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For struggle, Solidarity and Socialism in Nigeria |
Committee for a Workers' International
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Socialist Democracy September - October 2003
Tinubu:ROUND TWO OF WORKING CLASS REPRESSION* Workers, Youth and Students Should Resist Anti-Poor Measures By Lanre Arogundade If we were to go by the alleged overwhelming popularity of Governor Bola Tinubu in Lagos State, the drums and the cymbals ought to have been rolled out by the people on their own volition to celebrate the first 100 days of his second term. In reality however it was the inner caucus of the ruling Alliance for Democracy in the state that celebrated among themselves. The ruling cabal dared not go public. The reasons are not far fetched. Within the short period of the second term, the Tinubu administration has bared its fangs. Markets are to be forcefully shut at 6 pm, a measure that will certainly deny many self-employed the only means of livelihood. The state claims this is to stop robbery but it is not addressing the main causes of criminal activities like joblessness, high cost of living, etc. If anything, it is set to compound the problem. The state is one of those saying it cannot pay the recently agreed 12.5 percent pay rise by the Federal Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). It should not be forgotten that in order to implement the last wage increases, the administration sacked thousands of workers including labour leaders who led the agitation for the payment of a N7, 500 minimum wage by the state. Where the Tinubu administration is concerned, it is profit first and people's welfare second or never. For example, having apparently sold the popular Ojota motor park to a private interest, the regime went ahead to forcefully eject the transporters using the place giving them less than 24 hours to obey an illegal quit order. The invading soldiers and policemen raped young girls and old women alike and arrested and detained close to two hundred people. Recall that this same administration, pretending to want to develop the utterly neglected Ajegunle ghetto had started attempting to pull down houses and schools without making any alternative arrangement. The people, of course, saw through and resisted the ruse: Tinubu wanted the land for the rich. The same way Maroko, another Lagos suburb, was pulled down for the rich while the poor 300,000 displaced residents were never properly rehabilitated. Elsewhere, LASTMA, its traffic management agency, remains a terror and bribe taking squad. Many are picked for road offences but few are ever tried. In between the scene of offence and the court, bribes continue to exchange hands. But it is actually difficult to stop traffic offences under a situation where virtually the entire road network is in a state of disrepair. So bad are the roads that one is left to wonder what became of the billions of Naira voted for road construction in Tinubu's first term. But the Tinubu style is all too familiar: promise high heavens and neglect basic things that could change the life of the people for better. An example is the promise of a fourth mainland bridge to link the elite occupied Victoria Island with mainland Ikorodu while many inter-state and intra-city roads are left unattended to. Meanwhile, the other time, Enron, the bankrupted American electricity company was supposed to supply and improve electricity in Lagos State through a so-called Independent Power Supply system. Today, the effect is hardly noticeable. The truth is that such billion naira projects will facilitate the giving and taking of kickbacks whereas a massive and masses oriented program of public works could limit such. So, why will the working people see any need for wide jubilation when a so-called Oracle computer system has even led to a collapse of the process of paying salaries such that they are now delayed? But while the poor masses grumble, Tinubu remains a darling of the American capitalists and imperialists who he has been wooing to come and invest in and take over major sectors of the Lagos State economy. The mechanism by which they will carry out the so-called investment is privatization and commercialization, the kind of policies that translate to job cuts, job losses and higher tariffs. All the above point to likely more attacks on the working class and youth in the state. The working masses should be ready to face the challenge by organizing mass resistance to these anti-poor policies. Organizations like the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) and the National Conscience Party (NCP), that have traditionally mobilized against the Tinubu administration and its anti-poor and repressive policies should be supported by workers, students, youths, women and others who have been victims of attacks on the poor in Lagos.
Socialist Democracy September - October 2003
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