The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, recently held its International Relations Forum in Accra, Ghana. The theme was, Trade Unionism in Nigeria and Global Social Protection,  and the venue was Kwame Nkrumah African Labour College, Accra. Labour Vanguard shares with you, the thoughts of the Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity, OATUU, Comrade Owei Lakemfa  and the TUC President, as contained in their  addresses to participants.

THE Secretary- General of OATUU Comrade Owei Lakemfa commended the leadership of the TUC for its commitment to  the unity of Nigerian workers and  indeed its  cooperation with the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC; an another labour centre.

*TUC participants at Kwame Nkrumah African Labour College, Accra, Ghana.

Reminding participants of the  struggle  of the foundation members of the TUC which was first known  as the Senior Staff Consultative Association of Nigeria,SESCAN,  he recalled the commitment of its founding fathers, Engr. Femi Kila and Barrister Sola Iji  who built a solid foundation for SESCAN which metamorphosed into the TUC.

In the words of the OATUU scribe,  his organization was   proud of  TUC Nigeria  “for carrying on in the best traditions of labour leaders in Nigeria like Michael Imoudu and Wahab Goodluck. We commend you for deepening internal democracy in your labour centre, and congratulate you for your recent Delegates Conference and election of a new executive led by  Comrade Bobboi . B. Kaigama”.

Emphasizing the importance of education to the trade union movement, Lakemfa said, “Education is a tool for  knowledge, awareness and conscientizing people. OATUU is happy that you continue to educate your members and leaders; preparing  them for the task of leading Nigerian workers and contributing to national unity and development”.

Trade unionism,  a call to serve: Owei Lakemfa, journalist, trade unionist and a former Acting General Secretary of NLC,   advised participants, “ Brothers and sisters, throughout human history, the best a person can offer is selfless service to the people, and if need be, sacrifice for others.”.

He made it clear that “Trade Unionism is  a service to the working people who constitute the bulk of society; who labour to make the wheels of production run; who work to ensure the economic survival of society; who sacrifice their youth and old age to create wealth from which they get the least share”. However, he said, trade unionism   meant different things to different people.

To him, “ Trade Unionism is a career for some; a stepping stone for a few and a source of power or prestige to many”. In his opinion, “ fundamentally and in reality , Trade Unionism is a calling. A call to serve; a call to build; a call to develop, and above all, a call to sacrifice. Across all borders and  regions, from counties to countries, under all elements and in all hamlets, over every land and clime, the goal of a labour leader should include: For every child, an education; For every youth, a skill;

For  every adult, a job; For every unemployed, Unemployment Benefit; For every retired worker, a pension; For every human being, food, shelter, clothing and Social Protection”.

Social security is crucial: To achieve this objectives, he said, “ we are talking about social protection for all by recognizing the fact that social security is an important tool to prevent poverty, inequality, social exclusion and social insecurity.  He explained,  “It is a means to promote equal opportunity,  gender and racial equality,  and  support the transition from informal to formal  employment”.

For Lakemfa   social protection was the basis of trade unionism, “My brothers and sisters, the philosophy of every one for himself, and God for us all, is a bankrupt philosophy. For the Labour Movement, it should be One For All, and All For One. Like we say in the Movement, An Injury To One, Is An Injury To All. As the song, so loved by Nigerian workers go:

“There is victory for us. There is victory for us. In the struggle for Africa, there is victory for us. Forward Ever! Backward Never! In the struggle for workers, there is victory!” For all who labour in the world; giving their mental and physical labour, there is victory!  The president of the TUC,  Comrade Bobbi  Kaigama  also shared this view.  He told participants that the “The Global Social Protection Agenda is a good phenomenon which has altered the world of work in the advanced world.

These are places where workers rights are well protected, redundancies are well negotiated, the working environment is superb and safety laws are adhered to. In this advanced world,  casual workers are well paid and sometimes even get more money than permanent workers, while their work environment tend to be very decent”. He lamented that this was absent in Nigeria.  In his words, “Our workers have little or no insurance schemes. The so-called Employment Alliance Scheme appears to be a mirage”.

Kaigama was concerned that  workers take home pay was not  taking them home hence the need for the education programme.

As trade unionists, he said, “our primary assignment remains the protection of jobs and fighting for the welfare of our members. That we will continue to do and we will never relent”. His expectation was that  participants would make suggestions that would be of benefit to members of the Trade Union Congress.

Nkrumah’s legacy/ OATUU: The OATUU Secretary General,  went down memory lane to remind participants of the contributions of great Africans . “As you are aware, the College (venue of the event )  is named after one of Africa’s best, brightest and most insightful leaders. Dr Nkrumah’s service to Africa and progressive humanity, is a lesson”.

He reminded all present “ The lesson is that those who serve others will never be forgotten.”. On the contrary, he said, “ those who plotted against Nkrumah and engineered the fall of his purposeful and development-oriented Government, have largely passed into oblivion”.Lakemfa said,  “It is on that legacy, organisations like OATUU stand.”

It is based on the philosophy of  Pan Africanism, African integration and unity which Nkrumah so ably championed, that OATUU is working hard to unite all workers in the continent for the advancement of the working people,  the integration and  all-round development of our endowed continent.