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Nigeria has been paralysed by a general strike called by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC, the countrys main trade union federation).
Reports in the Nigerian capitalist media show that the strike, which commenced on 16th January, 2002, was generally successful throughout the country. Government offices, industries, banks, markets and shops were shut. Most private and public vehicles are off the road and streets are deserted. Going by newspaper reports, it is in only one state (Kogi) out of the 36 states of the country that it was reported the strike was not observed on the first day.
The NLC leaders called the strike to compel the government to reverse an almost 20% increment on the prices of domestically consumed petroleum products announced on New Year day. According to the government, the increase marks the beginning of the "liberalisation" of the petroleum marketing industry in which "market forces" will dictate prices. The IMF, World Bank and Nigerias external creditors have always insisted that domestic fuel in Nigeria is too cheap and have always demanded increases as a condition for agreement on the countrys $32 billion external debt.
As in the past, the increase has led to a 50-100% jump in transport fares in both rural and urban areas; inflation rate will go up and standard of living further undermined. Remarkably, on the first day of the strike, the Obasanjo government also announced the details of the third phase of the countrys privatisation programme. This involves the sale of the countrys electricity corporation (NEPA), national airline, seaports, and twenty other public companies
This massive response to the strike call shows the depth of the anger of the masses against the fuel price hike and the devastating effects of other neo-liberal policies of the Obasanjo regime. Two and a half years after the end of military rule, the working masses could not see any improvement in their living standards. On the contrary, conditions are getting worse for the most impoverished sections of the population. This is the second increase in fuel price since Obasanjo came to power in May 1999. In June 2000, the regime raised petrol price from N20 to N30 per litre. It took a 5-day general strike before the price was reduced to N22.
Nigeria is renowned for ethnic and religious conflicts. But the success of the strike proves the capacity of the labour movement to cut across ethnic and religious cleavages among the working people, uniting them around a common working class cause.
On the first day of the strike, the police arrested the NLC president, Adams Oshiomhole, Dipo Fashina (president of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU) and eight other trade union leaders while they were addressing workers at the federal government secretariat at Abuja. They were subsequently charged to court, accused of "criminal conspiracy, inciting disturbance, disturbance of public peace and unlawful assembly".. The magistrate released them on bail and adjourned the case to 19th February, 2002. But on the second day of the strike, Adams and some other labour leaders were re-arrested in Abuja.
The same day, the Obasanjo government got an Abuja high court to declare the strike illegal. This would open the way for Adams and other labour activists to be charged with contempt of court and for workers to be intimidated and victimised. A newspaper reported that not less than 83 people were arrested across the country on the first day of the strike.
Among those arrested was Demola Yaya, Labour Organiser for Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), Nigerian section of the Committee for A Workers International (CWI), and a member of Mobilisation Committee set by the NLC. He was arrested while addressing a crowd comprising youth and members of the local community. The policemen forcefully dispersed the crowd and seized the megaphone being used by Demola and several copies of the DSM newspaper produced for the strike. He was detained for several hours.
Earlier, on 7th January, policemen in Abeokuta, Ogun State, arrested two students of University of Agriculture, Abeokuta during a protest organised by the Zone D of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) against the fuel price increase. The arrested students are: Ahmed Adesina (a member of DSM) and Shina Onifade (a member of National Voice of Democrats). The two student activists have been charged with "civil disturbance" and the case has been adjourned by the court to 11th February, 2002.
Members of Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), Nigerian section of the Committee for A Workers International (CWI), were involved in the "stay-at-home" strike in two areas in Lagos yesterday. In Agege, 211 copies of the special edition of the paper were sold while comrades in Ajegunle sold 291 copies. DSM branches outside Lagos also intervened in the strike in their areas. DSM members are intervening in at least 12 towns. Earlier, on 14th January, 84 copies of the paper were sold at a planning meeting held at the NLC headquarters in Lagos.
But a DSM rally scheduled for 17th January, 2002, in Lagos to mobilise support for the strike was stopped by the police. Just like our anti-war, anti-terrorism rally that was scuttled by the state in October 2001, the venue of the planned rally was taken over by a contingent of 15 armed policemen who said they have instructions to stop the rally, to prevent "disturbance", according to them. Faced with this situation, we decided to go inside the community where we sold 23 copies of the paper.
