Chairman of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Dan Nwanyawu has admonished the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), to be proactive and embrace politics in order to clinch power in 2023
The NLC had disclosed last week that it would form a united ;political platform that it would use to clinch power in the country
Nwanyawi, who was the National Chairman of Labour Party (LP),between 2004 to 2014, accused labour activists, of being too docile in matters of Nigerian politics, adding that singing of solidarity songs alone cannot guarantee political emancipation for the group.
The former labour activist, who spoke at the recently organized Political Roundtable on Sustainability of Democracy in Nigeria, by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) said gone were the days when workers would gather en mass and shout solidarity songs and expect to wrestle power from the political class, insisting that those in politics know how to manipulate Nigerian workers to get the needed votes.
“Gone were the days when you will be shouting solidarity forever and you expect power to be thrown at you, go and register and arm yourselves with your Permanent Voters Card PVC. Look politicians know how to brian wash workers in this country, it is high time you must take advantage of your numbers in the present political space,” he told the gathering.
Earlier President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Quadri Olaleye, said the event on the existing belief that the lack of active participation of organised labour in Nigerian politics has generated a lot of debates amongst trade unionists, scholars, opinion leaders and other commentators.
”TUC also strongly believes that organised labour has not successfully tapped into the opportunity provided in a liberal democracy that emphasises grassroots participation, negotiation of interests, and interactivity. More importantly, the dividing line between economics and governance is very indistinct and the rationality which propels the state’s constant interference in labour matters equally dictates the need for trade unions to take an active interest in politics”, the union said.
