he Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on workers and Nigerians across the federation to resist all the tactics used by political elites to sow the discord and division among the citizens.
NLC pointed out that the recent events happening in the country among the political elites is enough evidence for Nigerians to gear themselves and reject the ethnic and religious line divisions being sold to citizens.
“We have realized the fact that they have used different approaches to divide Nigerians. Unfortunately for them, NLC is a pan-Nigerian organization that cannot be divided. Workers and Nigerians at large should not allow themselves to be divided along ethnic or religious lines. This is just a diversion of interest. Their division tool is happening now, workers should be wiser, citizens should be wiser. We should work assiduously to unite and save Nigeria and not to divide Nigeria and Nigerians.”
Delivering his opening speech at the NLC 18th Rain School in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, who is also the President of International Trade Unions Confederation (ITUC), stressed how important it is for workers and the entire Nigeria population to educate themselves and their mind to knowing their rights and the truth to enable the pursuit of Nigeria’s unity and development.
The NLC president went on to stress the efforts of the labour centres to educate their members. “We are prioritising the education of our rank and file, particularly the working class. This is so important because we are in a time and period where either falsehood and misconstrued information are the order of the day, particularly with social media.
“Therefore, we need to have our members not only well educated, but they should be grounded on contemporary issues of developments. And that is why these schools have been run successfully for more than two decades now. And it is hoped that they will continue to improve from one level of school to another.
“The theme of this year’s Rain School is very apt. I think it captures the mood of the moment – labour, politics, national development, and social justice in Nigeria. This captures essentially the mood of the moment, because whether we like it or not, politics as well known and its activities are associated with governance.
“Our country is now in the midst of political activities and a lot of attention is being diverted from the core issues that ought to drive development, issues confronting the working class, issues confronting the larger polity.
“The Nigerian ruling elites have survived primarily by dividing us the working class on the basis of many primordial interests, of recent, on the basis of tribe or religion. But I am happy that the labour movement and NLC is one pan-Nigerian organisation that has remained very united and has continued to unite Nigerians.
“So we should not fall prey to some of those divide tactics, they are deliberate. Even the security challenges we are facing today, I can assure you that it is a creation of the political elites. Before 1999, we never heard of terrorism, we never heard of kidnapping, we only read in books, but today is the order. A creation by the political elites, therefore, it will take a political decision to also correct some of those abnormalities created by the political elites.
“They will try to divide us the more, they will try to sow the seed of ethics and religious division among workers and citizens the more. But a people that are united can never be divided. We are a pan-Nigerian organization and we cannot be divided along ethnic and religious lines. We will unite the country, we will give direction. We are going to hold town hall meetings. In other climes, we would have been discussing the economy because the economy of Nigeria whether we like it or not is at the verge of collapsing.”
