Labour Party Means Workers’ Party: Reminiscing The Struggle For A New Nigeria

by Evang. (Engr) Chinedu Jude Eloka

 

The Background

The quest for a better country spiced with justice, equity, truth and unity to its workers, necessitated the formation of labour movement in Nigeria. More thanks to the pioneers of the Labour frontier in Nigeria,in the likes of Chief Micheal Imoudu, Pascal Bafyau, Alfred Rewane, Frederick Kokori, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Ndubuisi Kanu, Bola Tinubu, Pete Edochie, Madam Ransome Kuti, Christie Achebe, Ayuba Wabba, Adams Oshiomhole, Dan Nwanyanwu, Anslem Eragbe, Joe Ajaero, Comrade Osifo, etc, who stood behind the struggle for the protection of the Nigerian workers’ welfare and rights from time immemorial. Today,the patriotic struggle of our labour activists has tremendously added to the task of nation building.

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The efforts of the Nigerian workers under the umbrella of the organised labour movement in Nigeria gave birth to the organised labour unions under the auspices of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC. Currently, the NLC is headed by Comrade Joe Ajaero while the TUC, Comrade Francis Osifo. The combined efforts of the Nigerian workers under the auspices of the NLC and the TUC gave birth to the workers’ party, commonly called the Labour Party. Such special political party, like the LP in Nigeria, exists in most developed nations of the world, among of which are the United Kingdom, the People’s Republic of China, etc.

 

The Labour Party is a special mass political party formed by the legitimate workforce of the nation; however, such a people’s party is known for patriotism for national development.

 

The Labour Movement In Nigeria

Labour is the most vital driver of production. Labourer is synonymously worker. Labour is human positive efforts, either manual or artificial,scientific or artistic, mechanised or crude, used in the production. Production is the creation of wealth. Wealth consists of goods and services for satisfying human needs. Production is classified into primary (agriculture), secondary(industry and company) and tertiary (services). The factors of production are land, Labour,capital and enterprises. The output of the productive processes in secondary production, from the Labour,is called productivity. The returns from productivity are called income or value additions, while the total income of a nation is called the National Income, and the total resources or products of production within the nation is called the Gross Domestic Products. The labour movement is also referred to the legitimate workers of the nation. The legitimate workers of the nation represent the nation’s populace called the citizens. so, the Labour Party can be referred to as the citizens’ political party, quite different from the partisan-centricism of the conventional political parties in Nigeria.

 

The NLC and the TUC

The Nigeria Labour Congress is the umbrella of all the workers that are bound by statute in the nation.The NLC covers mostly the public sector of the nation’s economy.The NLC is the umbrella body of all the affiliates unions in the Public and Civil Services, professionals and students. The Trade Union Congress, TUC, on the other hand,is an umbrella labour movement of all the workers that fall in the category of Organised Private Sector, OPS and informal sector. Public service comprises those serving the nation in political or public capacities,with special references to the judiciary,armed forces and other political creations. The civil service refers to our permanent offices in the ministries, departments and parastatals in civil or statutory capacities. Professionals are the elite workers who render specialised, important services to the nation. Examples of professionals are the members of the NMA, NBA, NSE, etc. The organised Private Sector, OPS comprises the elites in the private sector under the aegis of Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria,MAN, National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture, NACCIMA, Association of Business Agents,and specialised traders. The informal sectors comprises of all:formal, semi-formal and informal traders,artisans and fiduciary service providers in the nation. Student movement consists of all the students’ unions in our various educational institutions in Nigeria — primary and secondary schools,colleges of education, monotechnics, vocational institutions, polytechnics, research and training institutes and universities.

 

The Formative Ideology of the Labour Party

The Labour party was formed by the Nigerian workers under the umbrella of the Nigerian Labour Movement,comprising the NLC and the TUC. The herculean task of protecting the workers’ rights and welfare under the government at all levels, particularly during the military regime, necessitated the formation of a political party that fights for the interests of the masses,who predominantly occupy the nation’s labour force. The founding fathers of the labour movement in Nigeria saw the need to form a similar party to those of the workers’ parties in the developed and developing nations of the world, in Nigeria. Hence, the Labour Party was registered in 2002 as a political party in Nigeria. The Labour Party is a special political party in that it is purely for partisan and patriotic interests,but more of patriotic than partisan interests. The Labour Party was formed to give hopes to the hopeless, to cater for the needs of the special citizens,and to breed the right leaders that will institutionalise the right leadership in Nigeria. The long-term reflective philosophical ideal behind the formation of the Labour Party was to bring about the people’s government for a new nation laced with true federalism and true nationalism.

 

The Achievement of the Labour Party in the Nation’s Political System

The Labour Party succeeded in upholding the sanctity of the internal democracy with a view to giving birth to true democracy in Nigeria. The Labour Party also awakened the consciousness of the citizens on the need for political participation, most especially the grassroots. The Labour helped in the democratisation of the nation through give equal opportunities offered by the party to all citizens,to lead and man sensitive leadership positions of the nation, particularly those abandoned from occupying leadership positions in the society. The Labour Party institutionalised the fight for social justice, welfare of the citizens,and prioritises right leadership at both party level and governmental angle. The Labour Party stands for the overall interests of the citizens, predominantly the masses, commonly found among the working population of the nation’s demography.

 

The Government of the Labour Party

The Labour Party is managed by the NLC Political Commission and the statutory organs of the political party. While the NLC Political Commission plays both ownership and representative roles in the Labour Party, the LP is run by its statutory organs like other conventional political parties.The organs of the Labour Party include the National Convention, the National Executive Council, NEC, the National Working Committee, NWC and the Board of Trustees, BoT. The Labour Party enjoys national spread and formation as a national party. The major features of the LP are permanence and national structure.

 

The Current Status of the Labour Party

The Labour Party has the representatives of the NLC and the TUC in all its statutory organs, with an independent political commission set up by the combined efforts of the NLC and the TUC to maintain stability, unity, purity and sustainability in the party. The Labour Party enjoys membership drawn from the elite citizens, youths, students, activists, ecclesiastes, and the entire grassroots. The Labour Party stands for the interests of all the citizens.

 

Conclusion

The NLC and the TUC, headed by Comrades Joe Ajaero and Francis Osifo, formed the labour Party, though perform purely representative and ownership roles, do not interfere in the internal affairs of the party. The Labour Party is currently headed by Sen. Nenadi Usman, the Acting National Chairman, with the supports of the subsisting NWC of the party, elected in 2019 National Convention, Akwanga, Nasarawa State. As it is now, the LP is almost set to conduct National Convention, 2025.

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