We had argued before that the effort was commendable because it was the absence of such regulatory approaches and sanctions that led to the global financial and economic crises of 2008 and 2009. We indeed hold the CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as one of those Nigerians who has contributed the most to national awakening.

We therefore commend government for extending to the seven ailing banks bailout funds to cushion the negative effects or dangers their collapse may have on the entire banking system and ultimately the national economy.

Congress is therefore surprised that the first major exercise by the new management of the bailed out banks was the ongoing retrenchment of workers which is completely against the spirit and philosophy of government using over N700 billion of public fund to save the banks from collapse.

It is clearly unacceptable that tax payers money can be used to bail out banks whose owners criminally betrayed the trust of depositors through mindboggling scams, and after acting to safeguard public interest (inclusive of jobs); the new banks' management and boards are seeking to add insult to injury through mindless retrenchment of bank workers.

Across Europe and America, and other parts of the world, the main reasons for bailouts to banking and other institutions are to protect jobs and save the virtual roles they render to the economy. Ours cannot be different.. The government and the CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, must make it abundantly clear to the boards and management of the banks that the retrenchment route is not an option. Those who have already started must reverse them without any delay.

Any insistence on going the path of retrenchment and layoffs will lead to a harvest of industrial actions in the sector in 2010, which is not desirable for the good health of the economy. We must all work hard to head off that route!

SPECIAL COURTS TO TRY CORRUPTION CASES

In the preceding year, corruption had continued to be a huge stumbling block to our quest for national development.

The regular court system, with the singular exception of the Chief Bode George conviction, has exhibited its inability to handle hundreds of high profile corruption cases pending in various courts across the country.

We wish to restate the case made in the course of 2009 by the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs Farida Waziri, for the establishment of special courts to handle corruption cases. We believe that this will be an important step by the federal government to affirm its commitment to effectively fight corruption which had eaten deeply into the soul of our society.

NEW NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE

In view of the current economic realities and deep-seated poverty pervading the land, Congress in December 2008 felt there was the urgent need for a general wage review.

While the demand for a living national minimum wage which was part of the three reasons for our mass campaign across the nation that began in Lagos on May 13, 2009 and ended in Abuja on October 29, 2009, is yet to be achieved, we expect the realisation of our aspiration for a living minimum wage early in 2010.

The demand of Congress for a new national minimum wage of N52, 200 and general wage review in the country which is before the tripartite committee of Labour, Employers and Government cannot be faulted against the background of escalating cost of living, the wide disparity between the salaries of workers and the political office holders and the fact that the current national minimum wage is ten years old.

ELECTORAL REFORMS

The history of our intractable democratic journey has consistently been attributed to inherent flaws in our electoral system. Congress therefore believes that to attain the status of a true democracy, our electoral process must be free from all nuances of manipulation that has undermined one of the greatest democratic principles - that of freedom of the electorate to choose who governs them. This has being the undoing of our democracy since our political independence in 1960 and unquestionably the major reason why we have not developed as rapidly as we should as a nation.

Our hope of overcoming this great obstacle came when the Justice Mohammed Uwais-led Electoral Reform Committee gave us the chance to remedy the inherent deficiencies in the current electoral system with far reaching recommendations.

We have advocated and demonstrated our commitment to these recommendations during our mass protests and rallies and called on President Yar'Adua and the National Assembly to not only implement the key recommendations contained in the report of the Electoral Reform Committee but also to give it accelerated treatment so that it will not be delayed by the vagaries of politics that may follow a holistic amendment of the 1999 Constitution.

We call on the National Assembly not to betray the Nigerian people and to give us a new electoral law in 2010 based on the key recommendations of the Justice Uwais Committee Report.

THE POWER SECTOR

Since 1999 when Nigeria began a fresh democratic journey, the question of power generation and supply has occupied a dominant space in the policy articulation every year. Right from the time Obasanjo assumed leadership in 1999 to this very moment several billions of naira have been expended on the sector without commensurate output in power generation.

The energy situation in our country effectively sums up the tragic condition of a giant with clay feet. Irrespective of the genuineness of explanations offered by government spokespersons, the fact remains that we cannot attain any meaningful industrial development without a stable and efficient power supply. Industrial organisations and businesses will continue to relocate to neighbouring countries where there is guaranteed energy. Our hope is that in 2010, all hands will be on deck to translate the promises and projections of 2009 and 2010 into full realisation.

COMMITMENT TO ORGANISING AND RENEWAL

As we enter the New Year, the leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress commits itself to renew determination to carry out our main task of improvement in the living and working conditions of all workers in the country.

We will engage existing employers of labour who despite the clear provisions of the Labour Act have continued to place obstacles on the way of unionisation of their various workforces. We hope that the path of dialogue which we have chosen will yield the desired fruits. We shall however not accept responsibility if we are provoked into more militant actions to ensure that the rights and protection of union membership are extended to more workers throughout the twelve months of the New Year.

Comrade Abdulwahed I. Omar

President