Democratic Socialist Movement

For Struggle, Solidarity and Socialism in Nigeria

By - DSM

TELECOM PROTEST – LABOUR NEEDS CLEAR PLAN TO DEFEND THE WORKING CLASS AND POOR

NLC PLANNED PROTEST AGAINST TELECOM TARIFF HIKE: DSM URGES LABOUR TO ADOPT A COHERENT PROGRAMME TO SERIOUSLY DEFEND THE INTEREST OF THE WORKING CLASS AND THE POOR MASSES

Statement of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM)

Ordinarily, the announcement of the decision of the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to hold a nationwide mass protest on Tuesday 4 February 2024 against another increase in telecom tariffs is a development that should be applauded by all and sundry considering the decisively anti-poor, exploitative and provocative character of the policy. As is widely known, telecom firms operating in Nigeria have a legendary record of brutal exploitation despite poor service delivery.

Indeed, since the early 2000s when the sector was privatized by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, the big telecom firms have been milking Nigerians of their hard-earned income while enjoying, for a period, all sort of support from government including tax holiday and numerous waivers. Today, Nigeria has some of the highest call and data tariffs in Africa despite poor call and internet services. Therefore, for the fat cats of the private telecom firms, after years of making record profits in Nigeria, to then lay claim to the unfolding economic crisis in the country as a justification for a 50 percent tariff increase is no doubt a provocation that requires a decisive response from the labour movement.

However, when placed on a balance of scales, the planned protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on telecom tariff hike while conveniently ignoring all the other neo-liberal attacks of the Tinubu regime on the livelihood of the Nigerian people over the last one and a half years, can only be seen, and justifiably so, as nothing but a betrayal of the economic interest of the working class and poor masses of this country who have been enduring one of the worst cost of living crisis in Nigeria’s history. So, it is no surprise that the NLC’s call for a protest has failed to generate any enthusiastic response from even within the ranks of the labour movement itself. This is because of lack of trust in the leadership of the NLC and a general feeling that, even when they call for action, they are not interested in any serious fightback. Due to labour leaders’ history of stopping protests and then making unpalatable deals, many also rightly expect that whatever action that is called may be suspended before it even starts so no one wants to invest energy and resources on something that is likely to be suspended at the last minute. And this is likely to be the case again considering that a meeting between the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the NLC leadership has been scheduled to take place on the eve of the protest!

Notwithstanding these justifiable misgivings however, we in the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) urge Nigerian workers and the masses to troop out in large numbers to join the planned protest on Tuesday 4 February 2025 not because of any trust in the labour leadership but especially because of a lack of it. By failing to join the protest, the rank and file workers would be giving a labour leadership that is ordinarily not interested in any serious struggle an additional excuse to completely fail to call for any action again in future as they would simply argue that workers and the poor masses will not respond. Therefore, it is important for activists at the rank and file level of the trade unions to do everything possible to move out rank and file workers to join the protest. We also call on the masses and youth whose socio-economic conditions would be further affected by a telecom tariff hike to join the protest at every state capital.

LABOUR ON CRUTCHES

As they say in Nigeria, whether a day would be good or bad is often known from the eve. Even before it starts, the planned protest has already run into numerous political and organizational obstacles. First and foremost, mobilization has been generally tepid with many leaderships of NLC State councils practically failing to mobilise. For example, the Chairperson of NLC Lagos State Council only sent out by 6:30pm yesterday, Sunday an invitation to a SEC and SAC meeting holding today Monday 3 February – the very eve of the protest of 4 February 2025. Indeed, in some states like Oyo, no meeting has been called to plan and mobilise for the protest as the state leaderships consider it wise to wait for the outcome of the meeting between the NLC and NCC first. To make matters worse, this so-called meeting between the NCC and NLC is not going to start until 5pm which means in the likelihood that it lasts far into the night, there will be completely no time for the state councils to mobilise should the outcome of meeting be so unsatisfactory that the NLC national leadership decides on going ahead with the planned protest the next day. There can be no better sign of unseriousness than this. Sadly, what this means very clearly is that what is being planned for Tuesday is just a token protest if it is eventually held.

