 Welcome back. It's still a breakfast and plus TV Africa. And of course we're moving on to next major conversation. We have a guest standing by us to do justice to the ongoing strike by the Nigerian Labour Congress. Well, the Nigerian Labour Congress and its affiliate union. So yesterday, Tuesday, a defied warning security reports by the federal government and took to the streets of major cities in the country to protest against the failure of the federal government. It's said to resolve the five month strike by the academic staff union of universities. Specifically, the Nigerian Labour Congress set the money, the two major political parties, the All Progressives Congress and the People's Democratic Party, generated from the sale of forms to aspirants for the 23 elections could address ASUS demands. Now in the Kwaibom State, Uchenweke, who represented the NLC national president, Ayuba Waba, faulted the excuses that there were no funds to meet the demands of university workers. Apart from the Kwaibom State, are the states which witnessed protests included or your state, Oshun state, Ogun state, Kwara state, Enugu state, Benwe state, Sakwato state, Laker state and Plateau state. Early in the day, the president of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Ayuba Waba, appeared on television to say that the workers union, the workers union will embark on a three day nationwide strike if the federal government failed to accede to the demands of the academic staff union of universities after the ongoing two day warning protests by the Nigeria Labour Congress. And I'm glad to say we have joining us this morning a Labour and Youth Activist, Tunli Weizmann Ajayi, who is the General Secretary of the United Action for Democracy. I hope I got that right. Welcome to the program and thanks for your time. Thank you so much for having me. What's your assessment from what you've seen so far of the nationwide protests by the Nigeria Labour Congress? You think these, I mean I know it's just one day, but you think so far, would you say so far so good for the NLC? It was a fantastic engagement all over the country. And I think that even NLC themselves are much more agitated because workers massively merged out everywhere in Lagos by 7 a.m. over 2,000 workers were already out. And by the time we're marching to Laosa, you find a situation where more students use workers who are joining from everywhere. What we are happy about is because the Nigerian people are very, very conscious at this point in time. And it is no threat that what was not achieved during the answers might be achieved again if the federal government continue to take the people for granted. Because what it means is that workers and youths from NSE, ASU, NANDS, all youth structures all over the country will be uniting together to think up the Nigerian ruling class. Because aside the fact that there is this 100 million form that already is like a national embarrassment on many of the youths who are averaging today, not even having up to a million error in the account. We have a situation that Nigerians generally are tired of not only the maleducation that's on board. We are tired of the insecurity. We are tired of the hiking prices of petrol, hiking prices of goods, properties, accommodation. A lot of things are not going on with the country. So you find workers yesterday coming up to vent their anger, not only on education, but generally on the high cost of living at a very low standard of living in Nigeria. From what you're saying, it seems you were part of the protest yesterday. Am I correct to say this? Yes, yes, you confirmed that to my voice too. I'm saying it. It sounds like somebody who has been screaming and shouting solidarity forever or we know before I can ah. Yes, we don't agree. When the NLC was invited to a meeting or had a meeting with the Minister of Labor and Employment, Senator Kresingie last weekend, of course, when we saw some people saw reports of that meeting, it was almost somebody was saying, oh, here we go again, government inviting labor for a meeting. At that meeting, the Minister of Labor and Employment said, you know, there was two reports, a consensus by the federal government that, you know, certain elements could you could use that the atmosphere of that, that protests to to permit trouble, you know, it could be seen or perceived as a political protest, you know, because of the stance of the NLC in support of Labor Party and some other parties and their supporters may want to also reply, thinking of perceiving that as a protest against their own party. That was one. The second thing he said was that they received security reports from the DSS saying that some violent groups would want to use the protests to cause havoc, to kill some people and to cause some sort of chaos. And did you get a sense of insecurity or some sort of situation that resembled what Kresingie was talking about yesterday? You know, everything the DSS in Gigi and Co. I've been insinuating our first who were on the feed yesterday or two, workers, workers provided their own security for the protest. Everybody from the Holloway, Polloy to the youth, to the students, I support of these actions. And so there is no insecurity. The only insecurity is what the DSS should be facing. Where I swab, Boko Harama, already threatening the president of the country. So the insecurity is not on the barricades. It's not on the streets where we are having our protest. In fact, this action is