An emergency meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) held on Tuesday December 15, 2009, and considered the report of the Committee on Deregulation it set up on November 12, 2009. After due deliberations on the report, NEC arrived at the following resolutions:
1. That NEC-in-session has taken note of all the submissions made to Congress organs and to the Committee on Deregulation.
2. That NEC is convinced that the petroleum sector needs a holistic restructuring in order to ensure stability of production, distribution and even pricing.
3. NEC also observes that corruption is endemic in the sector and immensely contributes to the problems of the sector.
4. NEC as a result of the above further resolve that while agreeing to the issue of restructuring of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry for effective delivery, it is unequivocally opposed to any increase in the prices of petroleum products and that government, as a matter of urgency, should provide an enabling environment for any meaningful restructuring and transformation to take place by ensuring that:
4.1 The existing four refineries undergo complete repairs and functioning (in full capacity).
4.2 Additional refineries, either solely-owned by the NNPC or through joint partnership with oil companies, or through private sector initiative are established to ensure that the estimated 40% petroleum products which would otherwise still be imported can be refined domestically in the country.
4.3 Regulatory agencies will have to be properly strengthened to sanction potential defaulters.
4.4 Power projections must be attained to encourage manufacturing and boost industrial growth.
4.5 Roads are fixed and railway system reactivated and put in place a viable system of mass transit system to ease free movement of people and goods across the nation.
Consequently, NEC-in-session demands that Government takes immediate steps to ensure availability of petroleum products to eliminate fuel queues across the country.
NEC sincerely believes that all of this can be achieved within twelve months if government has the will and is determined to undertake any meaningful reform.
It is pertinent at this juncture to state that NEC came to this conclusion in the interest of the Nigerian workers in particular and Nigerian people in general.
Thank you
Abdulwahed Omar John Odah
President General Secretary
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Communiqué of the 3rd National Convention of Labour Party, held on Saturday December 12, 2009, at the Labour House Main Auditorium, Abuja
Introduction
The Labour Party, LP, Nigeria’s fastest growing and ideologically rooted party, held its 3rd National Convention on Saturday, December 12, 2009 at the main auditorium of the Labour House in the Central Business District, Abuja.
The convention commenced with two lectures, in line with the party’s appreciation of the importance of education for a social-democratic party’s ideological development and cadres’ mentoring. Senator (Prof) Jonathan Silas Zwingina, Chairman, Centre for Legislative Development, presented the lecture on “Electoral Reforms as a Recipe for Good Governance”, while the second paper presented on “Curbing Corruption by Political Leaders: Challenges and Prospects”, was prepared by Justice Mustapha Akanbi, CFR, pioneer Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission.
The Convention was addressed by eminent personalities including: the first Executive Governor elected on the platform of the Labour Party H.E. Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, Governor of Ondo state and; Comrade John E. Odah, General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
The Convention-in-session: conscious of the historic times we live in as a country entering its fiftieth year as a sovereign multi-national state, in a world seeking alternatives in an era of global socio-economic crisis; realizing the pressing need for a pro-people social transformation of Nigeria that would unleash the deep potentials for national development that inhere in our exceedingly blessed country; intent on transcending lamentation on the unfortunate state of our country, presently, by formulating and mobilizing for an alternative socio-economic, and political framework in the unfolding period, after extensive and intensive deliberations, noted and resolved thus:
RESOULUTIONS
Economy:
1. The Convention-in-session considers any vision of Nigeria becoming one of the twenty leading economies in the world, as commendable. The current “Vision 20: 2020” of the nation, however, lacks a grasp of the underlying basis of economic transformation. In all the countries which Nigeria seeks to emulate, particularly Brazil, Russia, India, and China, transformative socio-political processes, in which the institutions and processes of governance were re-created, were pivotal for economic development. The Convention-in-session further notes that only a party, such as the Labour Party, with an ideologically-rooted inspiration, representative of the interests and yearnings of the working people and patriotic entrepreneurs, can lead such a revolutionary-democratic process for the transformation of Nigeria. The Convention-in-session thus resolves on mobilizing Nigerians for the popular transformation of the country’s governance structures and the formulation of an alternative economic framework geared towards establishing an independent industrial national economy, in line with the LP manifesto.
