DSM COMMENDS OSHIOMHOLE FOR DECLARING FOR LABOUR PARTY
DSM COMMENDS OSHIOMHOLE FOR DECLARING FOR LABOUR PARTY
The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) commends the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) President, Adams Oshiomhole, for his decision to run, in the forthcoming 2007 elections, under the platform of the Labour Party. This decision, we hope, has finally settled the issue of which platform Adams intends to run in the 2007 general elections. According to a statement credited to Oshiomhole in the Guardian newspaper of July 27, 2007, “it would not be nice to be seen hobnobbing with the dark forces that worked against the country’s development, hence the decision to actualise his ambition via the Labour Party.” Moreover, he was quoted to have said, “We need a complete break from the past.”
Since the time he declared to run in the Edo State Governorship election in 2007, we of the DSM have always agitated that Adams should contest for the presidency under a working peoples’ political platform to make positive change in the lives of the poor working masses. Though Adams has insisted on contesting for Edo State Governorship, his decision to do so on the platform of Labour Party is generally in consonance with our long standing demand that Labour should, in collaboration with all other pro- masses organisations and elements, put in place a machinery towards the formation of a working peoples’ political platform. This is with a view to take political power from the hands of self-serving capitalist elements and in their place, put in power a government that is committed to implementing policies in the interest of the working masses and the poor in general.
Oshiomhole’s entrance to Labour Party should be used to rapidly reinvigorate the party within a short period of time as the genuine platform of the poor working people dedicated to fight on all basic socio-economic issues touching the lives of the masses. Most importantly, the party must be prepared to fight on these issues in and out of power. Even if a newly invigorated Labour Party built on the above outlined basis is not strong enough to dislodge the capitalist politicians from power nationally come 2007, it should nonetheless be strong enough to serve the ruling class a strong notice from Labour that an end to their rule of mass misery in the midst of super abundance is in sight.
Towards this end, DSM calls on the trade union (NLC, TUC, CFTU, ASUU etc) leadership to immediately convoke a pro-labour conference of all stakeholders in Labour, pro-Labour organisations and civil society groupings to strategise on how to attain this mission. This proposed conference, if possible, should precede the August 12 public rally slated for Benin to kick-start Oshiomhole’s campaign. Once again, we wish to reiterate that issue of whether Adams runs for Edo State governorship or presidency should not be left to an individual judgement but something to be decided democratically within a Labour oriented party which we advocate we should create immediately, on the basis of the party’s overall strategy to capture power from the hands of self-serving capitalist politicians.
DSM nonetheless applauds Oshiomhole for taking this radical step and assure him and Labour of its support and solidarity to wrest power from the political vampires for the purpose of implementing pro-peoples programmes and policies such as public funded qualitative education, qualitative health care, good roads, portable water, stable electricity, decent jobs, social security for the unemployed and old citizens, etc.