By WALE OJO-LANR, Esq.

Of all the issues tormenting the Nigerian worker — the unpaid salaries, the pension arrears, the rising inflation, the exploitative workplace policies, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) suddenly finds its voice not in defence of workers, but in defence of a suspended senator?

Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is not a member of the NLC. She is not a civil servant, neither is she a teacher, nor a nurse, nor one of the countless underpaid workers groaning under Nigeria’s economic burden. She is a politician — a political product who rode on the crest of partisanship into the Senate. If the Senate chooses to suspend her or lift her suspension, it is a political matter, not a labour matter. Yet, the NLC leadership, instead of facing its mandate, is threatening mass protest. On what basis?

This is the same NLC that goes mute when governors toy with workers’ welfare. The same NLC that has perfected the art of sleeping with politicians at night and pretending to fight for workers by day. The same NLC whose leadership has turned its once formidable voice into a bargaining chip for crumbs from the political table. And now, like hired megaphones, they want to shut down the country because of Natasha!

One wonders: where was this fire when minimum wage negotiations dragged endlessly? Where was this fury when fuel subsidy removal crushed millions of workers? Where was this energy when electricity tariffs and food prices shot beyond workers’ reach? But now, over a senator who has nothing to do with workers’ welfare, the NLC wants to play the lion!

Shameless NLC! Instead of carrying placards to the Senate for Natasha, they should carry their conscience to the mirror. Instead of organising protests for a politician, they should organise courage to face the real issues of workers’ exploitation. If the leadership of the NLC cannot distinguish between labour struggle and political sycophancy, then they have no moral right to speak for the Nigerian worker.

A labour movement that abandons workers to chase after politicians has sold its soul cheap. And no amount of shouting will cover the stench of that betrayal.

•Lanre-Ojo Esq is a Lagos-based Public Interest Analyst.

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