2. The Convention-in-session notes that the effects of the neoliberal policies of the ruling party on Nigeria’s working people and local businesses have been very adverse, leading to increasing deprivation and suffering of the immense majority of the citizenry. The Convention-in-session, being of the opinion that the current world economic crisis is a testimony of the glaring inadequacy of neoliberalism, and considering the use of state intervention by countries in America and Europe in the wake of the global economic crisis, particularly finds the Federal Government’s insistence on deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, as very unfortunate. The Convention-in-session thus resolves to provide leadership for Nigerians and be a part of all the struggles of the working people and patriotic entrepreneurs in the country against the neoliberal agenda. The Convention-in-session demands a holistic development approach that shall bring back the state, in an apt mix of government intervention and private enterprise, geared towards enthroning the industrialization of Nigeria.
3. The Convention-in-session expresses its grave concern at the trading off of Nigeria’s future oil reserves for a paltry fifty billion dollars to China. The Convention-in-conference, considers this unacceptable and a slap on the face of living citizens of our country and Nigerians yet unborn. The Convention-in-session thus calls for an immediate revocation of this unpopular, auction of our collective patrimony, by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
4. The Convention-in-session realizes the critical place of an effective transportation system for production, distribution and the general welfare of everyone resident in Nigeria. The Convention-in-session observes the degeneration of the railway system and the continued worsening of the country’s roads network. The Convention-in-session thus demands a resuscitation of the country’s railway system as part of a popular over-aching programme for infrastructural rejuvenation. The Convention-in-session thus resolves that its members as executives and legislators shall utilise the various apparatus of state in which we do have representation, to canvass for the pursuit of social transformation rooted in participatory-democracy and infrastructural development.
National polity
5. The Convention-in-session reaffirms the emancipatory benefits of democracy, noting that with all the shortcomings of the practice of democracy by political elites in Nigeria, democracy is still a better form of government compared to military dictatorship. Therefore, LP shall defend democracy and fight to expand the democratic space.
6. The Convention-in-session considers good governance as being crucial for democratic consolidation, noting that where electoral systems do not ensure, fair and just representation of the electorate’s choices, enthroning good governance would be a mirage with political office holders seeing themselves as being greater than the people. The Convention-in-session thus resolves on pursuit of comprehensive electoral reforms and in this light, demands the implementation of the Justice Mohammed Uwais-led electoral reforms committee’s recommendations, forthwith towards ensuring that democracy flourishes in Nigeria.
7. The Convention-in-session grasps the pressing need to combat corruption, towards establishing a developmentalist Nigerian state. The Convention-in-session observes the efforts at institutionalizing an anti-corruption campaign, demonstrated with the formation of the ICPC and EFCC. It further notes however that the ant-corruption campaign is not sustainable without the creation of a new Nigerian personality and the enthronement of core values of honesty, discipline and industry, which the LP is committed to. The Convention-in-session thus resolves to be at the vanguard of a more thorough-going anti-corruption campaign, which shall involve the working people and entrepreneurs, replacing corruption as a means of accumulation with the model of a disciplined, developmentalist state.
8. The Convention-in-session is of the opinion that the health of the President of the federation, Mallam Umaru Yar Adua needs not divide the polity and the country. On the contrary, the quick recovery of the President should be of concern to all Nigerians regardless of political affiliations. The convention in session therefore prays for the quick recovery of the President and calls all elected leaders at all levels to dissipate the needed energy on good governance rather than the divisive issue of succession which is clearly provided for in 1999 constitution.
Party building
9. The Convention-in-session commits all LP structures to an intensive and systematic process of Party building.
The Convention-in-session thus resolves on: setting aside the last week of February every year as Labour Party week, during which programmes aimed at massive expansion of the Party’s membership base which shall be on-going through the year shall be given intensive escalation; setting a target of recruiting 3 million new members in the next four years; conducting a Special Delegates Conference in the first quarter of 2010 towards deliberating specifically on deepening the programmatic framework for LP’s organisational and ideological development
10. The Convention-in-session, realizing the unquantifiable importance of education and training for the spread of social-democratic ideology and practice, considers it apt to conduct regular and methodical political education for the Party’s cadres and members. The Convention-in-session thus resolves that a Labour Party Institute for Political Education (LPI), be established by the 2nd quarter of 2010, to conduct education on the Party’s social-democratic principles and training for organising, administration and financial management skills development of LP partisans at national, state, LGA and ward levels.
11. The Convention-in-session noting the informative, organising and mobilisational place of Party periodicals and occasional publications reiterates the constitutional provision on Party literature, including, periodicals, pamphlets, leaflets and posters on political and critical social issues of concern to the teeming mass of Nigerians and the interest of national development. The Convention-in-session thus resolves on the monthly publication of a Labour Party organ which shall serve purposes of information-dissemination on the achievements of public functionaries on the platform of LP, regular education on the Party principles and the organizational mobilization of membership.
