NLC: Workers, Youth Determined to Change Nigeria for Better
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said the reason workers and youths are participating in the ongoing electioneering process is to fix the country’s politics in such a way that it would, “deliver the Nigeria of
our dream.”
In a goodwill message to workers to mark Nigeria’s 62nd Independent Anniversary, signed by NLC President, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, the congress said the working people of Nigeria have refused to give up on their dreams for a better and greater country despite the challenges they were facing.
The NLC said it was this same reason, “that most of our talented and dedicated workers have refused to leave the country despite the allures of better pay and living conditions abroad.”
It further stated that it was the dream of better Nigeria that has kept many of, “our health workers in Nigeria despite the fact that their counterparts earn a fortune.”
Also it stated that many, “of our lecturers and other university workers whose services are highly sought after outside the shores of our country have remained in the country despite several disappointments from the system.
“School teachers, our pilots, our farmers, our traders, our artisans, our engineers, our surveyors, our lawyers, our civil servants, our armed services personnel.
“We can say the same for our resilient youth who have refused to join the outbound caravan in search of greener pastures. Instead of leaving, our young people have taken seriously the dream of a greater country.
“This is the reason they have dared fear in this season of political contestation. They are asking the right questions. They are making effective demands.
“They have taken their own destiny. They said they are not giving or accepting ‘shishii.’ They say they are marching the path trod by our heroes past who delivered the Independence we are celebrating today. Nigerian youths have led the way in showing us that the politics that will deliver the Nigeria of our dream is the type that must transcend religious and ethnic bias,” it said.
NLC said part of the desire of Nigerians was to have a country where there are actual and affordable public services and infrastructure including well maintained roads with decent drainages, potable public water supply, and a clean environment.
The labour movement further said that Nigerians are yearning for a country where public transport works and where there is zero tolerance for out-of-school children and where no mother needs to die trying to give life.
“The Nigeria of our dream is a Nigeria where university students will not stay at home for seven months simply because elected public officials prefer to send their kids abroad and forget the kids of workers and the poor at home.
“Despite the mounting challenges, we do not only celebrate epochal moments such as the political Independence of our country in light of present afflictions but in reminisce of the giant footprints of our forebears, heroes of our liberation from colonial rule and great men and women particularly workers whose sweat and blood provided us a basis for a dream of a great Nigeria – a dream that will never die.
“Dear Nigerian workers and compatriots, it is to this dream that we must address our minds on an occasion as the celebration of our 62nd national independence.
“The truth is that however dark the night is,
the day will surely break. The organised labour has no doubt that Nigeria’s daybreak is just ahead of us. We say so because the dream of a great Nigeria which is beating heavily on our chest will never die,” it added.
