By Marcel Agunzeh
The Anambra State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has declared support for the candidate of the Labour Party(LP) in the 2023 General Elections, Mr Peter Obi.
Sequel, the workers have constituted a political mobilisation committee headed by a former NLC chairman in the state, comrade Charles Onyeagba. Other members of the committee include: immediate past NLC chairman in the state , Jerry Nnubia( vice chairman) Odiegwu Anthony ( secretary), Chukwuka Gaius( assistant secretary), Maduabum Patricia ( treasurer), Nweke Ifeanyi( PRO/organising secretary). Other members of the committee are: Ubani ABC, Odili Chike, Cele-Okeafor Ngozi, Uyanwunne Eucharia, Ikeazor Charles and Onyejiaka Emmanuel.
Inaugurating the committee, the NLC chairman in the state, Mrs Chinwe Orizu, said the decision to constitute the NLC Political Committee was an instruction from the national leadership of the NLC to set up such organs in all the states of the federation to ensure the victory of the LP in next year’s presidential poll.
She said, “We are not talking of political parties now. This is workers’ movement. We call it workers’ movement because the workers want to take over the political power of this country. We no longer want to sit on the fence. That’s why it the 2023 project is called workers’ movement. Every worker in Nigeria should be involved. We need to educate our workers. NLC seed it as a duty that in Labour Party our dream will be fulfilled by you and I that are oppressed as workers in Nigeria.
“Workers of this country have been so much oppressed. The money they give us as take-home does not take us home again. We’re just suffering, and the suffering is not ending. Let’s have it at the back of our mind that this is holy anger. We should rise in holy anger to defend this moment that is called workers’ movement. We’ve greater job because the movement is like in our home. Anambra is the seat of this movement. We, workers of Anambra State, will take upon ourselves to see that this labour movement is actualised; to see that the oppressed will have a say. It’s now or never.”
In his acceptance speech, the chairman of the committee, Charles Onyeagba, admonished the workforce to be wary of political jobbers who would definitely want to destabilize the movement
He said, “We clearly understand what has been said and what is before us. A catalogue of the problems of Nigeria and what is happening nation-wide is not new to any of us. This movement by NLC is overdue. The Nigeria Labour Congress – political wing – was actually formed about 2001/2002 but nothing came out of it because of a lot of factors that affected it all over the place. In 2002, the NLC mobilised to such an extent that the then federal government felt threatened that they were going to be toppled by a kind of civilian coup d’etat. That was when they formed this thing they call governors’ forum. The governors came together that year in attempt to make sure they cut the rising power of the Labour. The governors who didn’t agree that we would have a common minimum wage decided to come together and fight us, “Onyeagba stated.
