Deputy President, Trade Union Congress, Tommy Etim, shares his thoughts with CHUKWUDI AKASIKE on the suspended labour strike, cost of governance, among other issues

Workers went on strike as a result of the attack on the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero. Do you think embarking on the nationwide strike was justified?

Yes, the nationwide strike as a result of the brutality against the NLC president was justified, no matter the angle anybody wants to look at it. We should not look at Ajaero as a person, but we should look at him as a symbol of a structure, and that structure is internationally recognised because he is a representative of the organised labour that is structured in line with the International Labour Organisation and international labour diplomacy.

What is more painful is that Nigeria chairs the governing body of ILO against human rights abuses, and the abuse of the National President of the NLC president happened. So, the question is, what moral justification does Nigeria, as the chairman of the governing body, has to prevail on the comity of nations to uphold fair labour practice and human dignity? So, the national strike was justified.

But some have argued that since the incident happened in Imo State, it would have been a state-wide strike and not a nationwide strike. What is your view on this?

They are entitled to their opinion. It depends on the perspective from which they see it. I have been able to analyse the justification. For instance, if the governor of any state goes to another state and is brutalised, it can result in a national war because there is no state in the country where you will not have individuals from the state where the governor comes from. That can even lead to a reprisal. I think we must leave sentiments and look at the issue objectively. We are talking about the structure; a structure that is not just known in Nigeria, a structure that has international backing. That was why when the incident happened to the NLC president, there was serious condemnation of the attack on him from all labour organisations from over 128 countries who are members of the ILO.

It goes to show that the sentiment that it should be a state-wide strike because it happened in a state should not come in at all because labour as an institution is not a state matter. Remember that the person involved is a labour president and not a state chairman of labour. So, the paraphernalia of his office is not limited to any state, and he should be respected nationwide.

Those behind the attack on the NLC president have been arrested. What do you suggest should be done to them?

They have to be prosecuted because this is a case of man’s inhumanity to man. It is a case of attempted murder. If not for the intervention of the National Security Adviser (Nuhu Ribadu), Joe (Ajaero) wouldn’t have lived to tell the story. Remember that he (Ajaero) said it was even the police that said he should say his last prayer. So, that is how serious the offence is. They should be prosecuted so that it will serve as a deterrent. If organised labour had kept quiet, that would have been the end of the strength of trade unionism in Nigeria because other states would have copied it and used that as precedence. But today, the signal was sent that ‘Don’t look at Ajaero, look at his structure’. And what are you focusing on? It is the labour movement in the country.

The TUC and NLC said they called off the strike after the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, intervened in the matter. What role did the NSA play in the matter?

I am talking from a well-informed background, and I am very knowledgeable about the role he (the NSA) played. He was the only person in the security circle that responded to the call by the General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress that led to the rescue of the labour president. The Inspector General of Police was called, but he didn’t pick up; the Director of DSS was called, but he didn’t pick up. The NSA wrote to us and apologised on behalf of the Federal Government. He (Ribadu) is a man of his word, and his integrity cannot be questioned. He also told us that those behind the crime had been arrested and that the Imo State Commissioner of Police was transferred because of the matter, and that those involved are going to be arrested and prosecuted.

He appealed to us to call off the strike. Don’t also forget that because the NSA intervened, you now see the National Assembly waking up and saying they were going to invite the union leaders. Where were they when the Congress president was brutalised? None of them in the House even condemned the act. They are not there only to make other laws; they are there to also make laws that will protect the lives and property of the citizens. There was no condemnation of the act of brutality because they were looking at Joe Ajaero as a person; they did not look at the trade union movement, and what would be the aftermath. What would be the effect of the trade union movement in Nigeria? And of course, the masses rely only on the trade unions. Thank God for the new government; we cannot be bought over. We looked at all the indices and the role he (NSA) played, and NEC (National Executive Council) resolved that the strike should be suspended.

Some have also argued that labour should not have embarked on the strike in the first place because it would have prevented the Federal Government from achieving its yearly revenue and that the strike was not in the best interest of Nigerians. How will you react to this?

It is laughable. Even without a strike, has the yearly revenue been achieved? Has the government ever told you that they have money? The government has the habit of borrowing, but borrowing to do what? Is it borrowing for productivity, for manufacturing, or for funfair, or borrowing to embark on what they call conditional cash transfer? How will you borrow money and begin to give it to people as a gift? That is economic waste? They now say that is a condition given by the World Bank.

I have said it in different media chat and for a that the dependence on the advice from the World Bank has kept Nigeria where it is today. Remember that in 1985, during the Ibrahim Babangida administration when the naira and dollar were of the same strength, but IMF came and introduced what they called the Structural Adjustment Programme, and the anchor of SAP was for us to devalue our currency. Then the Central Bank came up with what was called Open Market Operation where we had a multi-dimensional, parallel market. That was the beginning of Nigeria’s problem.