12. The Convention-in-session considers the umbilical ties between the labour movement and the LP and the Convention-in-session thus resolved on building closer working relations between the labour movement and te LP at all levels.
13. The Convention-in-session extensively deliberated on the reviewed constitution of the Party and adopted it unanimously.
14. The convention in session acknowledges the level of debates and mass participation that characterized this historic convention and commends all delegates for their maturity in promoting internal party democracy.
International
15. The Convention-in-session observes the continued crisis in Guinea, with the usurpation of state power by a military junta and supports the efforts of ECOWAS at ensuring the return of the military to the barracks and the resuscitation of civil-democratic institutions
16. The Convention-in-session considers the continued illegal occupation of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic by the Kingdom of Morocco, as unacceptable. The Convention-in-session also expresses its solidarity with Madame Aminatu Haider, a conscience of the Saharawi people, who has been on hunger strike for the past three weeks, demanding the unconditional re-issuance of her international passport by the Moroccan government. The Convention-in-session demands the release of Madame Aminatu’s international passport and the immediate independence of the Saharawi people.
17. The Convention-in-session demands the full restoration of unfettered democratic process in Zimbabwe. In particular, the Convention-in-session insists that President Robert Mugabe has a singular responsibility to make the current power-sharing arrangement in the country work.
18. The Convention-in-session considers the new initiative of President Barack Obama on the middle-east, as being a step in the right direction. The Convention-in-session supports the two-state policy for both a Palestinian state and the state of Israel to co-exist.
19. The Convention-in-session holds in the wake of the Copenhagen Conference on Climate change and re-affirms its commitment to ensuring sustainable development. The Convention-in-session calls on all state and non-state actors, nationally and globally to work collectively towards fighting global warming and saving planet earth. The Convention-in-session further reiterates the need for countries in the advanced capitalist countries, whose activities have primarily been at the root of global warming to bear the major responsibilities in saving the environment.
Elections
20. The Convention-in-session elected the following members as officers of the National Working Committee for the next four years:
1. National Chairman – Barr. Dan Nwanyanwu
2. Deputy National Chairman - Dr. Joseph Akinlaja
3. Deputy National Chairman - Alh. Ali Abatcha
4. Deputy National Chairman - Mrs. Ladi Iliya
5. National Vice Chairman South-East – Mr. Callistus Uju Okafor
6. National Vice Chairman North West – Alh. Umaru Muhammad
7. National Vice Chairman South-South – Barr. Osagie E. Lawson
8. National Vice Chairman South West – Gani Daudu
9. National Secretary – Alh. A. A. Salam
10. Deputy National Secretary – Com. Babatunde Ayelabola
11. Deputy National Secretary – Alh. Issa Aremu
12. Deputy National Secretary – Salisu Nuhu Muhammad
13. National Treasurer – Mrs. Maria Ukamaka Lebeke
14. National Financial Secretary – Mrs. Hadiza Abdullahi Kishimi
15. National Publicity Secretary – Mr. Ikpe Etukudo
16. National Legal Adviser – Barr. Abiodun Isaac Fasakin
17. National Women Leader – Barr. Ebere Adannaya Ifendu
18. Deputy National Women Leader – Hosanna Samuel
19. National Auditor – Mrs. Lami Ahmed
Conclusion
The Convention-in-session, in conclusion expressed its appreciation to all the delegates, members and guests, who working assiduously, ensured the success of the Convention.
The Convention-in-session, especially expressed its deep appreciation of the first LP Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, for his demonstrated qualitative difference in the lives of the citizens of Ondo state where LP is in power.
Delegates further reiterated their unshaken confidence in the Barr. Dan Nwuanyanwu and Alh. A. A. Salam-led leadership of the party and re-affirmed their resolve at building a great Labour Party that shall salvage Nigeria.
Barr. Dan Nwuanyanwu Alh. A. A. Salam
National Chairman National Secretary
The Labour Party, LP, Nigeria’s fastest growing and ideologically rooted party, held its 3rd National Convention on Saturday, December 12, 2009 at the main auditorium of the Labour House in the Central Business District, Abuja.
