Comrade Lawal Hussaini Dutsinma is the Vice-President, Nigeria Labour Congress (Nlc) and the National President, National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM). He gave an insider story of the last nationwide strike and mass protests led by the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) over the fuel subsidy removal and why the organised labour suspended the strike. Excerpts:

As an elected official of the NLC, what is your assessment of the last strike and mass protests by the organised labour to protest fuel subsidy removal?
As a labour leader, I can say the strike and mass protests were largely successful in the sense that it sent signal to government that in a democratic setting, people have the right to reject anti-people policies of government.

 Would you say the strike achieved its aims and objectives, given the fact that the original demand was a total reversal to N65 per litre?
Don’t forget that the organised labour went on strike to protest the removal of subsidy on petrol. The price of PMS was increased from N65 to N141 per litre. We demanded that the Federal Government should revert to N65 per litre. Although government didn’t revert to the old price as demanded by labour but it bowed to pressures from labour and other civil society organisations by reducing the price.  Don’t forget that initially, government told Nigerians that there was no going back. The strike and street protests have also contributed to bringing to the front burner some topical issues that government need to address. These include issue of corruption in the oil and gas sector in particular, and the nation in general; issue of transparency and accountability in governance and in fact general issue of good governance. I can therefore say yes, that to some extent the strike has achieved its aims and objectives.

 Labour allies in the civil society accused the NLC and the TUC of selling out in the struggle. What is your view on this?
Well, I heard such allegations myself and people have the right to express their opinion because there is freedom of speech in this country, we are in a democratic setting.  But, I think it is wrong for people to make wild allegations. Let me tell you that we didn’t sell out in anyway.  We suspended the strike after making an assessment of the situation in the interest of the people and the continuous existence of this country. 

Don’t forget that there must be Nigeria before you can have all the groups we are talking about, including the ones that are making noise.  The security situation in the country at that time was such that continuing with the strike would have endangered the lives of many Nigerians.  You will remember that hoodlums took over the street protests in some states and lives were lost.  The police also killed some innocent protesters which we condemned and still insist that the killers must be brought to justice.  You will also recall that some politicians tried to use the platform created by labour and credible civil society groups to demand for regime change which was not part of the agenda and mandate of the organised labour.

You will also recall that when PENGASSAN and NUPENG who are part of us were gearing to shut down some oil installations in the country, there were threats from some Niger Delta militants to counter them. So, we weighed all the options and decided that the strike should be suspended. The public should know that labour didn’t negotiate the N97 PMS price. The Federal Government did that on its own due to pressure from organised labour. 

We didn’t sign any agreement as such.  Don’t forget that some people are even saying there is no subsidy at all.  Some are saying there is subsidy but the money spent is on the high side due to corruption.  There is also the argument about deregulation of the oil industry in Nigeria. Government is confusing deregulation with price increase.  They are also comparing the telecommunications industry with the oil industry which they know better.  NLC/TUC said “ok we are not convinced that government is telling the truth but let us find out the true situation through the Justice Belgore Committee before coming out with our position on the issue.”  That is the thinking of labour. We are also happy that the House of Representatives is also investigating the fuel subsidy matter.

 As the national president of NANNM, you belong to a very critical and vital sector when it comes to issue of health and workers’ strike, how has it been piloting the affairs of nurses and midwives in this country?
I must confess that piloting the affairs of nurses and midwives in this country has been both challenging and interesting. As you will agree with me, to balance both sides of protecting my members’ welfare and the interests of the people in health care sector under that circumstances could be difficult.

 What are the challenges you face as president of NANNM?
I took over a debt-ridden organisation with staff owed months of salary arrears. The workforce was demoralised and the staff were in no way capable of carrying out their duties. The efficiency and effectiveness I was looking for to assist me to deliver on my mandate was not there. The headquarters building of the association was a rented apartment with virtually no modern office equipment.

The whole work environment was in a terrible state. I know the importance of human resources to any organisation. I therefore, started the work of rebuilding the organisation from there and later moved to the main mandate of regulating the terms and conditions of members and protecting the interest of the nursing profession. The main challenge right now is that of unity of nurses in the country. Some misguided elements are trying to divide the nurses due to selfish reasons which the association will not allow.