So, I don’t believe that it is the strike that weakens the country. That is why we have always said that the government should do the needful because if you look at the amount of manpower loss vis-à-vis the fiscal consequences, you now know that a strike is not an option for any employer of labour. However, the ILO has agreed that strikes are the right of the workers. In the last meeting, the Nigerian Minister was there, and that was what was agreed through voting. If this is our right, I think the government needs to embrace collective bargaining and social dialogue and put it on the front burner, and not renege on any agreement it has willfully entered with labour.

There are still some outstanding issues between organised labour and the Federal Government. How does the TUC want this to be addressed?

Issues must always be outstanding with the government otherwise, there is no government. The moment you tackle all the issues, there is no government. So, the government must always have issues to deal with. And if there is no issue, there will be no dialogue, and if there is no communication, everybody becomes a robot automatically. We believe that it is time for the government to follow up on all the outstanding issues and see that they are implemented. Where they know that they cannot meet up with the implementation timeframe, there is nothing stopping them from calling organised labour again, and we look at it and see how to adjust.

It Is better for us to dialogue than to go on a protest. I think the government must be mindful of this. No sane union leader wants to go on strike because it is very expensive to mobilise; it is also very expensive to demobilise. When you take all these into consideration, you have to put on a different thinking cap and get the strategies to execute a strike. It is not a tea party.

Are you saying labour may embark on another strike if the issues are not addressed?

We suspended our strike, and when you suspend a strike, it means that it can resume anytime. My advice is that the government should walk its talk. Things are very difficult; the masses cannot feed. Except you are not from the African continent where you are your brother’s keeper, do you know that a breadwinner in a family is a poor man? This is because whatever he earns, he distributes to members of his family, and in the end, he will become poor. He will even be abused if he does not provide for the family; his family may abuse him for being in a position and can’t provide for them. So, the rich need protection from the poor. The poor need protection from the rich and that is our concern.

How will you describe the palliatives being distributed by the Federal Government to government workers and vulnerable Nigerians?

We have our monitoring team; we are also collating reports from the field because we are everywhere. At the appropriate time, we will make a statement to that effect.

Some state governors have done little or nothing in the area of palliatives to state civil servants. What have the TUC and NLC done to ensure the state governors do the right thing?

If I am here in Abuja, I need to get information from my fieldmen to be able to speak objectively and authoritatively. We are not going to rely on what we get from the media because it could be subjective, but the reports from our states will determine the position of Congress on the matter.

But we have situations at the state level where we have parallel NLC leadership and parallel TUC leadership because some of them may have compromised and abandoned the organised labour’s objectives. How do you intend to address this issue and ensure that workers are protected?

It Is unfortunate that even those who are tempted to form parallel leadership do not understand the principle of solidarity. It is expected that an injury for one is an injury for all. Today, it could be Ajaero, tomorrow, it could be another person. But I can tell you for free that when we are united as organised labour, no power can overcome us. A united people can never be defeated. Our people should have this at the back of their minds and shun any governor using them for whatever reason. I can tell you that sometimes, the governor may use it to benefit them (labour leaders) and tomorrow, it may be the other way around. But my advice is that they should not set the wrong precedence.

How will you react to the claim in some quarters that labour leaders are members of the Labour Party, and that anything they say that is perceived to be anti-government is seen from the point of view of the Labour Party?

It is a very wrong notion. There is what we call political tolerance. Does everybody belong to the Labour Party? Does every worker belong to the Labour Party? Yes, it is our instrumentality of authority and the name that was used, but what is wrong if the workers belong to the Labour Party? Is it not about ownership? If there is no political tolerance, then why are we practising democracy?

There must be that competitiveness. Your strategy to sell your product is what matters, and if you know this, you have done well, because a good product needs no advertisement. But when people abandon the ethos of political leadership and begin to attack personality, they miss the point. In the definition of politics by Niccolo Machiavelli, he said, ‘Politics is a constant struggle for power; the end justifies the means’. So, being in a political party is not the end itself, it is a means to an end. The political party is just a platform.

Which areas do you think the federal and state governments should address to impact the lives of Nigerians, especially with the increased federal allocations at their disposal?

They should encourage manufacturing, production, and export. That is all. Anything other than that is a mismanagement of whatever has happened.

Do you think the purchase of SUVs for lawmakers and other issues concerning frivolous spending can be justified at a time when the country is going through an economic downturn?

That is a primitive accumulation of wealth. Most politicians are coming from a wealthy background. Poor people don’t contest elections. It is when you know that you have that you want to show your energy to lead. If the government doesn’t realise that and stop wasteful spending, it, therefore, means Nigeria will continue to suffer a leadership crisis. It is unfortunate that anybody will be in the National Assembly to make money.

