Jega: Reckless Elite Running Nigeria Aground

One-time Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Prof Attahiru Jega came down hard political elite yesterday.

He blamed the deplorable political situation on those in positions of authority, who he accused of “blindly running the country aground.”

Jega spoke on the theme: “Commitment to national emancipation and development through effective political engagement by Nigerian workers” at the 2022 Workers’ political conference.

To turn the fortunes of Nigeria around, Prof Jega, who was chaired the occasion, called for a broad alliance of progressive forces for national rescue and emancipation, adding that this was absolutely required to get Nigeria out of the current unwholesome predicament in which it finds itself.

He suggested that workers, who lead competent groups and organisations, should help drive the process.

Jega said: “Nigeria is undoubtedly at a point in its history when the issue of national emancipation for credible national development requires being raised higher on the front banner of national discourses by patriotic Nigerians and friends of Nigeria, and especially by the Nigerian workers themselves.

“Most analysts are agreed that while Nigeria may not have totally collapsed, it is indeed and nobody can doubt that, in the process of collapsing, as reckless elite in control of the governance process are blindly running the country aground.

“And the 2023 general elections,may be the ‘make or break’ epochal moment for our country. Given this, all hands of progressive forces need to, have to be on deck to prevent our country from imminent collapse, and to turn it around on a trajectory of good democratic governance for beneficial democratic, socio-economic development, and human security for Nigerian citizens.

“A broad alliance of progressive forces for national rescue and emancipation is absolutely required to get Nigeria out of the current unwholesome predicament in which it finds itself. And no other group is competent, more capable than the umbrella organisation of Nigerian workers to help drive this process.

“Nigeria is, undoubtedly, at a point in its history when the issue of national emancipation for credible national development which is beneficial to the Nigerian people, requires being raised higher on the front banner of national discourses by patriotic Nigerians and friends of Nigeria, and especially by the Nigerian workers themselves.”

Jega said a rescue mission cannot succeed without the active engagement and involvement of workers through genuine representation in alliance with other progressive and patriotic citizens.

Urging Nigerians to stop playing the ostrich, Jega said: “Now is not the time to rehash the old theoretical debate on what the role of trade unions should be: either narrowly focusing on incremental gains with regards to improvements in wages and conditions of work or broadly engaging with and struggling for wider socio-political and economic issues, which affect all citizens.

“In a situation in which a tiny band of ruling elite is running the country literally aground, a rescue and emancipatory mission from their strangle-hold assumes primacy.”

NLC President Ayuba Wabba said Labour has developed a Workers Charter of Demands ahead of the general elections next year.

He lamented that the political atmosphere was being over-heated ahead of the 2023 polls.

Wabba said: “To say that Nigeria is at political crossroads would not be a statement of alarm. It would be a factual construction of our reality.

“With 2023 in view, there is a lot of politicking, intrigues and subterfuge in the political space. Every indication shows that the polity is once again being over-heated.

“Sadly, as it has become the norm with our cycle of broken politics, the polity is not being heated with questions and answers on how the current political mandate has been used by political office holders. The polity is not being over-heated with concerns on how the current ruling elites have honoured the socio-economic rights of Nigerians in Chapter Two of the 1999 Constitution.

“The polity is not being over-heated with new ideas of how politicians can meet the expectations of Nigerians who want constant power to power their potentials, motorable roads, adequate security that will keep us from always looking over our shoulders and living wages that will offer workers a chance at decent living.

“The near absence and acute deficit of serious engagement with these existential political concerns have provided the context for this Workers Political Conference.

“We have thought hard and long about how our political elites have treated the national questions of good governance, sustainable development and social justice.

“We are sceptical of any real commitment to address our developmental concerns. It is difficult to fault our pessimism. Not with the way collective bargaining agreements, workers remuneration and trade union rights are tossed aside.”