The DSM is campaigning for the release of all the detained workers and labour leaders, an end to all cases against activists and a stop to state repression of the trade unions and socialists. We are also demanding for respect for freedom of assembly and association, right to hold rallies and other democratic rights.
Above all, we are campaigning for the working class to have its on independent political party which should fight against the anti-poor neo-liberal policies being implemented by all the countrys capitalist parties and which will implement socialist policies when it comes to power.
Segun Sango
General Secretary, DSM,
Lagos, Nigeria
17th January, 2002
DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST MOVEMENT
National Secretariat:
162, Ipaja Road, Agege, Lagos.
Nigeria
Tel: 01-4925671
E-mail: dsm@beta.linkserve.com
11 January 2002
The latest increase in the prices of petroleum products by the Obasanjo government has justifiably been received with opposition and condemnation by most working people across Nigeria.
This increment, announced at the peak of New Year festivities, saw the price of petrol increased from N22 to N26 per litre, diesel from N21to N26 per litre and kerosene from N17 to N24 per litre. This increment, according to the government, marks the beginning of the liberalisation of the oil marketing industry.. The governments Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Committee headed by Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi (a minister of National Planning during the General Abdulsalam Abubakar military junta) announced that the increment is partly informed by the fact that the price of crude oil sold to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for processing for domestic consumption has now been doubled from $9 to $18 per barrel by the government. In the same statement, Chief Gbadamosi made it clear that the new prices do not even yet take care of certain costs and taxes. The implication of all these is that an era of incessant increases in prices of petroleum products has now arrived.
We in the DSM joins the working people in condemning in its entirety this callous, insensitive and anti-poor fuel price increase.
As with past increments, this latest increase has led to steep rise in transport cost across the country, with fares rising between 50% - 100% in both rural and urban areas. A general rise in the prices of goods, services and accommodation would surely follow leading to dramatic rise in the cost of living. As a result, tens of millions of already impoverished Nigerians will sink into greater poverty and misery.
As in the past, the only people who would benefit from the new price increase are the owners and directors of multinational oil companies (Mobil, National, Unipetrol, Total, Elf, etc) which dominate the petroleum marketing sector (who would achieve a dramatic rise in their profits), and members of the capitalist ruling class who would have more money available to loot.
Based on this reason, we call on the NLC and the 29 industrial unions affiliated to it to wage a consistent mass struggle for the reversal of this obnoxious measure. To this extent, the DSM commends the 7-day ultimatum and nation-wide strike action notice given by the NLC to the Obasanjo government with the demand for the reversal of this latest attack on the working people.
The NLC should insist that the Obasanjo government immediately rescind the decision to hike fuel prices. Rather than just saying that the NLC is opposed to the price increase because it was not consulted before it was imposed, the NLC leaders should, for the reasons which we stated above, oppose the price increase as a matter of principle. Congress should not negotiate for a reduction in the prices but instead insist that the prices be restored to the previous amounts because there was no reasonable justification for any increment in the first instance.
To ensure the success of the struggle, we call on the NLC and the industrial unions to commence immediately a mass mobilisation campaign, with leaflets, posters, rallies, mass meetings, in order to mobilise and organise workers, traders, students and other layers of the working people to resist this latest fuel price hike.
Action Committees should be set up by the trade unions, and labour, youth and community activists at national, state and local levels and in every workplace, school and community to organise the rallies, strikes and protests and to coordinate the struggle in order to ensure its success.
The Action Committees would ensure that the strike is observed everywhere and in line with working class discipline to avoid a situation which anarchists or agent-provocateurs will use the labour action to carry out looting, extortions and unnecessary violence.
Also the NLC leaders should not undertake the tactics of having an indefinite "stay at home" strike. From experience, this type of strike will only isolate workers in their various homes and make it possible for the employers to weaken the strike through the different false propaganda and threats, that would inevitably be issued by the government, the employers and their supporters. Workers would not have the opportunity to hold mass meetings, solidify their ranks, discuss the progress of the strike and further steps to take to ensure its success.
