The strike called by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 to protest the steep hike of the pump price of premium motor spirits (PMS) by the Federal Government has gone down as one of the least successful in recent years. Labour leaders protested for three days and had to call off the strike when it was obvious that the maority of Nigerians were not part of it.
Indeed, the Federal Government became so cocky about the flop that it declared it would no longer talk with Labour unless they called off the strike. Rather than Labour forcing the Federal Government to accede to its demands,labour leaders were actually forced to concede to the Government’s demand.
The strike was doomed from the start for several reasons. Labour was deeply factionalised. The Comrade Ayuba Wabba faction, which is generally regarded as the “mainstream”, went into the strike without the Comrade Joe Ajaero group. Not only that; the oil workers’ unions (NUPENG and PENGASSAN) and transport sector stakeholders did not join.
Second, most Nigerians were not keen on the strike because the N86.50 official pump price of petrol was effective only in the Abuja and Lagos areas. People had gotten used to paying more than double that price in most parts of the country, they felt that the strike was quite pointless.
Third, apart from the fact that most Nigerians knew there was no money to continue funding subsidies, there was also no political platform interested in sponsoring the kind of “Occupy Nigeria” protests which contributed to the abortion of the attempt by the formerPresident Goodluck Jonathan regime to deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry four years ago. We must, therefore, point out that the failure of the strike was not because of the “popularity” or otherwise of the President Muhammadu Buhari administ-ration.
There was absolutely no political reason behind it. The NLC and the entire labour movement must learn from this experience. There is no substitute for a unified front in any struggle. A divided house will always be exploited by the authorities to truncate mass actions. Labour must also feel the pulse of the populace before attempting to drag them into strikes.
But beyond the strike flop, we still salute the efforts of the Ayuba Wabba NLC for letting the Federal Government feel the displeasure of the people, given the role some leaders of the ruling party played in aborting deregulation four years ago. It would have been a sad day if the Federal Government took this unilateral action without a single voice raised in protest. Labour must mend its home front to continue to be the veritable vanguard for the common people.
Indeed, the Federal Government became so cocky about the flop that it declared it would no longer talk with Labour unless they called off the strike. Rather than Labour forcing the Federal Government to accede to its demands,labour leaders were actually forced to concede to the Government’s demand.
The strike was doomed from the start for several reasons. Labour was deeply factionalised. The Comrade Ayuba Wabba faction, which is generally regarded as the “mainstream”, went into the strike without the Comrade Joe Ajaero group. Not only that; the oil workers’ unions (NUPENG and PENGASSAN) and transport sector stakeholders did not join.
Second, most Nigerians were not keen on the strike because the N86.50 official pump price of petrol was effective only in the Abuja and Lagos areas. People had gotten used to paying more than double that price in most parts of the country, they felt that the strike was quite pointless.
Third, apart from the fact that most Nigerians knew there was no money to continue funding subsidies, there was also no political platform interested in sponsoring the kind of “Occupy Nigeria” protests which contributed to the abortion of the attempt by the formerPresident Goodluck Jonathan regime to deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry four years ago. We must, therefore, point out that the failure of the strike was not because of the “popularity” or otherwise of the President Muhammadu Buhari administ-ration.
There was absolutely no political reason behind it. The NLC and the entire labour movement must learn from this experience. There is no substitute for a unified front in any struggle. A divided house will always be exploited by the authorities to truncate mass actions. Labour must also feel the pulse of the populace before attempting to drag them into strikes.
But beyond the strike flop, we still salute the efforts of the Ayuba Wabba NLC for letting the Federal Government feel the displeasure of the people, given the role some leaders of the ruling party played in aborting deregulation four years ago. It would have been a sad day if the Federal Government took this unilateral action without a single voice raised in protest. Labour must mend its home front to continue to be the veritable vanguard for the common people.
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