The convention commenced with two lectures, in line with the party’s appreciation of the importance of education for a social-democratic party’s ideological development and cadres’ mentoring. Senator (Prof) Jonathan Silas Zwingina, Chairman, Centre for Legislative Development, presented the lecture on “Electoral Reforms as a Recipe for Good Governance”, while the second paper presented on “Curbing Corruption by Political Leaders: Challenges and Prospects”, was prepared by Justice Mustapha Akanbi, CFR, pioneer Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission.
The Convention was addressed by eminent personalities including: the first Executive Governor elected on the platform of the Labour Party H.E. Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, Governor of Ondo state and; Comrade John E. Odah, General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
The Convention-in-session: conscious of the historic times we live in as a country entering its fiftieth year as a sovereign multi-national state, in a world seeking alternatives in an era of global socio-economic crisis; realizing the pressing need for a pro-people social transformation of Nigeria that would unleash the deep potentials for national development that inhere in our exceedingly blessed country; intent on transcending lamentation on the unfortunate state of our country, presently, by formulating and mobilizing for an alternative socio-economic, and political framework in the unfolding period, after extensive and intensive deliberations, noted and resolved thus:
RESOULUTIONS
Economy:
1. The Convention-in-session considers any vision of Nigeria becoming one of the twenty leading economies in the world, as commendable. The current “Vision 20: 2020” of the nation, however, lacks a grasp of the underlying basis of economic transformation. In all the countries which Nigeria seeks to emulate, particularly Brazil, Russia, India, and China, transformative socio-political processes, in which the institutions and processes of governance were re-created, were pivotal for economic development. The Convention-in-session further notes that only a party, such as the Labour Party, with an ideologically-rooted inspiration, representative of the interests and yearnings of the working people and patriotic entrepreneurs, can lead such a revolutionary-democratic process for the transformation of Nigeria. The Convention-in-session thus resolves on mobilizing Nigerians for the popular transformation of the country’s governance structures and the formulation of an alternative economic framework geared towards establishing an independent industrial national economy, in line with the LP manifesto.
2. The Convention-in-session notes that the effects of the neoliberal policies of the ruling party on Nigeria’s working people and local businesses have been very adverse, leading to increasing deprivation and suffering of the immense majority of the citizenry. The Convention-in-session, being of the opinion that the current world economic crisis is a testimony of the glaring inadequacy of neoliberalism, and considering the use of state intervention by countries in America and Europe in the wake of the global economic crisis, particularly finds the Federal Government’s insistence on deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, as very unfortunate. The Convention-in-session thus resolves to provide leadership for Nigerians and be a part of all the struggles of the working people and patriotic entrepreneurs in the country against the neoliberal agenda. The Convention-in-session demands a holistic development approach that shall bring back the state, in an apt mix of government intervention and private enterprise, geared towards enthroning the industrialization of Nigeria.
3. The Convention-in-session expresses its grave concern at the trading off of Nigeria’s future oil reserves for a paltry fifty billion dollars to China. The Convention-in-conference, considers this unacceptable and a slap on the face of living citizens of our country and Nigerians yet unborn. The Convention-in-session thus calls for an immediate revocation of this unpopular, auction of our collective patrimony, by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
4. The Convention-in-session realizes the critical place of an effective transportation system for production, distribution and the general welfare of everyone resident in Nigeria. The Convention-in-session observes the degeneration of the railway system and the continued worsening of the country’s roads network. The Convention-in-session thus demands a resuscitation of the country’s railway system as part of a popular over-aching programme for infrastructural rejuvenation. The Convention-in-session thus resolves that its members as executives and legislators shall utilise the various apparatus of state in which we do have representation, to canvass for the pursuit of social transformation rooted in participatory-democracy and infrastructural development.
National polity
5. The Convention-in-session reaffirms the emancipatory benefits of democracy, noting that with all the shortcomings of the practice of democracy by political elites in Nigeria, democracy is still a better form of government compared to military dictatorship. Therefore, LP shall defend democracy and fight to expand the democratic space.
6. The Convention-in-session considers good governance as being crucial for democratic consolidation, noting that where electoral systems do not ensure, fair and just representation of the electorate’s choices, enthroning good governance would be a mirage with political office holders seeing themselves as being greater than the people. The Convention-in-session thus resolves on pursuit of comprehensive electoral reforms and in this light, demands the implementation of the Justice Mohammed Uwais-led electoral reforms committee’s recommendations, forthwith towards ensuring that democracy flourishes in Nigeria.