Instead of an indefinite "stay at home" strike, we in the DSM propose that the NLC should in the first instance organise a 48-hour nation-wide general strike to compel the regime to reverse this anti-poor measure. If at the end of this first strike the regime still refuses to yield to workers demand, the unions and the NLC should organise more mass meetings and rallies, intensify the mass mobilisation with the objective of getting more workers and other layers of the working masses such as traders, commercial drivers, students, artisans, etc, to take part in the strike action and protests. Another date will then be fixed for another round of industrial actions and protests. Instead of an indefinite stay-at-home strike that will gradually weaken and lead to a defeat or a partial victory, the method which we suggest will allow the labour movement to boldly but systematically mobilise its forces to achieve the goal of the struggle.
Furthermore, the NLC and activists would also need to consider the provision of certain emergency essential services during the strike, especially if the strike action becomes protracted. This is to ensure that while the strike should paralyse industry and all the institutions through which the capitalists make their profits and exercise control over the society, certain essential services like water, medical emergencies, sanitation, etc, are maintained to some degree. Which of such services to provide and to what extent would be democratically decided by the trade unions and the NLC. These emergency services would show the working masses that the labour movement is not just simply interested in paralysing society and it would increase support for the strike action by various layers of the working people in urban and rural areas. It would also show that the working class could on its own organise society better than the selfish capitalist rogues.
The Obasanjo government and other advocates of liberalisation of the oil marketing industry are as usual, arguing that this policy is the only way to ensure regular fuel supply and attract foreign and domestic investments into the industry. Competition, according to them, will soon lead to lower fuel prices. The recently introduced GSM mobile phone technology is given as an example of the benefits of a liberalised economy.
These arguments are the same always canvassed by the supporters of fuel price increments and deregulation/liberalisation during the past 15 years, since 1986 when fuel price was increased by the Babangida junta as part of the IMF/World Bank Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). Yet there is no evidence to show that fuel price hikes and other neo-liberal capitalist policies have benefited the economy or improved living standards. In actual fact, the opposite is the case.
Like all neo-liberal capitalist policies (e.g. privatisation, commercialisation, retrenchment of workers, etc.), liberalisation is meant to make the rich richer and the poor masses poorer. As statistics provided by the NLC clearly shows, oil marketing companies and the NNPC already made a lot of profit even at the old prices. Yearly, the oil marketing companies (National, Agip, Total, Mobil, Unipetrol, etc) made billions of naira as profit. By increasing fuel price and giving the oil companies the freedom to dictate fuel price, the Obasanjo capitalist government only want to ensure even more super-profits for their local and foreign business friends to the detriment of the welfare of the working masses.
The argument that the liberalisation of the oil marketing sector will soon lead to lower fuel prices is merely meant to deceive the masses. Only mass resistance by the masses, against high fuel prices can check the profit greed of the oil multinationals and their government.
The experience with the newly introduced GSM mobile phones in Nigeria also shows that liberalisation is not the solution to the inability of the masses to have access to efficient and affordable telephone, electricity, fuel and other basic necessities of life.
Yes, because it is relatively easier and cheaper to acquire than NITEL lines, more people have now gained access to telephone courtesy of GSM. But the cost of its acquisition and its tariffs being charged by the GSM companies are still so high that it would for long, if not for ever, remain unaffordable to overwhelming majority of the populace.
Secondly, the service being offered by the GSM companies is very poor indeed. It is often difficult to make or receive calls. Most of the time the response is the familiar "all trunks are busy, please call back later".. The major reason for this is that the private GSM companies (Econet and MTN) have in reality invested very little in technology. The equipment which they have installed cannot cope with the number of subscribers. Rather than investing in technology, each of them has been busy spending millions of naira on advertising and marketing in other to win more subscribers. Like all capitalist enterprises, their primary goal is not service but profit. The same thing will happen in a liberalised oil marketing industry.
