Comrade Joel Odigie, is the Deputy General Secretary of the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa). In this interview with CHRISTIAN APPOLOS, highlighted the perception of the international trade union community on the recent attack on NLC President, Joe Ajaero and the implications of the attack on Nigeria.
What was the mood of the community of the international trade unions when they received the news of the attack of the NLC President?
It was indeed a sad news for us and a feeling of disappointment on the Nigerian State. First Nigeria claims to be a democracy, and under democracy civil liberties are guaranteed. In democracy, the principle of freedom of association is sacrosanct. That is why people form and join political parties of their choice. And governance requires participation on the side of government and the people, that is why the people engage the government everyday. At this juncture, I must add that you can never have a functioning democracy when you gag or use state apparatus to attack the people when they try to engage the government. So, the whole essence of being a democracy, when you match side by side what we are seeing in Nigeria, is a sad and sorry situation.
Today, it is so sad that in the community of nations, Nigeria is being seen a pusdo-democracy, a pretentious democracy that does not have what it takes to make itself seen and respected as a democracy. Nigeria is being seen as a nation where civil liberties are not guaranteed to extent that the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress with the open clear cohort of the police can be beaten, molested, brutalised and then detained under the guise of protective custody.
In eyes of the international labour community, what does this attack portend?
Nigeria currently sits as the Chair of the Governing Board of the International Labour Organisation. I must make a clear sense why this is very important. The International Labour Organisation is the only United Nations system that has what is described as tripartism, in other words; all the various and relevant actors in the world of work, that is employers, employees and governments are partners and they take decisions collectively on behalf of the organisation. The ILO is the oldest UN system, over a 100 years old. It has element of societal community inclusion. And Nigeria is privileged to sit atop of the governance of this global institution. The Chairperson of the International Labour Organisation body is Nigeria’s permanent representative to Switzerland.
What then is expected is that being the Chair of the ILO governing board, Nigeria should come with the finest of industrial relation standards. But what are we seeing, the exact opposite. It has already been noted that there is pattern of the Nigerian State using gangsterism, hooliganism, mob action to not only asphyxiate freedom of association in the country but to forcefully take over trade union organisations, all to serve political purposes.
This is an aberration! It is never done anywhere, where the police in open cohort, open partisanship with vested interests go to the National Union of Road Transport Workers and take over the leadership. We are not in those days we are told that Road Transport Union’s leadership is determined by thuggery. No, we are gone past those days, and era. Any government, any politician, any institution that still buys into that is not only living in the past but is an enemy of the State. We have gone past that era.
So with these action, how do you see the image of Nigeria being projected at the international community. Where you use guns, thugs, and the instrument of the state to forcefully take over a trade union organisation. It is not done! Talk also about the Road Transport Employers Association (RTEAN) in Lagos, where the officials hijacked an organisation of a trade union and forcefully take over and give it to cronies, who are known to be gangsters. What image is Nigeria projecting to the international community, a gangster republic, that is the image Nigeria government is showing the international community. The international community is worried.
Don’t forget that there is quite a number of countries that looks up to Nigeria. Nigeria’s illustrious history of contribution to decolonization struggle, fight against apartheid and liberation of Southern Africa are still found memories and experiences in the minds of many Africans and non-Africans, who hold Nigeria in awe, respect and reference, what are they saying today. They are shocked and confused about what is happening in Nigeria today.
The Nigeria Labour Congress is not just a respected organisation, thank God to the contribution of our last leaders. The international trade unions community holds the Nigeria Labour Congress in very high esteem, because they know that trade unions in Nigeria display every time the highest and finest standards in trade unionsm. It is on the strength of that confidence, respect and trust that the NLC was chosen to head the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), under Comrade Ayuba Wabba.
And now we have a successor to Ayuba Wabba, and the international community wakes up to the news that NLC President was beaten to stupor with help of the State apparatus, what image do you think the international trade union of the leadership community will have of such a country. That one of its highly respected organisations was treated in the most disgraceful and criminal manner. It is unacceptable and the international trade union community is saying no, they will not allow the matter to lay low. Their message to Nigeria already is that they will get to the root of the matter.
People talk about bad timing of the NLC’s outing in Owerri where the attack took place, what is your take?
A society under democracy must be a society under the rule of law, not a society under the rule of thugs. Therefore, the international trade union community will continue to speak up and demand that justice is done. We cannot allow impunity and intimidation to reign.
In the first place, what did Comrade Ajaero and NLC went to do in Imo State. We have heard the commentaries where people said Ajaero is an indigene of Imo State, Southeast Nigeria and therefore the timing he went to Imo was clearly not for industrial relations but for politics.
Comrade Ajaero went to Imo State to fight for workers’ interest. Note that there are a very clear chronology of issues in Imo State that the NLC was fighting for before the elections. Non payment of workers’ salaries, declaration of workers as ghost workers, non payment of pensions, destruction of NLC Secretarial properties, which we at the international community again see as a clear gangsterism. We in the ITUC-Africa issue a statement to that effect.
Let’s get one thing clear. If you become the governor of a State, you are a steward. It is an opportunity to serve your people for good. The governorship position is not to be used arbitrarily and aggressively against your people. No, the law does not permit you to do that. It is not even a privilege of the office to do that.
