NLC and the culture of ingratitude

BY JOSEPH OKON

The Nigerian Labour Congress NLC is  the umbrella organization for all workers spanning from the National to the State level. The organization presents a platform where workers can contribute to the policies and programmes of government, and put their demands in the collective interest of all workers to government. They also act as intermediary between the workers and government to ensure harmonious cooperation that engenders productivity.

But over the years, these core values and vision of the NLC has been eroded probably because of bad leadership. Unlike the Trade Union, NLC leadership supposed to have people of high integrity, maturity and responsible in handling issues of workers and government. Sadly, the leadership of NLC as presently constituted has consistently been dominated and man by irresponsible, rascals, and selfish hypocrites who seek cheap popularities for their selfish gains.

They see themselves as politicians but refuse to be regarded as one. Their quest for political relevance and endless greed for material things by successive leadership of the union has place the group afar from its core mandate and objectives. Some people sees NLC as a platform to antagonize government for their selfish gain instead of a platform to engage government in a meaningful dialogue for the overall benefit of it members. The union has now become a platform by some ingrates to embarrass government instead of synergizing for workers interest.

A lot of people from outside sees government as a reservoir of money, and then base their expectations on the reservoir mentality. Government is never a reservoir and will never be. Those who doubt this should ask President Buhari and former Governor Adams Oshiomole of Edo State. Oshiomole received the loudest ovation fighting government with incessant strike actions whenever government brings new policies and minimum wage.

 But when he was the governor of Edo state, he could afford to owe workers salaries for months until strike sets in. review of minimum wage became a war between government and workers in Edo state, something Oshiomole could ignite a complete revolution in his days as labour leader, which is the irony of leadership. This is why it’s always good to criticizes ignorantly from outside.

Between 2014 and 2015, there was no name Buhari did not call his predecessor, then President Goodluck Jonathan; today the burden of leadership is on his shoulder, he has confessed that it’s not an easy task.

 Akwa Ibom state has also had it fare share of this labour rascality and antagonistic relation between NLC and government. In the last administration of former Governor Godswill Akpabio, upon all the incentives the government pured on workers and labour leaders in the state including paying them thirteen months salaries, whenever they want to embarrass government, they will turn a blind eye on those things. The then governor even gave them a free hand to nominate one person among themselves as Special Adviser on labour and productivity to the Governor, yet the NLC then never appreciated any of those things. As God would have it, nature knows how to deal with such ungrateful people.

It could be recalled that during the N18 thousand naira minimum wage agitations, all Akwa Ibom workers were already earnings from N21 thousand naira and above. Instead of thanking the Governor for paying them more than minimum wage, the NLC opted for another review. Having held the state to a ransom and embarrassed the good Governor, the government yielded to their demands afterward the Special Adviser on labour was sacked due to the NLC ingratitude. The same union came back with their usual confusion demanding the re-instatement of the SA labour which did not happen. This means that the people do not even have sympathy for their own. 

The train of ingratitude of NLC in Akwa Ibom did not end with the administration of former Governor Godswill Akpabio, the incumbent is suffering the same fate. In the present administration of Governor Udom Emmanuel, the NLC leadership in the state led by one Comrade Etim Ukpong has benefited from this administration more and in return has done the Governor and government more evil.

The evil tradition of insincerity and selfishness in the NLC continues. Ukpong and others of his colleagues who are in his school of thought that for them to be relevance and keep deceiving their members to believe that government is insensitive to the welfare of workers, they have to consistently blackmail the government. This is a suicide mission.

Even when the Governor is very sincere and committed to the welfare of workers by ensuring that they are all paid salaries at the end of every month despite the biting economic situation in the country, they lack appreciation to the Governor for the huge sacrifices he has made. They are not considerate of what their colleagues in other states are going through. In other states like Imo, Ogun, Osun, Benue, and many others, workers are owed salaries for over seven to nine months, but in Akwa Ibom State, no worker is owed, all workers are paid promptly without delay. Even the federal government is not paying some workers in their employ full salaries every month whereas in Akwa Ibom, all workers are paid their salaries in full.

