JUST THINKING

There are three important days in this month of May for Nigerians. One is the May Day which is celebrated on 1^st day of May every year globally. The day is set to remind all that there is dignity in labour and to focus the attention of the world on importance of labour in world economies. The day is also important for workers as issues germane to the worker are discussed and addressed. In Nigeria the minimum wage is N18,000 per month or $116 at N155/$.The so called minimum wage for majority of Nigerians worker is their maximum wage. So is it possible for a Nigerian worker who has a family of four to survive on N18,000 monthly wage? No, this is not possible because the Nigerian worker has to pay for everything payable. Crude oil price is going up so does our poverty and helplessness. You pay for electricity that you did not consume, you pay for your local security to be able to sleep with one eye open, you buy water which may not be portable, you pay school fees for your wards or kids, you contribute that roads in your street can be manageable. There is still rampant use of worker as casual staff or to put it mildly, contract staff. The working conditions in many factories and companies in the country are horrible. Some work where there is constant radiation while some work under extreme heat.

The children’s’ day is another highly important day all over the world but are we fair to the generation of our children when majority of their parents live below poverty line? Child trafficking and labour are not yet reduced to the minimum. In some countries children are still forcibly enlisted in the military. Many children are still out of school. Child mortality rate is till high in Nigeria. Recently Nigeria was regarded as one of the worst place to be born in leagues of countries like Somalia and Rwanda. Afghanistan was well placed above Nigeria in the ranking. On the care for generation of our children, we need to declare state of emergency.

The third important day in Nigeria is Democracy day which is May 29 in Nigeria. Since 1999 when Nigeria returned to civil rule there has been nothing democratic about our rulers. Once we leave a government that beats us with horse whips, the next beats our children with fetters. There is open poverty in the land. The governed are poor; those in authorities are poorer in terms of ideas. They are simply disillusioned. Every steps government takes is try and error always landing us many years backward. We request for dividend of our struggle and victory from the military but rather they daily collect interest from us. We pay for their blunders and misrule. Before our own very eyes, an elected person is earning more than American president and we look on. They are sharing our collective patrimony with plenty of fights over it but we are only amused. Out of the blues politics became the only way to success in Nigeria. I t became the only way to be somebody in Nigeria. Someone who knows next to nothing becomes a force to recon with once his party captures election for him. With time we shall all come to the conclusion that instead of celebrating May 29, we should use it as a vehicle to ask for accountability from those in power. We could call it accountability day.