We have to be honest and say that the prospects for 2025 do not appear bright. They are not nearly as good, for working peoples, as our hopes were for this year. A year ago, we were hoping that the relatively newly elected leadership of the NLC would lead a robust fight over the minimum wage. This did not happen.
In addition, although we had relatively well supported protests in early August, the heavy state repression meant that this was not repeated in October.
On the electoral front, after the bitter near defeat of the Labour Party in the presidential elections early last year, the APC appears to be consolidating their hold and reducing prospects for change through electoral channels.
The NLC’s demand for a N615,000 minimum wage not only crumbled, but the government’s offer of 70,000 naira was met with three gbosas. Despite the claimed agreement that this modest increase would result in no further rises in the cost of petrol, prices continued to shoot up. The trade union leaders have failed to provide any adequate response to this situation leading to widespread cynicism with their behaviour.
There is some hope that some state trade union leaders may provide the necessary fight to ensure that the minimum wage is properly implemented. However, after seeing the national leadership accept the implementation date being shifted from the beginning of May to the end of July, trade union leaders in some states have accepted a further postponement to October or even December. But there may still be a fight in some states including Cross River, Katsina Zamfara…
We know the trade union leaders know how to fight successfully – it was Joe Ajaero himself who was operationally in charge of the strike in Kaduna in May 2021 that destroyed el Rufai in only three days. We just need to continue to argue for this action to be taken on a regular basis. This could bring the change we desperately need in only a few days.
Download our full Socialist Bulletin for December 2024 with the link below:
https://socialistlabour.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Socialist-Bulletin-DEC-2024.pdf
