Special Labour Day

FEWER speeches could be hollower than the ones that would be made
nationwide to mark Workers' Day, today. Speeches are traditional,
their contents remain traditionally empty, especially during
transitions, as we are witnessing. Millions of jobs have vanished with
the turbulent economy, globally, but particularly in our economy that
depends mainly on crude oil exports.

Workers' agitations have moved from conditions of service to pleading
for their pittance to be paid regularly, a vain hope in most private
organisations. Governments are worse culprits. Unpaid workers'
remunerations, in some States run into months.

Hundreds of thousands of workers would gather at venues across
Nigeria, to make fiery speeches about dearth of jobs, sing solidarity
tunes, lament shrinking welfare of the employed, and preach the
importance of labour. If governments remember the day, their officials
would be around to placate labour, delve into routine statistics about
job creation. Everybody heads home, until next year's speeches.

Things are getting worse. Government policies, poor security, and the
ubiquitous challenges from electricity supply, lower Nigeria's
attraction to investors. The rise in unemployment, rated as high as 50
per cent, according to some statistics, is evidence of the impact of
policies that emphasise the welfare of politicians and top government
officials, over development of infrastructure that would enhance job
creation.

Some who marched at last year's rallies are now jobless. Unemployment
statistics are worse for youth with thousands of university graduates
jobless, some more than five years after graduation. More join the
queue with every graduation ceremony.

Hardly is there a part of the country without a strike over workers'
welfare. A month hardly passes without a union or the other being on
strike. Governments ignore strikes, for months. It does not matter
whether they are by lecturers or doctors.

We have waited for three years for the 11 million jobs Minister of
Trade and Investment Mr. Olusegun Aganga promised by 2012. His
statistics came from the presumptuous calculation that each of
Nigeria's 11 million medium and small-scale industries would create at
least a job each, immediately, we have 11 million jobs.

Nigerians know the jobs did not materialise even if the only
explanation could be the discernible poor supply of electricity.
Improvement in electricity and other infrastructure that could help in
creating jobs appears distant. Instead of a review of progress made on
the key issues that affected labour last year, today's rallies would
be grounds for more promises, lamentations, and possibly optimism
since new governments are weeks away.

Strikes, agitations over unpaid salaries, the teeming crowd of the
unemployed, and relations between unemployment and rising security
issues, should make governments act quickly.

Promises have run their full course.