By Femi Falana SAN(Being the text of the keynote address delivered at the Pan-African High-Level Dialogue on Accountability in Lagos, Nigeria, 10-11, September 2026)
INTRODUCTION – THE WRONG QUESTION
The organisers of this dialogue have posed a question which is both timely and provocative: Have We...
The strategy of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) over the last decade or so has included extended negotiations, limited strike threats and generally calling off strikes at the last moment. The assumption appears to have been that we have decent governments that only occasionally need reminding to do the right thing. In fact we have corrupt governments that only work to further enrich themselves and their elite friends. They rarely, if ever, actually implement any agreements that they have signed with the trade unions.