going to be as peaceful as ever because even people that are criminal minded too respect united mass action. The respect of people, they understand very much that the issue is not with the oppressed class. It is with the ruling class. That's one. Then the second thing is that there is a general fear of the fact that the Nigerian Labour Congress, the trade union congress, the Labour bureaucracy generally might betray the struggle. But the struggle is beyond the labour bureaucracy. This struggle is a struggle of workers and being led by one of the most principled organizations of workers, which is ASU. ASU is highly principled. They are the ones leading the negotiations. And so we trust them very well. And aside that too, if the NIC take the working people for granted this time around, they also understand what happened in October 2020. When they failed to march in September 28, 29, and October 2020, the working people by October 6 started the ensouce. So I'm sure they won't repeat the same mistake again in history. In all, I think that the federal government should not be afraid of people's mass actions, which is going to actually be the answer to all of the problems we are having. They should be more afraid of the terrorists because we are coming to change situations for the better. The terrorists are coming to plunder the country in the future. Some of our analysts and Nigerians have looked at and shared their thoughts on the timing of the ASU strike. Some people are saying it's coming late. I mean, of course, the NLC protests are saying it's coming late. Bearing in mind the fact that the ASU strike has been on for over five months now, do you think, do you agree with those who say that NLC is acting late, or have they waited for five months plus, if not six months, to hit the streets? I mean, this is coming late. What do you say to this? Of course, the actions are over. The NLC should have taken action for a very long time. And we are using this to call on the Trade Union Congress. The first us to see full-led Trade Union Congress, the Contribute Allerley-Elect Trade Union Congress, to join up with the NLC actions. It's not too late until it is late. The past months that ASU has been on strike has not only been periods of reflection, it has helped to also mobilize the working people themselves from their houses so that they can also understand that ASU is not on strike for being on strike sake. They are on strike for the betterment of the Nigerian working people used. They are on strike to get us quality education at all levels. That will not be as expensive as what it is. Because for the past month that they have been on strike, we find the Nigerian public officers getting their children to graduate abroad. The diaspora education gets more exposed. So the education tourism we have as it is today is showing very openly because of the ASU strike. So we are urging all other organizations of workers, civil society, to join up. It is never too late. There are those who have pointed to the fact that the Nigerian Labour Congress has already pitched its stand to the political party. Senator Krissing again, Mr of Labour and Employment already gave his thoughts on what the Constitution says and also what the Labour Act or the Labour Law says in the country about the use of funds and resources of the Labour unions for political party purposes. That being said, some have said, you know what, the NLC is merely embarking on a politically motivated exercise, a politically motivated protest that is simply meant to make the country tense and to make the heightened attention in the country to further the purposes of Labour Party whom they want to see win the next election. To the contrary, the NLC and the TUC has only adopted the Labour Party in theory. Because in action, it is not happening. You find it all over the country as today, Labour Party executives, Labour Party leaders were not part of the mass actions. They already are cut off from the working class. So you only find the NLC and TUC doing what is correct in terms of saying the Labour Party is our party. But in terms of getting workers to support the Labour Party, probably because of the current character of the Labour Party, having people as candidates that are not pro-Labor, that have bad antecedents against workers, you don't find most of the workers in the Labour Party. So politically too, the Nigerian labour movement is not in charge of the Labour Party. It has already been Niger. That said, nobody from the ruling class can tell us, both legally and politically, that the working class do not have a right to a political party. And that is why we are also asking workers all over the country to support a pro-Labor candidate for 2023. We shouldn't keep supporting people that will get to government and turn against workers, get to government, turn against Labour, get to government, don't give us employment, get to government, destroy the industries, destroy the companies. We don't want pro-breasting woods, institutions, candidates that will come there, commercialise everything, casualise labour, take workers for granted, don't pay our salaries of workers, don't agree with us too, don't fund education. We don't want such government. So legally and politically, the Nigerian workers have a right to a political party. They have a right to support a candidate that is going to stand for their own aims and objectives. So anybody crying for her should go to court. Interesting. All right. So