7. The Convention-in-session grasps the pressing need to combat corruption, towards establishing a developmentalist Nigerian state. The Convention-in-session observes the efforts at institutionalizing an anti-corruption campaign, demonstrated with the formation of the ICPC and EFCC. It further notes however that the ant-corruption campaign is not sustainable without the creation of a new Nigerian personality and the enthronement of core values of honesty, discipline and industry, which the LP is committed to. The Convention-in-session thus resolves to be at the vanguard of a more thorough-going anti-corruption campaign, which shall involve the working people and entrepreneurs, replacing corruption as a means of accumulation with the model of a disciplined, developmentalist state.
8. The Convention-in-session is of the opinion that the health of the President of the federation, Mallam Umaru Yar Adua needs not divide the polity and the country. On the contrary, the quick recovery of the President should be of concern to all Nigerians regardless of political affiliations. The convention in session therefore prays for the quick recovery of the President and calls all elected leaders at all levels to dissipate the needed energy on good governance rather than the divisive issue of succession which is clearly provided for in 1999 constitution.
Party building
9. The Convention-in-session commits all LP structures to an intensive and systematic process of Party building.
The Convention-in-session thus resolves on: setting aside the last week of February every year as Labour Party week, during which programmes aimed at massive expansion of the Party’s membership base which shall be on-going through the year shall be given intensive escalation; setting a target of recruiting 3 million new members in the next four years; conducting a Special Delegates Conference in the first quarter of 2010 towards deliberating specifically on deepening the programmatic framework for LP’s organisational and ideological development
10. The Convention-in-session, realizing the unquantifiable importance of education and training for the spread of social-democratic ideology and practice, considers it apt to conduct regular and methodical political education for the Party’s cadres and members. The Convention-in-session thus resolves that a Labour Party Institute for Political Education (LPI), be established by the 2nd quarter of 2010, to conduct education on the Party’s social-democratic principles and training for organising, administration and financial management skills development of LP partisans at national, state, LGA and ward levels.
11. The Convention-in-session noting the informative, organising and mobilisational place of Party periodicals and occasional publications reiterates the constitutional provision on Party literature, including, periodicals, pamphlets, leaflets and posters on political and critical social issues of concern to the teeming mass of Nigerians and the interest of national development. The Convention-in-session thus resolves on the monthly publication of a Labour Party organ which shall serve purposes of information-dissemination on the achievements of public functionaries on the platform of LP, regular education on the Party principles and the organizational mobilization of membership.
12. The Convention-in-session considers the umbilical ties between the labour movement and the LP and the Convention-in-session thus resolved on building closer working relations between the labour movement and te LP at all levels.
13. The Convention-in-session extensively deliberated on the reviewed constitution of the Party and adopted it unanimously.
14. The convention in session acknowledges the level of debates and mass participation that characterized this historic convention and commends all delegates for their maturity in promoting internal party democracy.
International
15. The Convention-in-session observes the continued crisis in Guinea, with the usurpation of state power by a military junta and supports the efforts of ECOWAS at ensuring the return of the military to the barracks and the resuscitation of civil-democratic institutions
16. The Convention-in-session considers the continued illegal occupation of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic by the Kingdom of Morocco, as unacceptable. The Convention-in-session also expresses its solidarity with Madame Aminatu Haider, a conscience of the Saharawi people, who has been on hunger strike for the past three weeks, demanding the unconditional re-issuance of her international passport by the Moroccan government. The Convention-in-session demands the release of Madame Aminatu’s international passport and the immediate independence of the Saharawi people.
17. The Convention-in-session demands the full restoration of unfettered democratic process in Zimbabwe. In particular, the Convention-in-session insists that President Robert Mugabe has a singular responsibility to make the current power-sharing arrangement in the country work.
18. The Convention-in-session considers the new initiative of President Barack Obama on the middle-east, as being a step in the right direction. The Convention-in-session supports the two-state policy for both a Palestinian state and the state of Israel to co-exist.
19. The Convention-in-session holds in the wake of the Copenhagen Conference on Climate change and re-affirms its commitment to ensuring sustainable development. The Convention-in-session calls on all state and non-state actors, nationally and globally to work collectively towards fighting global warming and saving planet earth. The Convention-in-session further reiterates the need for countries in the advanced capitalist countries, whose activities have primarily been at the root of global warming to bear the major responsibilities in saving the environment.