So here in the international trade unions community, we are even proud that the NLC and TUC have continued to engage government and demanding justice for workers any time, any day, and anywhere. What Comrade Ajaero went to do in Imo State enjoys our complete, total support. In fact, we are shocked to hear that actions and engagements for the interest of workers have a particular time it should be done.
By the way, what is election and what it is about if not to reward those who have done well and those who have rules accordingly? To be frank, the time of politics and election is the auspicious time to go to Imo State to tell the people of Imo that this governor does not deserve to be re-elected, because he has not serve the people on XYZ.
We hear that some politicians also joined to say the timing for the protest was wrong. Let me use Edo State as an example. We went to Edo to campaign for Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as governor, why did we do that? First he is an indigene of the State and he was qualified and we believed that he could do better for the people of Edo State. What were the issues we went there to campaign, that the then State government failed workers, failed the people? What time did we go there? We went their when it was most needed and that was the time of electioneering. And we got him elected.
I am one of the persons who think that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole did well for Edo State. So for me it is scandalous that he was in the national TV talking about auspicious time for Joe Ajaero to go to Imo State because he was going there to capture power.
If you have not been serving the people well, the people should be reminded when it comes to election, that this guy does not deserve to be rewarded with another mandate, he should be punished. Because that is what the ballot box stands for. It stands for reward and sanction politically by the people.
So we in the international trade unions community find it most ingenious and gratuitous for people to say that the timing NLC went there was wrong because it was the time of election, that he is an indigene of the State, that he went there to grab power.
In fact, what will be even most saddest for Joe Ajaero is if as President of the NLC, his people are suffering and he cannot do anything about it. Of course the NLC does not banter with primordial sentiment that because he is from Imo State then he must go their for no reason. The unfortunate thing is that even those talking of auspicious time know the situation of workers in Imo State and how they are treated. So we find this idea of he went there to hijack power as most uncharitable and it should not be peddled at all.
Even the rest of the international community does not understand the statements of sentiment most reputable persons we expects more reasonable reactions from are making. In the first place, what is the business of government if not about the welfare of the people, is that not what politics is about? So we find it completely unacceptable that people will say he went there in the timing that was not appropriate.
What is the reaction of the international trade union community on this issue?
The international trade unions community sees Nigeria as a country that falling in all standards. And as people who are concerned because it is not what we celebrate, we detest the attack and the image is create for Nigeria because Nigeria represent a beacon of hope for Africa. And it owes it as a duty to its people and the continent of Africa to get it right.
So as we speak, the African trade unions are seriously concerned, worried about the situation in Nigeria, especially with how it manages industrial relations. We have beginning to see all manner of strange, uncivil, cruel practices that suppose not to be happening at all. And these thing need to be reversed because the actions of the Nigerian State is beginning to tend towards fascism.
Our response in the international trade union movement, is that Nigeria at the ITUC-Africa level has gone to what we described as Countries-at-Risk. We used to have Zimbabwe, Eswatini and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the list of countries at risk. It simply mean countries where trade unions, human and labour rights are likely to be seriously under repeated serial attack. So Nigeria has been elevated to that list.
What that means is that we will now develop a robust campaign to tackle Nigeria in that front. We will do so persistently by engaging with our trade unions; the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress as our affiliate. We will do so together through monitoring and advocacy mechanism we will put on the ground in a bid to turn the situation around, and through reporting of what happening in Nigeria to all international human and labour rights mechanisms: the African Commission on Human and Peoples Right, United Nations Human Rights Commission, the International Labour Organisation, the African Court for Human and Peoples Right.
We are not an International trade union organisation that celebrate negativity. Where we see positive outcomes, we celebrate them, when that begin to happen in Nigeria then our report will also take effect to that. Most importantly, be rest assured that this attack and other attack on trade unions in Nigeria, like the case of Tunisia and Liberia will be the start cases for the African trade union movement in the next international labour conference coming in Geneva.
So the image of Nigeria in the area of labour rights and industrial relations management is totally negative. It is seen that is the beginning of criminal industrial relationship practice in Nigeria.
What the is the call?
The call is that the rule of law must work in Nigeria. The internationally trade unions community sides completely, 110% with the demands of the NLC and TUC that all the actors who took part overtly and covertly in the action that led to the attack on NLC President and workers must be brought to justice. The role of the police, the commissioner and area commander and others must be investigated and we are completely inline with that. The demands and statement of NLC and TUC is before the international trade unions community already.
Therefore we are calling the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to take the necessary step to arrest the downward trend of industrial relation practice in Nigeria, especially of violence, thuggery and criminality. The President must call the Police to order in the case of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, and must also call the Lagos State Government to order for case of RETEAN on the seizure of the headquarters and operations. The President is the chief security officer of the entire country, we are aware he belong to the same political party with Lagos State governor.
And the Nigerian State should also revive its national social dialogue mechanism where stakeholders come together and constantly discuss issues of industrial relation. The Nigerian State need to do this as a matter of urgency. We are also demanding that all manner of compensations be rendered to Comrade Joe Ajaero and all the workers that were brutalised in the whole November 2 imbroglio in Imo State.
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