We live in frightening times. Inflation is now well over 30%. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the cost of a healthy diet is now almost N30,000 a month for a single person, just for food (without preparation or transport to market costs). The government is tripling the price of electricity and threatening to unilaterally impose an inadequate minimum wage on May Day. This is linked with a rise in mass kidnapping, as the hope for mass collective action to improve our lives appears to fade.
Despite this, there is hope. The people of Senegal have voted for a radical alternative as their president. Only 10 days before the election he was in prison. We do not have to put up with leaders who are hell bent on imposing Neoliberal solutions to further enrich themselves and their friends and families.
We are entitled to a decent increase in the minimum wage. This would immediately take millions of workers and their families out of poverty. With their extra money they would have more to spend in the market and on transport. As a result, millions of market women and okada drivers could afford to eat each day. The pressure to hustle or turn to crime would reduce and we would all be safer.
We need a large increase in the minimum wage this year and a move towards annual increases, at least as high as inflation. A detailed briefing is available for free download from: https://ivavalleybooks.com/2024/01/02/briefing-on-the-minimum-wage/
But we will not achieve the much needed increase in the minimum wage without a struggle. As things stand, it is either now or we have to wait another five years. The Federal and state governments have plenty of money as the price of crude oil is again approaching $90 a barrel and we demonstrate in more detail in the following article:
We cannot afford to wait and see. We need all members of trade unions to step up their agitation for action. We need comrades to talk to their trade union branch officers and encourage motions to be sent to their state and national offices. More details are provided later in this Socialist Bulletin.
By promising to implement the Oronsaye Report, Tinubu is threatening to launch another attack on public sector workers. Again we need an effective response from our trade union leaders and pressure from the relevant trade union members to stop any job losses. Trade unions can plan their action, as necessary, in each ministry, department and agency by using the following tool: https://socialist-labour-ng.shinyapps.io/oronsaye-report/
Now is the time to demand action from the trade unions and to try and ignite the protest movement. We can make a difference to the lives of ourselves and our families. We do not have to be hungry. We need to talk to each other in every workplace and demand accountability from our leaders. Together we can make a difference. If we can reverse the tide of poverty, we can also introduce the most effective way of reducing insecurity.
