*10 January 2012 08h21*
**
*Glorious Day of Rage*
Never before has Nigeria witnessed such a massive display of people’s
power on the streets. On July 5, 1993, one million people had marched on
the streets of Lagos to MKO Abiola’s house in a procession which we had
all thought would be a huge success if we could have brought ten
thousand people out to claim the streets, when mobilizing. But,
yesterday, *more people marched on the streets of Lagos than the number
that had marched on July 3, 1993! *The same goes for Ibadan. And across
the country, in virtually every major city except those in states in the
North East which have been militarized under state of emergency,
millions of Nigerians altogether took charge of the avenues, roads,
streets and neighbourhoods. But even in those states, the NLC & TUC
state councils constituted Strike Monitoring Committees, which went
around the cities in buses to ensure, or more aptly put as it turned
out, /observe, /the strict compliance that the strike achieved.
As the people marched on the streets, the country’s economy was ground
to a halt. Factories, banks and offices were shut down. Shops and the
plethora of informal services outlets in the country were closed.
Workers’ power was self-evident as being decisive for social change and
genuine /transformation /in Nigeria, not just because of the
quantitative size of the barely 7million organised workers that are
members of the affiliates of NLC and TUC, added up. The strategic
position of the working class within any modern economy, including a
backward one like Nigeria’s in the global modern industrial system, can
definitely not be overemphasized.
The fact that the trade union movement is the /only /pan-Nigerian
democratically structured social force, cutting across creed and ethnic
identity is also very important. But probably the most important reason
why the working class in Nigeria and indeed generally is the most
decisive element of we are to realize in deed, the possibility of
another Nigeria and indeed another world as the social forum process
rightly asserts, is because of the /leadership /which with its intrinsic
nature /and its ties with all other segments of the 99% marginalised and
dominated by capitalism /in some form or the other, it can bring to bear
in our rising to reclaim our humanity and build a new world based on
cooperative solidarity. This is what we have seen as revolutionary
upsurge builds in Nigerian revolution.
The ruling class of course will not just fold its hands in a situation
like that which is now unfolding. The /ancient regime /always vacillates
between the use of the carrot and the stick in the hour of its twilight.
Yesterday, even as the Senate on behalf of the ruling class as a whole
sought to win organised labour to some form of compromise, Nigerians
were killed in cold blood with guns and bullets bought with tax payers’
money in several cities including Lagos, Kano and Asaba. The
perpetrators in Lagos were identified by vigilant citizens who took the
vehicle number of the police van which the bloodthirsty purveyors of
violence came in, and broadcast this widely, using social networking
media. To quell the people’s anger, armed with this information, Mr Raji
Fashola the Lagos State governor ordered the arrest of the policemen
involved. We must also unmask the killers of our brothers and sisters in
every other city. This calls for vigilance as demonstrated by the
citizens at Ogba, Lagos state. We salute these martyrs whose labour,
with their blood, shall never be in vain and must continue to demand
with our words and deeds that it is our right to protest and the state
must halt the killing of protesters. We call on all well-meaning persons
and organisations across the world to echo this cry, as every life lost
fills us with pain.
Violence against protesters also included the use of tear gas and pepper
spray. An example of this was at Ibadan, when the mammoth crowd of a
million people marched on the seat of the state government house, this
resulted in the hospitalization of a 1-year old child, who happily for
us, is now okay. The state governor sent the Commissioner of
Establishment and Labour to express the state government’s regrets. The
protesters who, as it might soon become generalised, demanded that
/Jonathan Must Go and a Sovereign National Conference be summoned by the
people, /made it clear that this was not enough. They insisted that the
governor himself come and express the government’s apologies if sincere
about it.//
//
It was not only in the streets that the carrot and stick were used by
the ruling class, who employ labour. The Ogun State Television (OGTV)
General Manager asked the workers who had been on the night shift to
stay back as it was clear that those on morning shift would not be
coming to work. He offered the carrot of overtime allowance which they
rejected, he then invoked the carrot of an order, effectively making
them work, as forced labour for the duration of the day. The 7Up
bottling company did a similar thing, while at Dangote Cement Obajana,
management issued an order that any employee who does not report to work
today would be sacked. The NLC/TUC National Strike Mobilization
Committee and Leadership are aware of this and taken necessary action,
with the state councils directed to mount massive pickets at these few
recalcitrant workplaces in the course of today’s street protests.
In Abuja, the state cordoned off the Eagle Square which was where the
processional rally led by Comrades Abdulwahed Omar and Peter Esele,
Presidents of the NLC & TUC respectively was to have ended. Blockades
also littered the procession’s route. After overwhelming two of these
with people’s power, it was considered expedient to change the end point
to avoid confrontation at this stage that could have cost lives. While
the rally and procession were peaceful, it kept swelling as it was
moving and the virulent anger of many people, which is quite legitimate,
was very palpable. With the state’s siege at Eagle Square, a single
incident could have sparked bitter confrontation that might not only be
diversionary and thus be in the interest of the state, but it could have
led to shootings and possibly death. The procession’s final rally thus
held at Wuse II in the commercial heart of the city, which was devoid of
any commercial activity.
Across the country, we have not and will not take the bait of their
carrots, nor will we succumb to their sticks. The time has come upon us,
and we, Nigerian people are rising up to the call of our history. The
enthusiasm is high and today promises to be even much more massive on
the streets than yesterday. Indeed, the time has come for change in
Nigeria and the masses are not equating change to a mere reversal of
fuel pump price. The change we seek, which we fight for and which we
shall win, is that of the system. We want to and shall build a new
Nigeria. As the flames of rage sweep through our land, the 99%’s anger
like never before rises across the world. Revolution from below is
international and together we shall build a new world with working
people across the globe.
*Venceremos! We Will WIN! *
**
/Baba Aye, a Deputy National Secretary of Labour Party is National
Chairperson of the Socialist Workers League./
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