*Declares his administration “rudderless, bereft of ideas, incompetent
*Says that Nigeria still exist as one entity because of ability of workers
*Commends resilience of workers, asks them to prepare for challenges ahead
By Michael Paul
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said with the 8 years tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari coming to an end, workers can rarely point to anything meaningful that was achieved by the administration.
NLC General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja while speaking with our correspondent in Abuja ahead of the Workers Day celebration described the administration and “rudderless”, “bereft of ideas” and “incompetent”
Ugboaja said, “Nothing to cheer, it will be difficult to have anything to cheer”
He however, commended Nigerian workers for their resilience, saying “That you still have a Nigeria is because of the abilities of workers.”
The NLC general secretary further said, “it is workers that have found a way to sustain schools and teach our children. It is the nurses that have found a way to provide health even when our leaders have abandoned our health institutions and moved abroad to seek their own healthcare. It is our members that have sustained the ability to move from one place to the other when all our leaders have acquired private jets. So that is our achievement.:
Asked to be specific on any policy of the government that benefited the workers, the NLC scribe said; “Except if you call the famous statement by the President at the beginning of his tenure when he wondered how governors will go to sleep when they know they owe workers’ salaries. Maybe that famous quote will be the only thing we can remember them for, because we know that that thing they call minimum wage was eroded even on arrival.”
Speaking on a specific legacy the administration would have left for workers, the NLC general secretary said, “It would have been a question of bringing Nigeria to a living wage situation not a national minimum wage that is meaningless. We would have been glad to see him leave after eight years and Nigerian working people will be operating a national living wage. And we have a situation where health and safety in our workplaces, where provisions are genuinely made for appreciating the need to have physically challenged people in the world of work and having the ability to move around like others and not seeing it as a gift but seeing it as a genuine response.
“For us it is a tough call.”
Speaking on the expectation of workers on the incoming administration, he said workers are not expecting any rosy future, adding that NLC message to workers on May Day is to prepare for the challenge ahead