From the inception of the present administration led by Governor Udom Emmanuel, the welfare of workers at any level is treated as a priority of government. To demonstrate his commitment to put smiles on the face of all workers in the state, the Governor within six months in office has cleared all outstanding salary debts of workers at the state and local government which was piled up over the years.

Since then, the government of Akwa Ibom state under the leadership of Mr. Udom Emmanuel has been very prompt in the payment of workers’ salaries which he deserves commendation, but what the Governor gets in return for all the good things he has done for Akwa Ibom workers are senseless accusation and embarrassment. Even God delights so much in praises of mouth to do more, talkless of human being.

In spite of all these modest demonstration of love and concern for the workers in the state, the Comrade Etim Ukpong led leadership of NLC in Akwa Ibom has been consistent in their actions and utterances to make workers see the Governor as an enemy. Upon all the things Etim Ukpong has gotten from the government, he lied to even his executive members that the government is against the workers and insult the Governor at every given opportunity.

This is the same person that has benefitted from the benevolence of the Governor without allowing his colleagues to know. The Governor has single handedly build a house and equipped same for him, he has also received a lot of incentives from the government without telling his executive committee members. He operates NLC with an impostor, one Comrade Iboro Abara as Vice Chairman and acting secretary whose two term tenure in office as Chairman of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic Akwa Ibom State chapter has long been exhausted leaving the real people he should work with in the dark. This he is doing to cover up the fraud both of them have been committed. Recently, the school management had gone ahead to disband ASUP which Abara lost the legal right to belong to the executive committee of the NLC.

Already, some members of the state executive committee of the NLC has accused Etim Ukpong of failing to render account of donations made by the Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel during the 2015 labour day celebration, coupled with the failure to reveal several government largesse he has received before the state administrative executive council which records from the office of the head of service has shown.

It is indeed very shocking that Comrade Etim Ukpong could display such brazen show of ingratitude to the Governor that listens and acts on all workers appeal, but he will take it and keep it to himself and his impostor. Because of his insincerity to his executive committee members and his culture of embezzling anything that come to workers from government, and having embezzled many bags of rice and Christmas hampers meant for his executive committee members, the government decided to reach out directly to the executive committee members and give NLC Christmas cow and rice which was shared amicably. This development Comrade Etim Ukpong and his co-hurts felt will expose their lies, immediately began a verbal attack on the government to divert the attention of his colleagues. 

It is important for Akwa Ibom workers to note that the state Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel is doing his best to reach out to workers and improve their welfare, but it is the chairman they either elected or imposed that is not allowing them feel the impact of government. In spit all the insults on the Governor by the NLC chairman, the has Governor remained committed and passionate about the welfare of workers. It is therefore incumbent on the workers to reciprocate these gestures by the Governor. Workers have never been this lucky to have a Governor that pays prompt attention to their needs.

It was rather very insulting on the integrity of the Governor when this ingrate, Etim Ukpong said that the Governor should use the Paris Club refund to the state to settle workers benefits and should not divert. It’s also instructive to note that the government of Akwa Ibom state has never divert any money from the original plan to some other thing. Akwa Ibom state is blessed with a leader who has integrity in financial management, whose record has been tested and proven.

Instead of making government look like an enemy to workers, Comrade Etim Ukpong should rather channel his energy into bringing synergy between government and workers, and seeks to promote a partnership of progress for the overall wellbeing of Akwa Ibom workers. The workers are first, the citizens of the state whom the Governor was elected to serve, and that the Governor who is workers friendly will keep doing good for workers no matter the amount of ingratitude shown by Etim Ukpong led NLC.

The workers must stop this bad culture when next they have the opportunity to elect new leaders. They should endeavor to put in place credible and sincere leadership to man the union affairs. A word, they say is enough for the wise.