Workers in contextual fate with the politicians’ fortunes:
the unfinished business in Nigeria democracy
By Taiye Olaniyi

World over, workers are cocooned in their various unions fighting for the generality of their members over wages and other labor matters.

On the other side of the divide are the government, public and private institutions including the powerful lords on legislative matters governing government, governance, and the governed.

Workers, their unions, and their representatives serve as the basic parameters for the success, progress reports, or total failure in their fortune or misfortune and those of the socioeconomic and political orderings of the nation.

Today, May 1st, 2023 marks another milestone for workers the world over because every year is renowned worldwide as Workers Day. The day makes it mandatory that union leaders sit, walk, analyze, and publicize what workers' portions ought, should, and ought not to be in terms of wages, remunerations, and welfare packages.

For so long, workers' agitations have been always one demand or another for a better life for workers and to a great extent have been games lost and won depending on who chest the frontal attacks and with what arsenals. Sometimes battles were won or/ and lost because of how varying personalities as leaders of workers unite or dismember themselves on both policy and political matters.

Sometimes the unionists and their platforms like politicians, their parties, and caucuses, dissolve as solutes into a solvent which indicates that "Every human being is a born agitator, give him a pot of soup and he forgets his agitations. "

To a great extent, nothing serious has changed for the better in the working classes, amongst the employed, employees, employers, and innumerable unions and associations.

Work quality expected of those legislating laws for governance, executing and implementing policies as they are, including the arbitrators and adjudicators of cases in the judiciary for civil and criminal cases all have nothing much to show for us to be proud of.

To bring about a mind-molding and character-smithing psychological orientation for and to all Nigerians for greater Nigeria, the idea of "Change" has become merely a mantra being intoned and vocalized, especially by politicians in their partisan and divisive tendencies., Government officials loudmouth the change mantra to either create an impression they are in tandem with Mr. President's aspirations for the incorruptible nation or as a means to appease whomever they regard as the deity behind the change syndromes.

On the change mantra, Son of Man is tempted to submit that average Nigerians seem still unchanging on positive notes to the solemnity and therefore necessity of sane change to our individual and collective destinies and that of our beloved nation.

Change to me and for me is a necessity that is first painful to the individual but soothing at the long last of its experience.

True change as a sacred mantra does not require one being spurred to change, it requires no other one except one as the role model of change but a volitional admittance of raising one's consciousness and being determined to be the change for an exalted society.

To one's dismay, neither the Nigerian workers nor their unions have taken nation-building from a very objective perspective taking cognizance of leaving undone what should seriously be done.

And what is this unfinished business you may wish to ask? It is fighting against rubbing politics into everything relating to employment, promotion, discipline, termination, retrenchment, and retirement of workers as once clearly spelled out for policy guidance.

The Nigerian workers today are daily under the gruesome misapplication, appropriation, and misappropriation of the 3 Ps, Personalities, Policies, and Politics by the politicians in power at the executive, legislative, and board membership levels.

The political atmosphere and the politicians manipulated frameworks have made politics an enriching business for whoever dares into it but with the assurance that money making is that in thing despite the glaring fact that the politician's political money making in Nigeria is filthy not only to the reputations of the Nigerian political money makers but also to the souls of many of such individuals.

I ask, what justifiable reasons are there for the Nigerian legislators especially at the National Assembly for their pay packets, the perquisites, fallouts from oversight functions, constituency projects, and a) allowances including their disengagement buildups?

Methinks if the Nigerian workers and their unions are serious or would be taken seriously this time around, their main task and unfinished business are to embark on consultation, consolidation, and the confrontation of the National Assembly on how during this dispensation modalities be worked out for such selfish appropriation and/ misappropriations be brought down from their heights of selfishness to that of selfless service to fatherland. Think about it to act on it during this and the upcoming 10th Republic.

Surely this would be a great battle but worth a battle to fight lest the plights of workers during and after retirement be a journey from once an aspiration, and perspiration to that of the incineration of the bodies, minds, and souls of the Nigerian workers.

Looking outside oneself for true change shall never send an alert of "God Win" but a process of letting "old things" pass away and things becoming anew in all ramifications".

Hear what a Muslim mystic says of altruistic change, "And now we shall throw you into the fire of spiritual passion and you shall become refined".

To bring about desired change as Nigerians in Nigeria, we must persevere in the process of change just as the gold becomes shining after being subjected to a crucible of fire.

With the new dimension introduced to the new minimum wage now raised to thirty thousand nairas and the recent paltry it is hoped that this mantra of change would also rake into a reduction in the deadly plights of pensioners be of PTAD, PENCOM or what have you, nationwide.

A regular review and increase in the pensioner's payment both for beneficiaries of the old and new schemes, would surely help reduce the regrets many now have today forever serving the nation honestly and creditably without having anything to show for such patriotism.

May Light, Life, and Love see us all building an exalted nation Nigeria though, tribes and tongues may differ, in brotherhood we can attain this valuable change from which we have no option.

God bless the Nigerian Workers, God bless Nigeria.

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Taiye Olaniyi, a retired Postman of the Nigeria Postal Service, is based in Lagos