Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State

Beyond the politics of a strike are the unsung achievements of the Amosun administration

By Muyiwa Adekoya

One of the tragedies of the Nigerian polity is that it is the empty barrel that makes the loudest noise. If you are a performing governor and you don’t blow your own trumpet in this country, nobody is going to blow it for you. This is why the media handlers of the ‘steeple cap’ Governor of Ogun state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, have to do more.

A couple of my friends that were eventually persuaded not to abandon their state of origin now have a different opinion about Amosun. You need to see things for yourself in this country before you draw conclusions. But since majority of the opinion moulders live outside their own state and rely on the media to know the goings-on back home, then government should not surrender the media to the opposition politicians whose only aim is to bring down any outstanding government through propaganda.

I have read the communique of the parley between the Ogun State Government and labour union leaders which culminated in the suspension of the two-week-old strike by the organised labour.

I was shocked to the marrow because I could not see any substantial difference between the current agreement or Memorandum of Understanding and that of March, 2016. Even before the strike, information was in the public domain that arrangements were being made by the government to commence payment of gratuities. This tends to confirm the government’s oft-iterated position that the just-suspended industrial action was influenced by opposition politicians. And this is totally reprehensible and regrettable. Therefore, the workers appear to have been handed the short end of the stick by their so-called labour leaders, because they brought nothing completely new to the table. That is what you get when you abandon your core mandate as unionists and dabble into the murky water of politics.

For instance, throughout the duration of the strike the union leaders did not accuse the government of any breach of the March agreement. And government in its statements admitted to owing workers some deductions but was faithfully offsetting them in line with the March, 2016 MoU with labour despite dwindling resources occasioned by the economic downturn in the country. This open admission by the government really warmed my heart. It shows the government is open, transparent and not hiding anything from the workers or public. This is different from what we were used to in this country. Why then did they call out workers on strike if they had no ulterior motives?! Or should government expend the entire meagre income on workers who are less than one per cent of the population and ignore the over ninety per cent residents who are not in the public sector?

I observed earlier that the Amosun government needed to blow it’s own trumpet. In spite of financial difficulties facing all the states, I am exceedingly impressed to know that there are thousands of poor mothers and pregnant women enjoying free health services in Ogun state. In fact, they have special cards supplied to them by the Amosun administration which they take to recognised health care providers in their local councils and access free health. I saw some of these people and made inquiries. A few weeks ago, I saw the cards with my own eyes but wondered why the media of the governor was not trumpeting this kind of outstanding achievement. If you are doing such great things and you don’t blow your own horn, the opposition will run you down so that the reading public will think the government is not doing anything. We ought to have been reading of “AmosunCare” just like we read of “ObamaCare”. This is an innovation we ought to commend to all governments in Nigeria. It has never happened in the history of this state, I dare say in Nigeria.

It is very easy to take things for granted. So easy to forget that the sound sleep we now enjoy across the state is as a result of the initiative of the Amosun government to confront insecurity and subdue it with all means possible. This is the same state that saw the exit of many of its prominent sons and daughters to neigbouring states some years ago as a result of insecurity. When last can anyone recall that banks closed business on account of insecurity in Ogun state?

But there was the era when banks and other financial institutions used to shut down regularly for fear of armed robbery and shop owners locked their shops by 6pm. And time was when it was even dangerous for union leaders to speak let alone contemplate a strike action for fear of their lives, yet the same unionists now regard strike as pastime. It was surprising to read that these same unionists that lied to the public some days ago about the safety of their lives were seen on the streets of Abeokuta and even in the government office! A case of abuse of free speech and liberty or indulgence taken too far!

In conclusion, I regard the latest strike by labour as frivolous, unwarranted, malicious and completely influenced by external factors rather than the extant labour regulations. In fact, in other climes, they should be in the dock now defending themselves against charges of economic sabotage and subversion. I do hope this will be the last of such politically-motivated action.

In the meantime, I urge the Amosun government to take the unnecessary industrial action in its stride. As it is said, uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. Workers should equally call their union leaders to order. Heads or tails, government remains the employer. The humanness and magnanimity of the Amosun government should not be taken for a weakness.

The Civil Service Commission should reconsider the dismissal of the partisan unionists, who openly violated the regulations of the Service, only in the interest of their families. Ordinarily, they sowed the wind and ought to reap the whirl-wind, but sometimes life is about forgiveness and compassion, even for the undeserving.

**Muyiwa Adekoya, a public affairs analyst, writes from Aiyetoro, Ogun State