Let me also add that the masses are the cause of what is happening. Expectations from the people can push politicians. Anyone who visits these lawmakers in their communities is not going there to give them ideas on how to lead well, they are going there to collect money. This generation is what I call the ‘Take-take generation’.

What does that mean?

They only come to take from you; it is a generation that is known for taking and not ready to give. When they go to meet their legislators, they go to take rather than contribute ideas. It is either they invite the lawmaker to attend their fathers’ burials or other ceremonies. For instance, the expectations from the masses from their lawmakers in this festive period are not about ideas; the expectations are about money.

Don’t you think poverty is behind this?

No, it is not the poor masses that are involved in collecting money from the legislators and other political office holders. The rich are the people involved. The rich use the poor to get to power, and when they get there, they remove the ladder. So, now, it is even the rich that have developed the strategy for the rich to continually impoverish the poor so that those in the National Assembly or any other political office will always remain there. That is what is happening, and that is why I have advocated a single term for legislators, and it should be on a part-time basis. How many times do they sit in four years? They sit and collect humongous sums of money as gratuities, but a civil servant works for 35 years and goes home in penury. It is sad.

By April 2024, a new minimum wage is expected to be announced. What is your message to the federal and state governments on the amount that must be paid to workers after April next year?

Any minimum wage paid without considering education, transportation, accommodation, and health; I say this because I’m involved. If you collect N200,000 as minimum wage, and you are paying your children’s school fees, you are paying high transportation, you are paying rent, and you are paying medical bills that are not covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme, you are going to square one, and it will be a recipe for corruption.

This is because inflation has eaten so deep that today if going by what we are looking at, for you to survive, it will take the grace of God. So, the government should be concerned about servicing these structures. I laugh when they talk about student loans. You talk about student loans but set conditions that will rubbish your good intentions. If the parents of these students have such money, will they come for loans?

You borrow money which you say you are giving to the poorest of the poor. Why don’t you borrow money to fund education? Why don’t you borrow money to fund transportation? Why don’t borrow money to fund housing? Why don’t you borrow money for health? Why don’t you borrow money and go into manufacturing?

Today, Japan has capitalized on its population to turn its economy around. Japanese leaders believe in building individuals to understand their products in order to market their products. That helped Japan to develop into one of the Asian Tigers. People go to study how they (the Japanese) came out of the World War and developed so fast. The Nigerian government must be conscious of cutting down the cost of governance, and we, organised labour, should no longer negotiate minimum wage after five years. It must be negotiated every year.

Why do you say so?

It is because the minimum wage is not up to $30.

Considering the current rate of inflation in the country, how much do you think should be the minimum wage?

No amount Is too big for the Nigerian worker, but what is fundamental is not even the amount; it is putting the structures in place so that whatever you earn will be effective and you will now have what is called economic power. You can take home N500,000 minimum wage today, it will not add up where you will be paying rent of N4m a year, pay N3m as school fees for your children, and spend over N500,000 on medical bills. Automatically, whatever the government gives to you without putting down the structures that can stabilise the relevant sectors, it will mean nothing.

The off-cycle elections in three states have ignited an unending debate among stakeholders. Most of these stakeholders are of the view that there should be an amendment to the Electoral Act to ensure that the judiciary dispenses justice on all election cases before inauguration. What is your take on this?

That is what it should be. When you allow someone to occupy an office, sometimes, it may be difficult for the person to be pulled out of the office. The person, if removed, will still bear the name, former governor, or senator. No, this should not be so. Let the person not be sworn in when all the election matters are over in the court. I think that is the best way to go.

In September, the TUC announced that it was backing out of a strike called by the NLC. This indicated that the two unions at that time disagreed on an issue. What actually went wrong?

In the spirit of comradeship, both centres realised that they were stronger together. It would have been counter-productive if that did not take place because of the recent development. When you have two mature people who think alike, things go well. But it was also good that it (disagreement) happened so that we can know the strength of the two centres. But I can tell you for free that there is a strong harmonisation; the harmony has taken place, and I don’t think that we can go back to the days of old again.

The price of petrol has gone beyond N600 per litre in some areas. How does labour intend to negotiate with the Federal Government to ensure price control on all essential goods?

If you embrace price control, you will create a window for hoarding because the naira is weak, and all the fiscal interplay is dollar-driven. If it is dollar-driven, what have you done to earn this foreign exchange? Somebody will use dollars to import goods, and the government will now come to control or fix the price…there was a time when we had what was called the Price Control Board. Did it work?

People leveraged that and went into hoarding of goods and services, and people were paying more behind the scenes because they needed the goods and services, especially those that were very important. Even if our refineries work today, a lot of the components are imported, and when you import, you are using foreign exchange, we will still not have the prices of petroleum products come down the way we are looking at it. (Sunday PUNCH)

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