you're saying, Kuli Weisman, that this action by NLC is not political and you're saying that the support by the NLC for Labour Party is just in theory. But I mean, that is what it is. It's theory. They just have to say they've said it and they've agreed that they are supporting Labour Party. I don't know what or how you're trying to quote it, Mr Ajayi. NLC has said, they have said it, that they are in support of Labour Party for the next presidential election. What else do you want them to do to show that they support the Labour Party? But the cameras were everywhere yesterday. But it's not about yesterday. It's not about yesterday. They are in support of the party. Labour NLC and TUC, I want you to know they are just components of the Labour movement. They are key components. They are centre components of the Labour movement. But most times they do not determine the political way, the political road for the Labour movement. What determines the political road for the Labour movement is a party, candidates that stand with workers' ideas? Mr Ajayi, are you trying to say that the NLC has not thrown its weight behind the Labour Party? Because it's a simple black or white situation. They have said that Labour, NLC has said they support Labour Party. Yes, they said they own the Labour Party. They have said that they are supporting Labour Party for the next election. They have never said this in previous elections as far as I recall. So can you understand that people may suspect and may have some misgivings about this current protest? Especially given the fact that they have access to the government in this phase of the ASU strike, what is needed most importantly some have said is mediation. To be able to come together, to try and see how they can impress on the government and Labour to both agree on something at least for now. That's what some have said. And also some have pointed to the fact that they have free access to the bills that they want to his office to see him. So they can help. My brother, you understand this Nigeria ruling class. Even if you eat on the same table with the federal government officials, the president, what matters is them doing the needful. It's not just about sitting with them having access to them. It's about them doing the needful. For the past five months, ASU has been going from one negotiation. I don't think there's a month that ASU has not been called for negotiation. They have been mediating, they have been negotiating. But you know, just like the first Newton law of motion, the Nigerian ruling class, they are a body that will continue to be at rest, except some sort of mass action is put into place. Some sort of force. They won't take you lightly because for them, the little money that is left in the purse, the large one that is left in the purse, is not meant for the working people of Nigeria. It's meant for the private purses and pockets of some individuals who believe that they constitute the ruling class in the country. So it's not about negotiation and meditation. It won't solve anything. Nigerian working people themselves must ensure that the Nigerian ruling class form the education at all levels and then make sure that that education is highly qualitative and compulsory for all. We can only compare to do that at the barricade. All right. Kule, some have asked the question, where was labor during the Ansar's protests and even after the Ansar's protests? We continue to take up the NSE and TEC over that because what was missing during the Ansar's is the working class involvement. I have done an article on this and I think that Nigerian workers have already learned their lesson. It was a chance to take back the country, but the working class was found wanting. I think next time this won't happen. During the January 2012 uprising against forced subsidy removal, the youths were not so coordinated. They corrected this during the Ansar's. The next time those who coordinated the Ansar's and those who coordinated the January uprising against forced subsidy removal, we have to unite and take back the country once and for all. All right. Finally, do you expect these two days of nationwide protests to automatically force the hand of the federal government to give us their nearly one trillion Naira they're asking for? Do you suspect that this will end up becoming the three-day nationwide strike that they're saying would happen next? Would that also force the federal government to give the ASU nearly one trillion Naira? If that doesn't happen, what next? We shut down the country until that is paid? That is the best. You find the speaker of the ASU of rep has gone back to school in Harvard and most of our students are here to graduate. They are here to go back to classes. The hard way is the only way. We urge ASU, NSE, TUC to continue with mass actions. If by today ending, the federal government does not agree, the next phase of the three-day nationwide strike should start. Once that is not taken, it should continue until we take back our country. All right. Kunli Weismanajai is the general secretary of the United Action for Democracy. He is a labor and youth activist. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you so much for having me. We have more discussions up next on the program. We look at recent ruling by the National Industrial Court, upping the salaries and amendments of judges in the country. Some lawyers think that is a bad idea. We'll be right back with more discussions on the breakfast.