• Support the labour movement protests and general strike now!
• Organise massive protests in all towns and cities!!
• Unity and solidarity by all popular organisations to win!!!
The Tinubu government has resolved to fully implement the neoliberal policies of the IMF and World Bank. This means a massive growth of poverty for us and further enrichment for the corrupt elite. We all need to be actively organising for on-going daily protests and a national general strike from Wednesday morning. A resolute and active strike will quickly overturn the policies of the Federal Government. The Government is not strong, it quickly backed down on its proposals for N8,000 monthly ‘palliatives’.
For this to happen we all need to be active in preparing for the protests and strike action now. We all need to be contacting the officials of our trade union branches. We need to find out what they are organising and to demand more action from our state and national trade unions.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) resolved last week to “embark on a nation — wide action beginning Wednesday the 2nd of August, 2023 to compel the government to reverse its anti-poor and anti-workers policies”. We all know that this means a national strike with mass daily protests in all states. But we also know that this will not happen unless we argue for it and help to organise it.
We need all trade union members to contact and assist their branches, state and national level
organisations. We need all socialists to be inspiring their work colleagues, friends and families to play an active role in organising and providing solidarity for this national protest.
The NLC also called, “on all civil society organisations and Nigerians wherever they may be to begin mobilization to take action on their own to save our nation”. As a result all progressive civil society organisations like JAF, ASCAB, UCAAP and others need to come together to support the NLC protests or organise their own.
For victory, we need resolute leadership from the trade union movement. They should stop all meetings with the government until significant concessions are announced. Court injunctions need to be ignored – they have had little or no impact on strikes in the past. The former NLC President personally led the daily protests in Kaduna to victory in 2021 despite threats that he would be arrested.
A general strike with daily protests and massively supported by the popular classes can quickly frighten the government and ensure that it reverses its anti-people policies. We can win a reversal of the recent prices of petrol, a decent minimum wage that is increased each year in line with inflation and an end to exorbitant tuition fees. Our activity and organising over the next few days can make an historic difference.
Biodun Olamosu, National Secretary, Socialist Labour
