PUBLIC
WORKERS ARE STILL DEPRIVED OF N18, 000 MINIMUM WAGE!
·
For an adequate compensation for all victims of
demolition now!
Press Statement
We of the Oyo
State Chapter of Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) use the occasion of this year anniversary
of the return to civil rule otherwise called “Democracy Day” to call on the Oyo
State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, to immediately comply with the national
minimum wage law which stipulates N18, 000 as basic salary for Step1 level 1 workers
with commensurate increase for workers in other levels. We also demand adequate
compensations for thousands of working people in the state whose shops/stalls
and houses were demolished without prior alternative under the guise of
beautification and cleaning-up project.
It will be
recalled that on the 2nd May, 2012, the Oyo State public workers, in
order to pave way for negotiation with the state government suspended their
three weeks strike action which they had embarked upon to protest the continued
refusal of Ajimobi-led administration to implement the N18, 000 minimum wage. Unfortunately,
since then, the Ajimobi/ACN led government in the state has not only refused to
meet this legitimate demand of the workers but at different time carried out various
forms of despotic actions against thousands of workers in the state. This was
purposely to intimidate them from continuing the agitation for the
implementation of N18000 minimum wage as well as other improvement in working
conditions. For instance, thousands of teachers and local government workers were
sacked without due process.
We hereby call
on the state leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union
Congress (TUC) to come out with a program of action including mass
sensitization, strike and mass protest for immediate and unconditional payment
of the new minimum wage to Oyo state workers.
We hold that it
is the long years of corruption and monumental failure of successive
governments to invest the collective and stupendous resources of the state on
the needs of the people and infrastructure that has made the beautification
project façade of the current administration at strategic places while the
inner and interior roads are in deplorable condition to be considered “unprecedented”
achievement. But to us in SPN, such beautification projects given the resources
at the disposal of the state is not enough to
justify the non- implementation
of N18,000 minimum wage for Oyo State workers as well as undue daily assaults,
extortion and other repressive actions on small traders and artisans in the
state.
As a matter of
fact, we of SPN do not approve of the situation where people trade either on
the road sides or the streets. It is however the failure of the successive
capitalist governments in the state and nationally \to use the resources of the
society for the benefit of the working people that has created ugly conditions
whereby working people are forced to be selling or trading on the road sides.
We strongly hold
that the working people and the poor are not the centerpiece of Senator Abiola Ajimobi
developmental plan of road construction and beautification project. This
explains why there is no provision for alternative or adequate compensations before
the implementation of the so-called urban renewal policy of ACN-led government.
After all, the UPN-led government in Oyo State in 1983 made sure it built new
Gbagi and Aleshinloye markets before traders moved away from the roads as well
as old Gbagi market.
Unfortunately,
since UPN (which ACN claims to be their progenitor) became defunct in 1983 and
out of government as a result of military coup, all pro-capitalist governments,
both military and civilian, in the state have collectively failed regardless of
political parties to add a single market to the existing ones while the number
of traders in the state has manifold increased .
The argument of
the ACN spokespersons that, “why should Senator Abiola Ajimobi be expected to
provide alternative or compensation to victims of either demolished or destroyed
shops/stalls and goods when those structures were actually illegal” is an
expression of the crass anti-working people character of Senator Abiola
Ajimobi-led government in the state.
In light of this
we strongly condemn the continued use of some gangs of uniformed thugs, the volunteers
of Youth Empowerment Scheme of Oyo popularly known as YES-O; Special police
squad known as Operation Burst and policemen to brutally subject thousands of
small traders and artisans at different areas of Ibadan and Ogbomosho to all
forms of harassment and physical assault under the guise of beautification and
cleaning-up project.
Therefore, while
demanding adequate investment of the collective of the resources of the state
in building low-cost markets for poor traders as well as basic social services
like education, health care, we are conscious of the fact that as long as the
political scene is dominated by pro-capitalist political parties like ACN, PDP,
APGA, ACCORD, LP, CPC, etc the needs and aspirations of the working masses will
always be negotiated for greed of a few thieving pro-capitalist politicians.
We therefore call
on workers, students, unemployed youths and artisans among others to join us in
building SPN as a genuine socialist alternative to the vicious cycle of misery
and nightmare of current iniquitous, anti-poor capitalist system being
represented and defended by all capitalist governments including Ajimobi/ACN
led government in Oyo State.
The government
formed by SPN in Oyo state shall base itself on socialist programme of massive
investment of resources on social services and public works with democratic
control of the working people in order to guarantee provision of quality
education, health care, housing, roads, markets, etc for the benefit of the
working people. This also includes a
measure that all elected and appointed political officers of the SPN shall be
taking the wages of civil servants and commit the rest of bloated pay to
community and workers movements.
Abbey Trotsky
Oyo State Secretary,
Socialist
Party of Nigeria (SPN)
08033914091
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