The solution to fuel scarcity and other problems facing the oil industry lies not in privatisation and liberalisation but in massive investments and democratic management and control of its affairs by the working people. However, there cannot be any efficient management in NNPC and other public corporations so long as these corporations are run by capitalist managements whose stock-in-trade is looting and nepotism. Also it would be impossible to eradicate corruption in NNPC and other public and private institutions when workers salaries are grossly inadequate to take care of even their basic needs. Finally, adequate and affordable fuel will remain a mirage so long as the capitalist system in which most of the wealth and resources of the country are owned and controlled by a few capitalist elements and multi-national corporation remains in place. So long as this oppressive and exploitative arrangement persists, it would be impossible for NNPC, NEPA, NITEL, water corporations, schools, hospitals and other social services to have sufficient resources to deliver quality service to the masses.
Therefore, not only must the working masses struggle against privatisation and liberalisation of oil industry and public utilities, this struggle must be linked to struggle to change society. The capitalist system needs to be replaced by a democratic socialist system in which the commanding sectors of the economy such as oil industry, banking, manufacturing, etc, are put into public ownership with democratic control and management of the economy and society by the working people.
This is the policy which the NLC and the trade unions should be advocating. Unfortunately, rather than having a firm and consistent opposition against privatisation, deregulation and liberalisation, the NLC leadership supports the privatisation of NEPA and NITEL, and says that it supports the "liberalisation" and not "deregulation" of the oil industry when in actual fact the two terms are just two sides of the same coin.
The latest hike in prices of petroleum products is a graphic illustration of the fact that so long as capitalism holds sway, anti-poor socio-economic and political policies by the capitalist elite belonging to all the capitalist political parties and currents would remain the lot of the working people, whether under a civilian administration or a military dictatorship.
The spate of political violence in recent weeks, the crisis in Osun State, the assassination of Bola Ige, and ethnic and religious conflicts in Benue and Taraba states have again confirmed that peace and prosperity will continue to elude the society on the basis of the neo-colonial capitalist arrangement which prevails in the country. The obnoxious and undemocratic Electoral Act which the Obasanjo regime and the three registered political parties are trying to impose on the working masses shows there is no hope for the working masses so long as the present self-serving political contractors remains in power.
Therefore, the DSM urges the NLC, that while fighting against this fuel price hike, it must also begin, much more seriously, the process of building an independent political party of the working people with distinct programmes and policies different from those of the capitalist ruling class.
Such a party will lead to the struggles against the capitalist attacks on the living standards and rights of the working people. It will fight against the ongoing looting of public wealth in the name of privatisation, fuel price hike, retrenchment of workers and commercialisation of education, healthcare, housing, water and other social services.
Instead of the present anti-poor policies of all the capitalist parties and governments, such a working peoples party will use the nations abundant resources to implement programmes such as provision of free and qualitative education, free medical service, decent and affordable mass public housing scheme, cheap and efficient mass transport system, full employment and welfare benefits for the sick and the elderly. By eliminating mass poverty, ignorance, illiteracy and diseases, the party will remove the real causes of armed robbery, prostitution and ethnical and religious crises. Also, by ensuring that adequate wages are paid to workers and that public enterprises are democratically controlled and managed by elected representatives of the working people, the endemic corruption which continues to afflict the country can be drastically reduced if not totally eliminated.
But in order to achieve these lofty objectives on a permanent basis, the party will need to struggle for the abolition of the present unjust and oppressive capitalist order and for its replacement with a democratic socialist society whose hallmark will be common ownership of the commanding sectors of the economy, with production based on human needs and not profit greed, and the democratic control and management of the economy and society by the working people. This goal the working peoples party will realise by putting into power a workers and poor peasants government that will implement a socialist programme.
We in the DSM call on the leadership of the NLC and the various unions to take a much more serious effort towards the formation of such a party by calling as a matter of urgency a conference of labour, youth and community activists, trade unions, students unions, artisans and traders associations and socialist and pro-labour organisations. The NLC should also work together with an organisation like the National Conscience Party (NCP) towards the attainment of this objective.
The leadership and members of the NCP also need to redouble their efforts towards building the party and orient it towards the working class.
Unless the labour movement and the NCP take this vital historic step now, the growing mass disenchantment against the civilian politicians will either be diverted into greater ethnic-religious conflicts and mindless political violence as witnessed in the past two and a half years or it will be utilised by the military wing of the ruling class to attempt to stage a comeback at a stage as it happened during the first and second Republics in 1966 and 1983 respectively with devastating consequences for the working masses and the society at large.
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