Lagos—The year 2000 was quite eventful. It brought hope for workers but not so much for the employers and the unemployed.
May Day produced cheering news of pay rise which was a result of the negotiation between Government, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association. The national minimum wage was raised from N250 per month to N5,500 per month. While civil servants had their pay raised from a minimum take home pay of N3, 500 per month to N7, 500 for the same period.
But what seemed good news for union members turned out to be a bit of bad news for employers especially State Governments some of whom are yet to conclude negotiations with their workers.
The private sector too, had its own share of troubles. Workers in the banks, some sections of the petroleum industry, the food, beverage and tobacco industries to mention just a few, embarked on strike to press home their demands.
For state governments, workers in virtually every state, Lagos, Plateau, Borno, Kwara, Kogi, Osun, Oyo, Ondo, Enugu and several others embarked on strike.
But it was not sweet victory all the way for workers as some union leaders lost their jobs in the process. But the most significant event in year 2000 was the June 8-13 strike which paralysed economic activities in the country. That strike was against the federal government's unilateral plans to raise the price of petrol from N20 per litre to N30 on June 4, 2000.
With the strike, the government was forced to reduce the price of petrol to N22 per litre.
In this edition, we produce for our readers quotable quotes that were made during the period.
NLC The decision to hike fuel price was most insensitive,
inconsiderate and punitive to the citizens of this country especially
the workers and the masses of Nigeria
- NLC Deputy President,
Comrade Precious Kiri- Kalio.
NNPC The decision to increase the price of fuel was very hard for
the corporation to arrive at. With the present increase, much of the
fuel being smuggled out of the country would be checked as the
products will be officially sold to neighbouring countries at same
prices as in Nigeria
- Managing Director of the Nigeria National
Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Jackson Gaius- Obaseki
Govt: The increase is necessary if the present administration is to
meet its set social responsibility
- Information Minister, Professor
Jerry Gana.
All I want is half of the amount used in subsidizing NNPC, they
would be able to provide employment in the country
- President
Olusegun Obasanjo
NLC We are trying to negotiate . He ( President Obasanjo) has to
reverse the price and I think he should not underestimate the resolve
of Nigerians. We would be willing to meet him but our message is
clear
NLC President, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole
The NLC and the students must tell Chief Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo
that when Nigerians went to vote last year, they did not vote for
perpetuation of dictatorship.
Most of the leaders thought that we voted to replace the Army Uniform - Oshiomhole
A couple of days before the strike, NLC embarked on a mobilization campaign in between it, its leadership was invited for negotiation in Abuja.
On June 7; the eve of the national strike, the Congress leadership made the following statements:
NLC : The strike will go on until the government reverts to
N20. Time is not on Obasanjo's side. The strike must not
fail. Everybody must be involved. The Civil Service, NITEL, NEPA will
not operate tomorrow if no agreement is reached
- Oshiomhole
June 8; day one of the strike: We have made our position very
clear to President Obasanjo. We shall not accept any increase
whatsoever. President Obasanjo has not listened to us. We shall
continue the strike until he hears us. If it takes 20 years for him to
hear us, we shall remain on strike
- Oshiomhole
Govt: Being a listening government that believes in upholding the
tenets of democracy and in response to the various opinions expressed
by well-meaning Nigerians, the following concessionary price regime
was offered: Premium motor spirit- reduced from N30 to N25 per litre,
Diesel ( AGO) reduced from N29 to N24 per litre. However, the price of
kerosene is reduced from the new price of N27 to its original price of
N17 per litre. This is in recognition of the importance of domestic
kerosene to the generality of Nigerians. In order to avoid the cynical
crisis associated with the pricing of petroleum products, the federal
government believes that it is imperative to fully deregulate the
sector within the next 12 months. Government would like to involve
organized Labour, employers and other relevant consumer groups in
formulating a policy of cushioning the effects of price hike in fuel
and other consumer items. A committee to do this will be formed after
necessary consultation
- Dr. Doyin Okupe, Senior Special Assistant
on Media and Publicity.
NLC We have to fight on all the fronts, but the important thing is
for you to appreciate that organized Labour is a large family. It has
enough troops to fight all its battles and I think every worker is
truly mobilized to engage those who want to engage us
- Congress
President, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole
As the strike progressed, the Head of Service, issued a statement warning senior civil servants not to participate in the strike.
Swiftly, the NLC reacted As Nigerians who fought with tears and
blood for the present democracy, public servants, senior or junior
have the right to strike in order to protect and improve their living
standards and dignity
- Ag. Deputy General Secretary of the NLC,
Comrade John Odah
In the early hours of June 13, 2000 negotiation ended. Government and NLC agreed on N22 per litre. But not after days of heated negotiation during which President Obasanjo threatened to resign and Adams Oshiomhole offered to resign instead.
Govt: The whole thing is a question of the quantum of money to be
able to import, so, if government has to look for extra money to
import, then there will be severe shortages but if we are willing to
bear a little bit of the cost, so that we can bring it in, then there
will be over supply and there will be no scarcity
- Information
Minister, Professor Jerry Gana - June 13
NLC We have gotten to a point that it was clear that government
had a problem, to revert back to N20.00 and we had to deal with
that. We had two options.
Stick to our guns and the strike is prolonged and then get the government thoroughly humiliated because that is the way they see it or give them what we can call the passage so that Nigeria can return to work and peace is restored
We did that for Nigeria. That for us was a sacrifice we made to keep Nigeria going and to keep democracy on. We are also conscious that although the strike was directed against the government, those it hurt most includes the self- employed, the small scale businesses who have been crying.
It was clear that if we had to pursue it further, we would be hurting some of the people we are working with to a point that, we too would begin to count more losses than gains. So, we had to recognize that a general strike is not like an industrial union strike that you can prolong indefinitely.
We made this very token concession to keep Nigeria going so that the Nigerian project, the democratic project, must remain on course - NLC President, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole
![[Documents menu]](../bin/bk.gif)