The Nigerian Worker

The Nigerian Worker, Lamentations And Third Term

Prince Charles Dickson

Jos, Plateau Nigeria

Three square meal is a luxury in Nigeria today, a good shelter over one's head with adequate facilities has become extinct, education is a four year course called illiteracy, when the popular musician Abdulkarim Idris sang 'Nigeria Jaga- jaga', the President did not find it funny. As we marked workers' day, a lot of speeches were read, hands were clapped, and people marched past some executives and pretended that all is well. Some Governors took the opportunity to announce some paltry increase in salaries while on their part; expectedly the workers decried the third term wayo in strong terms.

The Nigerian worker today lives his life on remuneration that is referred to as 'survival wages' and we get statistics from the relevant authorities telling us that there is serious improvement. Yes, people in the civil services have bought more cars, but without fuel to run them so that is improvement.

Education has become a luxury that is available only to the high income thieves in government -high income is just a phrase that only exists to the thieves in Government and besides nobody really earns high legally in Nigerian; it's more like a question of who steals higher. The state of the Nigerian worker today has necessitated several magic acts to the point files appear and disappear depending on the price involved.

A visit to the Federal Secretariat in any State, you will see corruption walking side by parapoism, ethnic and tribal sentiments. Who cares, workers pacing from one office to the other doing nothing with idiotic efficacy and ineffiency.

Most offices despite all the best intentions of the government, whether servicom or public complaints boxes. The average government office remains one of 'busy doing nothing. Staffs go from office to office displaying their goods from GSM recharge cards to clothing materials which are sold on credit, so the busiest periods is when salaries are to be paid for jobs either not done or not well done because everyone has to pay debts.

The civil service still operates a bureaucratic system of Adam Smith that would make Lord Lugard feel young again. The Nigerian worker tries to be productive with a foundation of underdevelopment. The amount of sweat that the Nigeria worker puts in is abused by the same unequal wealth that he sees the elite squander on frivolities. So its not really how hard you work but who you know and how 'smart' you are, not forgetting there is the Nigerian SMARTNESS. It is sad that the Nigerian worker is suffering government induced unemployment because of a so-called and very artificial downsizing or is it right sizing.

In one phrase my introductory paragraph should have been a general falling standard of living. Factories are laying off workers in the cotton/textile sector, the confectionery industries is not left out because the economy and policies cannot sustain these businesses so the workers bear the free fall of the system. Retrenchment, redundancy has escorted several people to a journey without peaceful rest and all we here is third term An average Newspaper in a day has statistic of a billion Naira expended by government. In most cases a breakdown shows that half of that figure is in 'promissory' notes (never to be fulfilled promises of the government), those promises are never fulfilled because the top class of the society disappear with the promise, the other half is meant to cater for the top elites, the money is approved and into their pockets it goes, so they will always need bullet proof cars, bullet proof vests and speak bullet proof grammar when dealing with the Nigeria worker. Let's look at the Senate - can someone tell me, one people oriented legislation or peoples backed decision that they have taken. None, instead they have played their part in destroying the labour congress and movement. No one cares about the plight of the Nigerian worker that uses a toothbrush for eight months, even without paste, he adds salt and keeps using, even when there is nothing to brush, he tries to keep out mouth odour as a result of an empty stomach. While the Nigerian worker treks to the office, some members of the society like my friend Mr. Fayose buys an aircraft sighting the need to work properly as why he had to buy one. Will Nigeria ever witness a revolution, is there hope for this nation. with my head shaking it is hopefully bleak.

If Ken Nnamani is not buying a 40 million Naira car, then Mantua has bought one for N30 million Naira, or the whole Senators will get 109 cars for doing NOTHING! It is sad that today even as the Nigerian worker laments his plight, his umbrella body is at its lowest ebb, caring less and wishing the problem of today away. How possible is it for the Nigerian Worker to redeem his image and for once let his voice be that of God, let him for once have the benefit of a government that will listen to him, listen to the yearning of the masses. Provide the basics of life, a leadership that is people oriented with a masses philosophy, not the present rogues in red cap, military boots, agbada, shokoto and a walking stick that address themselves as leaders.

Ghana has celebrated two years of strike free work environment and added three years of uninterrupted power supply, yet as I write this the Academic Staff Union of Universities have just finished a warning strike. And the government keeps deceiving itself that it is working. NEEDS, SEEDS LEEDS, PAP, NAPEP are all but meaningless alphabets and palliatives, the only people whose pockets are palliated are those that are politically correct and dancing the reform symphony as composed by Obasanjo's PDP. Now we resort to Ghana for education, Thailand for Rice, Anywhere and everywhere for power energy, even now after the British French and Dutch have finished with the oil, the Chinese are making in-roads with the help of oil thieves in government and no one cares for the Nigerian Worker, its all about third term and life presidency in the name of extra time, which if the President's men are reading they better tell their boss that such extra time leads to sudden death.and this may not be different.

Let me ask what really has improved since the last May Day celebrations, comrades have sacrificed their lives, we have continued to pay more for fuel a commodity that we have in quantum. Living everyday with power failure, insecurity and hunger has become a rule not an exception. Workers are in some cases owed 18 months salaries and we talk of re-orientation, creating new values, do we not simply see that it is tragic for an eagle not to fly, our problem, the problem of the Nigerian worker today is not third term solvable.

This is one of the saddest moments in the nation's history, the nation has earned so much but so little to show for it, even the so-called salary increment that the government prides itself as giving is a shame, the money has lost its value, so much so that the 20 naira which a policeman shoots citizens for is barely 15 cents in God's own country, America. Most of the nation's labour leaders have reverted or resorted to a life of double speak preferring to join the crooked elites as they cannot beat them.

In the last two years whether justifiable or not the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) has continued to demolish home and businesses of Nigerians from Karmo, Kado to Lugbe, it has continued in Kubwa, where some 400 houses was demolished. The House of Representatives passed a resolution ordering an end to the demolitions, the Abuja high court also issued an injunction on the FCT Minister to stop further demolition, the short pepper El-Rufai continued. In Chika alone 1,500 houses where bulldozed leaving an estimated 10 thousand homeless, yet no alternatives were made available and as the case always is, no pro third term or government apologist was affected directly by the rampaging Miango pepper called El-Rufai.

If there is anything good about Nigerians, the worker and the third term, it has shown that Nigerians irrespective of tribe, creed and religion can come together as one to support a cause or equally fight a just war, it also proves that the generality of Nigerians can be counted upon to provide support for the right leadership, when and if we get such This is just a about a tip of the iceberg, is there hope for the ordinary worker in Nigeria, is this what we voted for, especially those who did actually vote, is there change in the horizon, would we sit and see the continuous suffering of the plenty and the stupendous display of affluence by few.May Allah's mercies be upon us.