SPN CONDOLES WITH THE FAMILIES OF
DEAD APPLICANTS
NLC AND TUC SHOULD CALL A DAY OF
NATIONAL PROTEST
The
Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) condoles with families of the applicants who
died or were injured at the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) recruitment
exercise on May 15 across the country. We demand payment of adequate
compensation to all the victims and the refund of the N1, 000 extorted from
each of the applicants.
We
observe that this is not the first time a government agency has extorted money
from desperate youths looking for jobs apparently to gratify the greed of top
government functionaries.
The
huge number of applicants drawn by NIS recruitment exercise underscores the
monumental crisis of unemployment in Nigeria. Even the current official
statistics put the unemployment figure at 40 million! It is estimated about 2
million enter the labour market every year with extremely limited opportunities
for getting a job. This explains why well over 500,000 applied for about 4,500
job spaces. We hold that this is a product of an unmitigated failure of the
successive capitalist governments that have been celebrating so-called
impressive economic growth, said to be among the fastest in the world, for well
over a decade.
We
welcome the mini protest held on March 17 by the textile labour union against
the death of NIS applicants and support the planned protest by Joint Action
Front (JAF) on March 27. We however call on both the NLC and TUC to mobilize
for national day of protest in the memory of these young Nigerians that died
prematurely through the visionless policies of the capitalist ruling elite.
We
hold that the governments at all levels irrespective of political parties are
culpable of the failure to provide decent job opportunities for youths and
working people. All the parties currently in political power (PDP, APC, LP and
APGA) subscribe to neo-liberal capitalist economic agenda that promote a
"government has no business in business" principle and prioritize
profits and privileges for a tiny few at the expense of the vast majority. This
explains why the governments at all levels will rather loot public resources at
their disposal than to commit them to job creation, social service provision
and infrastructure development. All the jobs that are purportedly being created
through different schemes by the federal government and states like Osun, Oyo
and Ekiti are essentially casual jobs on poverty wage without any benefit. For
instance in Osun, the OYES workers are paid N10, 000 per month which is even
taxable!
We
therefore call on both NLC and TUC leaders, instead of promoting or having
illusion in the capacity of capitalist government to address the unemployment
crisis facing Nigeria, to spearhead pro-working class socio-economic policies
that will ensure that Nigeria's abundant human and natural resources are owned
and run through elected and democratic committees of workers, poor farmers,
market women, youth and the communities. This is with the central goal of
meeting the basic needs and aspirations of all Nigerians, as opposed to the
current capitalist arrangement which only favour a few at the expense of vast
majority.
We
hold that it is consistent defence of workers interest by the labour leadership
on the basis of a holistic working class economic and political alternative that
can bring to a permanent end the prevailing mass misery in the midst of
stupendous abundance. What Nigerians need now is government, at all levels,
that will put the interest of the vast majority working masses at the centre of
governance and plan society in a such as way that the needs of the people will
be the focal agenda.
Chinedu
Bosah
National
Secretary
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