Secondly, one of the in-house unions, Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PTECSSAN), has openly condemned the NLC’s planned protest and pledged its support for the 50 % telecom tariff hike. This unprincipled stance of PTECSSAN is an indication that the ideological and political rot in the labour movement has become a cancer that has affected every root and branches of the movement. Many trade unions in the private sector are under the control of union leaders who have ideologically capitulated to neoliberalism and the market economy and are in turn in the pocket of the bosses. PTECSSAN is an affiliate of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) – the second largest trade union centre in the country. It is not impossible that the union’s unprincipled stance is shared by the leadership of the TUC who have a more decidedly pro-market philosophy in comparison to the equally pro-capitalist NLC leadership. This probably explains why the NLC has been unable to win the support of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) for a joint prosecution of the struggle against the tariff hike.

Unfortunately, this division could have a big impact on the struggle itself. On the one hand, the NLC is weak organizationally with many state chapters under the control of union leaders who are card-carrying members of the ruling capitalist political parties in their states. This means that they often act as internal saboteurs to the puny attempts by the NLC leadership to muster a resistance to government anti-poor policies. On the other hand, it appears that the Joe Ajaero leadership of the NLC has lost both the respect and fear of the Tinubu regime as well as support of the Nigerian working masses – a logical consequence of the leadership’s class collaborationism and political impotence as the regime began its neo-liberal onslaught one and a half years ago. What all these sadly means therefore is that instead of tomorrow’s action serving as an opportunity to show the power of the working class, there is a risk that it might end up as a faint whimper that is not only too weak to stop the telecom tariff increase but that also serves to embolden the regime to feel even more invincible in its unrelenting neoliberal onslaught on living conditions and repression of civil liberties.

THE WAYFORWARD

Considering all the aforementioned, it is not too difficult to see that the stage has been set for another compromise. Most likely the NLC leadership will settle for whatever is won at the negotiation today and suspend action. But even if it goes ahead with its planned action on Tuesday 4 February 2025, there is all likelihood that the protest would be just a token demonstration.

Whatever happens, Socialists and genuine trade union activists have to be worried at the growing emasculation  of the labour movement and what it means for the class struggle in Nigeria. In the light of the explosion of mass struggle last year under the slogan #Endbadgovernance as well as some workers’ strikes breaking out at different workplaces across the country on issues of pay and conditions, it is crystal clear that what is holding back the class struggle in Nigeria is not the unpreparedness of the working masses to fight but the class collaborationism of the leadership of the labor movement.

This is why it is necessary for a campaign for the rebuilding of a fighting labour movement to be launched right now. This is not a matter that can be postponed anymore as the fate of the entire country lies on it. This campaign which should involve rank and file workers, Socialists and activists will have as part of its objective the return of internal democracy to the trade unions, election of union leaders on workers’ pay, removal of unearned privileges from union positions, accountability in the usage of union resources, recall of all pro-bosses, pro-capitalist and corrupt trade union leaders and their replacement with those ready to fight for the working class.

Only such a trade union leadership can fight seriously to win concessions on pay and conditions for workers while also energetically taking up the struggle against all anti-poor policies like fuel price hike, electricity and telecom tariff hike etc. However, while winning concessions can bring relief to the working class and long-suffering masses, only the overthrow of capitalism and its replacement by a Socialist alternative can permanently rid society of the situation of mass poverty and misery in the midst of abundance. To do this will also require that a fighting labour movement works with Socialists and activists to build a mass workers’ political party to fight to wrest political power from the capitalist elite in order to end the inequitable capitalist system and bring into being a democratic Socialist Nigeria under which the means of production would be publicly owned and democratically managed to ensure that Nigeria’ wealth which has been stolen by the one percent is made available to begin to fix society and make lives better for all and sundry.

Peluola Adewale

Organising Secretary

For Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM)