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By Fred Weston
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Thursday, 18 December 2008 |
 Just a few months ago all the
talk was of Nigeria avoiding the effects of the world crisis of capitalism, the
idea being that the local economy was not as integrated into the world
financial markets as the more advanced economies. Then suddenly things started
to change...
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By Ola Kazeem in Lagos
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Wednesday, 23 July 2008 |
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A major teachers' strike has broken out
in Nigeria over the question of a Teachers' Salary Scale. What is significant
is that 88% of the population is backing the strike. This fact alone reveals
the real feelings of the Nigerian working class and poor masses. It reveals the
potential for a much wider movement involving the whole of the working class.
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By Ola Kazeem in Lagos
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Wednesday, 04 June 2008 |
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Nigeria, like all countries, is being affected by the
sharp increase in food prices. Now the government, floating on the huge amounts
of petrodollars coming into the country, has ordered 500,000 tons of rice to
flood the Nigerian market in an attempt to get the price down. But will this
solve the problem?
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By Ola Kazeem in Lagos
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Tuesday, 20 May 2008 |
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In spite of the bulk of the population being employed in
agriculture, the main source of revenue for the Nigerian state is the export of
oil. At the moment a lot of money is coming in, and yet poverty and income
inequality have never been so high. When the US
recession finally hits Nigeria
it will have a tremendous impact on the political life of the country.
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By Didi Cheeka in Lagos
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Tuesday, 20 May 2008 |
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According to official figures Nigeria is booming, thanks mainly
to the sky-high price of oil. And yet poverty levels are increasing and the gap
between rich and poor has never been so high. There is a lot of talk of boom,
but more and more people are literally becoming hungry, some on the verge of
starvation.
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By Ola Kazeem in Lagos
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Tuesday, 06 May 2008 |
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May Day
in Nigeria
this year came after a series of rotten deals between the trade union leaders
and the bosses in many companies. That explains why the turn-out was not as
high as in previous years. In spite of this, the union leaders came under such
pressure that they have been forced to call a day of action for May 8.
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By Oke Ogunde in Lagos
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Friday, 25 April 2008 |
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Last year's elections
in Nigeria saw fraud on a scale never seen before. This has severely undermined
the authority of the government in the eyes of the masses, so much so that the
judiciary are now overturning some of the results. This has led to illusions
that the judiciary is now a friend of democracy and even "revolutionary".
Nothing could be further from the truth.
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By Didi Cheeka in Lagos
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Thursday, 20 December 2007 |
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This article, written this summer, highlights the material
and human devastation provoked by the oil barons in Nigeria. They have sucked out
billions of dollars from the Niger Delta region without any benefit accruing to
the poor masses that inhabit the regions. That explains the violence and
constant conflict. It is an utter condemnation of the Nigerian bourgeoisie that
is totally incapable of solving any of the pressing problems facing the masses.
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By Ola Kazeem of the Workers Alternative
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Tuesday, 26 June 2007 |
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Once again, just as
the general strike was starting to have an effect, the leaders of the Nigerian
trade unions called it off. The regime was on its knees, but it has survived
thanks to the unwillingness of the trade union leaders to go all the way. It
highlights the need for a genuine fighting leadership. The Marxists can play an
important role in building this.
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By Oke Ogunde, Lagos
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Friday, 22 June 2007 |
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The contradictions and tensions in
Nigerian society have exploded and the class
struggle is back
firmly on the agenda. Nationwide strike action has been called to
battle government proposals to raise petrol prices, increase the
VAT, and sell two
state-owned refineries. After two days of solid
support for the strike, the struggle
continues.
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By Ola Kazeem in Lagos - Campaign For Workers Alternative
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Wednesday, 20 June 2007 |
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Less than a month ago the present government of Nigeria was
brought into office on the basis of blatant and massive fraud in the elections.
We predicted it would be a weak regime with no real base in society. Faced with
a general strike this regime has already been forced to make concessions. But
it is only playing for time.
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By Ola Kazeem in Lagos
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Tuesday, 05 June 2007 |
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The recent elections in Nigeria were blatantly rigged, but
the nature of the official opposition – as corrupt as the clique in power –
means the masses have no clear point of reference to rally round. In this
situation the responsibility of the leaders of the labour movement is enormous.
If they gave a lead the masses would rally behind them and it would mean the
end of this regime and the beginning of the struggle for socialism.
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By Workers’ Alternative
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Tuesday, 15 May 2007 |
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For the first time in years there was one joint Mayday rally
in Nigeria
of all the trade unions. The Marxists intervened successfully in spite of
attempts by the police to stop the distribution of material. Meanwhile the
petit bourgeois left are once again making the same mistakes as in the past by
mouthing the same slogans as the bourgeois “opposition”.
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By the Workers’ Alternative Editorial Board
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Friday, 11 May 2007 |
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The recent elections in Nigeria
were blatantly rigged. The problem is that the official bourgeois oppositions
is incapable of doing anything about it. That is because they serve the same
interests. It is up to the working class to build its own party through the
trade unions and offer a genuine socialist way out of the present crisis.
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By Ayo Ayodeji
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Friday, 11 May 2007 |
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The Nigerian authorities are attempting to crush all
independent student union representation. At the OAU campus the students are
valiantly defending their right to organise but have been met with a brutal
response. Please add your name to the protest.
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By Ola Kazeem in Lagos
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Wednesday, 28 March 2007 |
The Obasanjo regime in Nigeria boasts about its economic achievements, but it is only fooling itself. The real situation is that polarisation between the classes, with extreme wealth for the few and intense poverty for the many, has never been so great.
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By Oke Ogunde in Lagos
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Thursday, 15 March 2007 |
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Here we have a blatant case of victimisation of a female
trade union activist in Nigeria,
victimised for defending her fellow workers.
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By Oke Ogunde in Lagos
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Thursday, 15 March 2007 |
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A Labour Party has been launched in Nigeria and is
standing candidates in the forthcoming elections. Unfortunately it is dominated
by bourgeois politicians, in many cases people who have abandoned the rotten
ship of the discredited parties that make up the present set up. That may
explain why so few workers have joined it so far.
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By Editorial Board of Workers' Alternative
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Monday, 10 July 2006 |
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While promising to meet the unions, the Nigerchin management
is trying to use scan labour to break the strike. On recognising the workers’
right to join any union thy wish they have raised the excuse that they must
first consult with the owners back in China! These workers are fighting
for basic trade union rights. Please support the solidarity campaign and raise
this in your union.
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By the Editorial Board of the Workers’ Alternative
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Wednesday, 05 July 2006 |
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Chemical workers at the
Nigerian company, NIGERCHIN, have come out on an indefinite strike simply to
defend their right to join the trade union of their choice. Trade union
activists and members are being victimised because of this. They need your
support! Raise this issue among your workmates and friends and get letters of
protest sent off.
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By Oke Ogunde in Lagos
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Tuesday, 06 June 2006 |
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On top of all its other anti-working class policies, the Obasanjo
regime in Nigeria
has recently introduced a new pension scheme, which is nothing other than a
privatisation of pensions, with investment funds taking over the running of
workers' pensions, funds which could collapse easily, and with no government
guarantees, leaving future pensioners destitute.
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By Dele Adebole in Lagos
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Tuesday, 06 June 2006 |
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Back in February two Lagos students were killed by police as they protested against the recent hike in school fees. In some cases fees have been increased a hundred times over. This is making it practically impossible for poor and working class Nigerian children to get an education.
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By Dele Adebole in Lagos
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Tuesday, 06 June 2006 |
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In March millions of Nigerian were forced to stay at home for the day
as government officials carried out a head and property count. The regime
claimed this would allow for a serious calculation of the level of unemployment
and thus allow for “job-creation” to go ahead. The operation was inefficient
and plagued by corruption. In the real world Nigerians continue to lose their
jobs, pensions, education…
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By Ayo Ayodele
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Thursday, 25 May 2006 |
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Recently Nigeria
paid a sum of $12billion to the Paris Club, thus cancelling
its foreign debt. The fact that through the servicing of the debt,
Nigeria had already paid back more than it has borrowed is
conveniently skipped over. Those $12bn could have been used to
improve the miserable lives of most Nigerians.
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By Ola Kazeem in Lagos
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Thursday, 25 May 2006 |
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Pensions have
been privatised, 92% of Nigerians are living on less than $2 per day,
the interest rate stands at 36%, the (official) inflation rate at
15%, millions are either unemployed or not gainfully employed, life
expectancy stands at 45 years, annual per capita GDP at $200 and
incredible sums of debt hang over the head of the poor. There is no
way out on the path of capitalism.
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By Workers' Alternative
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Wednesday, 17 May 2006 |
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Many arguments
have been presented in favour of Obasanjo remaining for a third term.
Here we list them together with a reply.
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By the Editorial Board of the 'Workers Alternative'
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Wednesday, 17 May 2006 |
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Yesterday attempts to amend the
Nigerian Constitution to allow Obasanjo a third term
in Office were defeated. Here we publish the latest
Editorial of the Workers' Alternative written before
the vote.
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By our correspondent in Lagos
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Tuesday, 02 May 2006 |
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This year’s May Day rallies in
Nigeria marked a sharp shift to the left among the rank and file
workers. Trade union leaders that were admired and respected until
very recently are now becoming discredited and the interest in
Marxist ideas is growing.
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By the Workers' Alternative
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Wednesday, 11 January 2006 |
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Everywhere we look in the world the same process is taking place, privatisation, cuts in welfare, cuts in pensions, job losses and so on. In Nigeria this IMF/World Bank-inspired anti-working class programme is being carried out by the Obasanjo regime. But the workers are fighting back. Here we provide a sample of articles from the Nigerian Marxist journal, the Workers’ Alternative and its programme to combat the regime effectively. |
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By our Nigerian industrial correspondent in Lagos
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Friday, 23 December 2005 |
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The problem of unrepresentative trade union leadership is a worldwide one. Here we have an example of the corrupt leaders of a steel workers' union in Nigeria. As a result several branches have broken away and joined what they perceive as a more radical union. But the corrupt leaders of the steel workers are still there. It is the whole leadership that needs to be changed! |
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By Ola Kazeem in Lagos
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Thursday, 08 December 2005 |
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Venezuela and Nigeria are both oil-rich countries. But in Venezuela we have a genuine attempt at poverty alleviation, which has brought the Bolivarian regime into conflict with imperialism. In Nigeria, where Obasanjo even refuses to acknowledge that poverty exists, the regime has very good relations with imperialism |
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By Didi Cheeka in Lagos
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Thursday, 08 December 2005 |
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Thousands of people in Nigeria are driven by hunger to sell their bodies and souls to live; thousands of people, wretched and living in misery and appalling squalor, struggle to earn just enough to keep themselves alive; willing to work and begging for a chance, yet starving, condemned to hunger, dirt and disease. And yet president Obasanjo appearing on TV claims no one goes hungry in Nigeria! In which Nigeria does he live? |
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By Ayo Ayodeji in Lagos
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Monday, 21 November 2005 |
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LASCO is an umbrella body that has emerged in Nigeria which purports to have a wider representation than the unions themselves. In reality it is a body with no powers and the top union bureaucrats simply hide behind it to defuse the movement whenever it erupts and then they put it to one side once this job is done. It is time to build action committees in all the workplaces, elected by the workers and recallable. |
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By the Workers' Alternative
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Monday, 21 November 2005 |
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September witnessed an unprecedented wave of protest across the whole of Nigeria, with mass trade union rallies in all the major cities. The spark that set the movement in motion as the latest increase in the price of fuel, but the demands being raised, such as the call for the government to resign, and the mood displayed on the rallies all serve to underline that Nigeria is moving towards a revolutionary upheaval. An editorial statement from the Nigerian Marxist journal, the Workers’ Alternative. |
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By Ola Kazeem in Lagos
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Monday, 24 October 2005 |
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Millions of people are facing starvation in Niger. Are we to believe that this is another “natural” disaster, as the media would like us to? The fact is that there is food available in the markets of Niger, but the people cannot afford to buy it. Again, profit comes before the lives of the poor. |
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By Oke Ogunde in Lagos
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Monday, 24 October 2005 |
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In spite of being rich in oil Nigeria is in a state of collapse. Healthcare, education, transport, pensions and so on are all coming under attack. Unemployment is growing everywhere. An explosive mood is developing from below, while at the top the political leaders offer nothing but conferences, talk shops and so on. And yet it could be different, very different. It is in the hands of the leadership of the labour movement. |
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By Workers' Alternative
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Wednesday, 05 October 2005 |
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A series of very successful rallies have been taking place all over Nigeria
against the fuel price hike. Here we provide the pdf format of the article
we published earlier, Nigeria: Endless fuel price hikes. This was widely
distributed at the Lagos rally, and we are making it available as a PDF file for anyone to
print out. |
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By Ola Kazeem in Lagos
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Thursday, 15 September 2005 |
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Yesterday there was a
gigantic rally of protest in Lagos. The mood of anger simmering below the
surface for so long is now erupting onto the streets of the cities and towns of
Nigeria. This process marks the beginning of the end of the Obasanjo regime.
Nigeria is poised to join the many other countries where the masses have
successfully overthrown rotten regimes that are there only to serve the rich. |
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By Workers' Alternative
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Wednesday, 14 September 2005 |
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At
the end of August the Obasanjo regime in Nigeria upped the price of fuel massively. This has
provoked widespread anger among the workers and poor. Today the first of a
series of rallies is taking place. Here we publish the text of a special
leaflet produced for the occasion by the Nigerian Marxists of the Workers’
Alternative journal. |
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By Ola Kazeem in Lagos
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Tuesday, 10 May 2005 |
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With some delay we received this report on the May Day rallies in
Lagos, Nigeria. We are publishing it because it gives a taste of the
militant mood that is developing among Nigerian workers. |
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By Oke Ogunde in Lagos
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Tuesday, 22 February 2005 |
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The impasse of the Obasanjo regime has provoked one general strike
after another. The situation is very explosive. To try and divert
attention from the real issues the regime has now come up with the idea
of a delegate conference known as “National Dialogue”, which opened on
February 21. The petit-bourgeois opposition is calling for an
alternative conference. Both are clearly diversions aimed at holding
back the movement of the masses. The only way out is for the NLC
leaders to break with all these manoeuvres and build a party of labour. |
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By Fred Weston
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Tuesday, 16 November 2004 |
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The planned November 16 general strike in Nigeria was called off at the
last minute after the government accepted a small reduction in the
price of fuel. We have seen this scenario before. The government has
been let off the hook yet again, but for how long? |
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By Ayo Ayodele in Lagos
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Monday, 08 November 2004 |
After the four-day warning general strike, the Nigerian unions are
calling on workers to resume strike action on November 16. This time it
will no longer be limited to the issue of the price of fuel. The
situation is becoming very tense. The workers have reached the limit of
what they can take. They are putting immense pressure on the leadership
of the NLC to act decisively. |
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By Oke Ogunde in Lagos
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Friday, 22 October 2004 |
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This article was written by a member of the Editorial Board of the
Nigerian Marxist journal, the Workers’ Alternative. Shortly after we
received it we were informed that the government has increased the
price of fuel by a further 15 Naira. This can only be seen as a serious
provocation. It exposes the government for what it is. And it renders
almost impossible any idea of a deal between the unions and the
government. If the government does not back off on this then the
leaders of the Nigerian unions have no choice but to pull out all the
workers again. |
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By Kazeem Ola (in Lagos) and Fred Weston
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Thursday, 21 October 2004 |
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After last week’s general strike in Nigeria the leaders of the Nigerian
Labour Congress (NLC) gave the government until October 27th to come up
with a reasonable proposal on the price of fuel, otherwise the strike
would resume. The leader of the NLC, Adamas Oshiomhole, has said that
in such a secenario the unions would make the country “ungovernable”. |
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By Kazeem Ola (in Lagos) and Fred Weston
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Thursday, 14 October 2004 |
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Today is the fourth day of the Nigerian Labour Congress’ four-day
warning general strike. However, the strike may be resumed on Monday
after the police have killed, arrested and beaten workers and trade
union leaders. The general strike is posing the question of power, but
the union leaders refuse to call for the downfall of the government. |
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By Fred Weston
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Monday, 11 October 2004 |
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The leaders of the NLC have confirmed the strike is going ahead today.
Saturday’s arrest and injury of Adams Oshiomhole, President of the
Nigerian Labour Congress, is an indication of the tension building up. |
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By Fred Weston
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Thursday, 07 October 2004 |
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The price of fuel has been increased by 25% and the Nigerian unions
have called a general strike for Monday, October 11. The logical next
step is for the unions to call for the resignation of the government
and for them to build their own party and challenge for power. |
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By Fred Weston
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Thursday, 30 September 2004 |
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The price of crude oil has broken through the $50 barrier. A series of
events have contributed to this, the latest being the crisis in the
Niger Delta in Nigeria, where Ijaw rebels are threatening to attack oil
pipelines. These events are merely the extreme expression of a more
widespread crisis that Nigeria is facing. |
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By a supporter of Workers Alternative
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Friday, 24 September 2004 |
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There has been a massive reaction of the students ay OAU to the
draconian hike in fees. This article provides an analysis of how the
struggle has unfolded. |
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By In Defence of Marxism
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Wednesday, 08 September 2004 |
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Some of the leaders of the movement at OAU have been victimised. There is a campaign for their reinstatement. |
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By Kazeem Ola
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Thursday, 15 July 2004 |
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If the rate of US$2 per day is used to measure the poverty level, the
percentage of those living below the poverty line in Nigeria stands at 90.8
percent of the population. At the same time the country has a foreign debt
of $32.9 billion, on which it pays annually close to $3billion in interest.
The imperialists together with their local lackeys, the Nigerian ruling
class, are literally sucking the blood of the Nigerian masses. |
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By Workers' Alternative
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Tuesday, 13 July 2004 |
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In just four years since the year 2000, the Nigerian Labour Congress
(NLC) has called mass strike action 7 times. Repeatedly the leaders of the
NLC have let down the workers. It is time to move on. Ther wokers of Nigeria
need a fighting trade union leadership and their own party. Workers’
Alternative Editorial Statement. |
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