The International Workers Day is here, once again, today, Sunday, May 1.  Rallies will be held nationwide to commemorate the day. Just like in the past years, Nigerian workers will be praised to high heavens by government at the local, state and federal levels for their contributions to nation building and development. In their usual manner, political leaders will, once again, reel out empty promises to cajole the workers into thinking that their inputs and efforts over the years are being appreciated.
But beyond the empty promises and tissues of lies that have continued to be their hallmarks year-in year-out is the insincerity behind those promises, which has made most of them quite undeliverable over the years. Despite all the lies that are being churned out to the workers every May Day, the fact remains that Nigerian workers have become a bastion of hope and strong pillar of support to democratic Nigeria, though the expected dividends of democracy are not trickling down to the workers the way it should have been.
Over the years, Nigerian workers have been battered, harassed and deprived of their entitlements by the political elite who have suddenly turned themselves into slave-drivers and tin-gods  in a civil service system that has unfortunately become that of a master-servant relationship. Just like the entire country that is enmeshed in corruption even in high places, the civil service has lost its glamour as workers are now being treated with disdain.
State governors and ministers have become so arrogant that they feel they can get away with anything. Many civil servants are being owed several months’ salaries with the governors not showing any remorse. In the private sector, workers are sacked at will, while others are threatened with a sack for demanding their rights.
For the most part of the tenure of the Muhammadu Buhari Administration, one could hardly find a section of the civil service that is not distressed as strikes and industrial actions have become not only the order of the day, but also instruments of settling disputes between workers and the government. From the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the gloom is becoming more obvious, as the ongoing strike by the Academic Union of Universities (ASUU) has further exposed the insensitivity of the government to the plight of workers.
It is sad to note that a government that could not fulfill its basic obligations to the workers is being controlled by a political party that is currently  throwing up its presidential nomination ticket to the highest bidder for as much as N100 million. In the states, only a few have been able to pay workers the minimum wage, which,  in actual fact, cannot even meet the needs of the average worker as inflation has eaten deep into their take-home pay.
The average Nigerian worker is being dehumanised to the extent that suicide rate in the country is now on the ascendancy, with many also retiring into penury with their pension and other entitlements not forthcoming even many years after serving their fatherland.
While we commend the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for its role in putting some checks to the excesses of government like they did in Kaduna State, we want to encourage them to continue to rise in support of the Nigerian workers at all levels, especially in these desperate times.  The labour union also has a role to play in challenging the workers to use their strength to get what they want from the government.
Since this year’s May Day is very strategic, as it is going to be the last before the 2023 general election, the labour unions should not allow themselves to be fooled again by the deceit and lies of a government that has so far failed the integrity test of trust and sincerity. The efforts of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in leading the vanguard of mobilising the Nigerian workers to get ready for the general elections by getting their voter cards ready is highly commendable just as the planned intervention of the NLC in the Federal Government – ASUU brouhaha is a good way forward.
We believe that there is no better time to give the Nigerian workers what they really deserve than now. The workers must use the power in their possession to demand a better deal from the government. The narrative whereby the government always bullies workers at will and threatens them for demanding their rights must stop. Government – labour relations should be complementary and should not be that of a master-servant relationship as being witnessed presently in Nigeria.
