NLC in its Democracy Day celebration statement signed by its President, Ayuba Wanna, said “As a people, we have the power to elect or change governments that refuses to better our life if only we are willing and committed. We are also obligated to support government if it is doing the right thing. On no account should we allow primordial or pristine considerations to preclude us from doing the right thing.
“Unfortunately, those we elected to serve as democratic leaders have not only turned around to serve themselves but continue to exploit every given opportunity to turn the rest of us into paupers in our own land.
“At the risk of repetition, the biggest gift this anniversary offers us in our view is, as part of our civic duty, to register and obtain our voters cards, vote and defend our votes. It also gives us a chance to monitor government and hold it to account.”
The statement went on said, “Besides the frequent unlawful dipping of fingers into the public till, everything including salaries, pensions, perquisites, ways and means are skewed in their favour to the exclusion of workers
“This certainly makes a mockery of the very essence of democracy which is service to the people and for the benefit of the common good.
“For us in the labour movement, a democracy that does not allocate resources in such a manner that ensures equity, justice and sustained national development or cohesion is beggarly.
“We reason that Nigerian workers are frequently turned into canon fodder by the Nigerian political elite in their high stakes political games and mindless scramble for the commonwealth.
“Despite escalating costs of living, devaluation of the Naira and general hardship in the land, the Nigerian worker is still forced to survive on N18,000 as minimum wage with not a few states owing backlog of salaries and pensions.
While Pensioners in not a few states wallow in misery and unimaginable suffering, the members of the political elite led by state governors as a matter of ‘law’ and policy, take in advance whopping severance packages to which they are not entitled in the first place.
“How well has this democracy uplifted the spaces where we live and work? Without prejudice to the effort of this government, our infrastructure is still in tatters. Our roads are impassable and public electricity supply remains epileptic.
“Our schools and health facilities have become sorry relics of what they used to be in the first decade post-independence.”
On the rampant and incessant killings across the country, NLC said, “The spate of killings, general wave of violence and insecurity across the country further traumatise the hapless citizenry.
“In light of the foregoing, this May 29th should be like no other as it should not be devoted to false homage to democracy but devoted to soul-searching and truth-telling, so that with commitment from all of us, we can get it right.
“This day avails us a great opportunity to demand for accountability from our leaders, especially, governors, and also from ourselves as citizens of a great country that has potential to be greater
It is a day for us to shift from our pliant position as citizens to a position of virility, vitality, proactivity or of asking questions, especially, those who have appropriated the machinery of democracy to feather their nests.
“This May 29 must be seized by those who have been under-served by the chefs manning our democratic kitchen. This May 29must be captured by those who have been left behind in our democratic journey. There is no better time to demand for accountability from political office holders than now.
“There is also no better time to demand accountability from the popular side – ourselves – than now. What have we done with our votes? What will we do with our votes in 2019 and in elections that would take place before and after then? Our destiny is our hands to shape!
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