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Last Tuesday,
President Goodluck Jonathan abruptly called off his trip to Lagos to
return to Abuja for a last ditch effort to head off a strike called for
last Wednesday by leaders of Nigeria’s labour unions. The gamble by Mr
Jonathan to insert himself into the lingering labour dialogue between
government and labour leaders had mixed results. Labour leaders
permitted the strike to go ahead on Wednesday, but they later called it
off same day to announce a one-month suspension.

“We have heard the
message of Mr President. We are going to go back to our organ
(executive council). The only thing we can say to you is that the
strike is on until it is called off by the organ,” Nigeria Labour
Congress acting president, Promise Adewusi said.

The plan is that
the National Executive Council (a gathering of state governors and
federal officials) which is the body handling the negotiations, would
have the opportunity to hold its next meeting and agree to terms with
Labour to increase the minimum wage to N18,000. The congress had
initially demanded N52,000 (346 dollars) as minimum wage for workers
but after negotiations with government, the union later accepted
N18,000.

But the agreement
with Labour, when it finally comes, is not going to bring to an end the
fondness of Nigerian workers – especially public officials – to turn
their backs on work anytime there is a dispute with their employees.
There are several strikes going on at various levels across the
country, but most have to do with state employees. Public service
doctors in Lagos have been on strike for more pay since August and
there doesn’t appear to be any end to that in sight. The same is true
of university lecturers in state owned universities in the five eastern
states who have been on strike over the past three months. Despite a
meeting with state officials at the weekend, the gap between the
demands of the lecturers and their employers are still wide.

That sometimes has
national implications. The national body of university teachers, the
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and that of doctors,
Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) have both called national sympathy
strikes to draw attention to the angst of their chapters in the states.

Ayobode Williams,
the chairman of the Medical Guild in Lagos State blamed the action of
the doctors on the tin ear of government officials.

“Before the advent
of CONMESS (Consolidated Medical Salary Scale), half of the registered
under Nigeria Medical and Dental Council were working abroad, once they
graduate, they move abroad, so the idea of CONMESS is to bridge that
gap,” he said. “At least, it’s enough to give doctors a meaningful
lifestyle. Now, the federal government has been able to implement
CONMESS. So, what we are now fighting for is to prevent local brain
drain, doctors moving from Lagos State hospitals, to federal hospitals.
I can tell you that about 40% of doctors working in Lagos State have
left during this strike.” Government officials have played fast and
loose with the action of the striking workers, seeking to ‘outblink’
them, as it were. Lagos State officials, for instance claim the state
cannot afford to pay wages being demanded by the doctors. They also
say, with some justification, that if they agree to pay the doctors
what they crave, other categories of medical workers would equally
increase their demands.

Bloated government

Valentine
Obienyem, a senior aide to Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, described
the strike by the South-east lecturers as a the result of an attempt by
lecturers from other parts of the country to experiment with them
before making their own demands.

“The rest of the
country are only encouraging the south east to continue agitating so
that once they get what they are asking, they will use it as a
bargaining chip,” he said, adding that the lecturers from the south
east were inadvertently allowing themselves to be so used. “Why is it
that other state universities such as Rivers and LASU that have the
same problem are quietly seeking solution without unnecessary media
hype?” Jaja Nwanegbo, chairman of ASUU at the Anambra State university
however called this scare mongering. He also said government officials
were muddying the issues to win the propaganda battle.

“The only
unfortunate thing is the misconception the government is creating by
misinforming the public on what constituted the basis for the strike.
They make it look as if it is a salary issue only but we all know it
also has to do with quality of education,” he said.

As usual, Labour
dismisses claims of insufficient funds by government officials as
untrue. Peter Esele, national president of the Trade Union Congress,
said government can afford to improve the welfare of workers if it
reduces the overhead of political appointees.

“The state
governors keep complaining. Yet, they are the ones that have hundreds
of Senior Special Advisers, Special Assistants, Personal Assistant to
the Special Adviser, and so on. At the end of the day, the cost of
governance is over-bloated. In the final analysis, what one deduces is
that when all the mathematics are put together they can pay if they
plug the holes in the system,” he said.