Elections
20. The Convention-in-session elected the following members as officers of the National Working Committee for the next four years:
1. National Chairman – Barr. Dan Nwanyanwu
2. Deputy National Chairman - Dr. Joseph Akinlaja
3. Deputy National Chairman - Alh. Ali Abatcha
4. Deputy National Chairman - Mrs. Ladi Iliya
5. National Vice Chairman South-East – Mr. Callistus Uju Okafor
6. National Vice Chairman North West – Alh. Umaru Muhammad
7. National Vice Chairman South-South – Barr. Osagie E. Lawson
8. National Vice Chairman South West – Gani Daudu
9. National Secretary – Alh. A. A. Salam
10. Deputy National Secretary – Com. Babatunde Ayelabola
11. Deputy National Secretary – Alh. Issa Aremu
12. Deputy National Secretary – Salisu Nuhu Muhammad
13. National Treasurer – Mrs. Maria Ukamaka Lebeke
14. National Financial Secretary – Mrs. Hadiza Abdullahi Kishimi
15. National Publicity Secretary – Mr. Ikpe Etukudo
16. National Legal Adviser – Barr. Abiodun Isaac Fasakin
17. National Women Leader – Barr. Ebere Adannaya Ifendu
18. Deputy National Women Leader – Hosanna Samuel
19. National Auditor – Mrs. Lami Ahmed
Conclusion
The Convention-in-session, in conclusion expressed its appreciation to all the delegates, members and guests, who working assiduously, ensured the success of the Convention.
The Convention-in-session, especially expressed its deep appreciation of the first LP Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, for his demonstrated qualitative difference in the lives of the citizens of Ondo state where LP is in power.
Delegates further reiterated their unshaken confidence in the Barr. Dan Nwuanyanwu and Alh. A. A. Salam-led leadership of the party and re-affirmed their resolve at building a great Labour Party that shall salvage Nigeria.
Barr. Dan Nwuanyanwu Alh. A. A. Salam
National Chairman National Secretary
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
The Millennium Development Goals, Social Transformation and the Civil Society in Nigeria*
"Human development is first and foremost about allowing people to lead a life that they value and enabling them to realize their potential as human beings"
– UNDP 2006, Human Development Report
Introduction
The human race has come a long way from its humble beginnings when men and women were primitive gatherers of fruits, hardly understanding nature, not to talk of mastering it. Over the last three millennia, humankind has come to transform its environment and as well itself. Empires have arisen and fallen, so much wealth has been created by labour and several social-economic formations have been forged only to crumble.
The last two hundred years after the industrial revolution, first in Britain however mark the historic leap of the possibilities of human development. In these centuries of the modern industrial society, more wealth has been created than that created in the preceding three thousand. Large-scale manufacture as the heart of industrial production has created more than enough wealth for all human beings to live contented, particularly in the last three decades of “globalisation”. Yet, never before has so much inequality between and within countries existed. Never before now, has so much wealth been concentrated in the hands of a few and within a few countries on one hand with poverty and penury being the lot of millions of people on the other hand. As Jeff Sachs for example, notes: "a few centuries ago, vast divides in wealth and poverty around the world did not exist. Just about everybody was poor, with the exception of a very small minority of rulers and large landowners." He realizes the transformational powers of the industrial revolution. "The onset of the Industrial Revolution", he asserts "supported by a rise in agricultural productivity, unleashed an explosive period of modern economic growth".
It is within this context in one instance, that the Millennium Development Goals can be understood. The other instance related to it is the struggle for social transformation that several social forces, including trade unions, and other social movements in the civil society have waged against the condemnable state of so much lack and suffering in the midst of abundance and plenty.
In this presentation, we shall attempt to summarily put in perspective the Millennium Development Goals in relation to the quest for social transformation, with particular reference to the civil society movement in Nigeria. In the first section, we consider the MDGs – explanations on why and how they were arrived at; the possibilities they present for social transformation and; their limitations. The second section looks at the civil society in general and the Nigerian civil society in particular – considering its engagement with the MDGs and; its possible import for the social transformation of Nigeria. The final section will try to situate the broader civil society movement’s roles on MDGs and social transformation broadly, within a trade union perspective. Finally, tentative conclusions are drawn on the way forward.
On the Millennium Development Goals
In September 2000, at New York, the largest gathering of heads of governments and states across the world, ratified a Covenant, christened the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which was to bind all nation-states in achieving eight set goals by 2015. These 8 goals the attainment of which would lead to the transformation of the world, particularly the Third World are to:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty
2015 target: halve proportion of people living on less than $1.00 a day and those suffering hunger
2. Achieve Universal Basic Education
2015 target: achieve universal primary education completion
3. Promote gender equality
2015 target: eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary enrolment and achieve equity at all levels
4. Reduce Child mortality
2015 target: reduce by two thirds, the child mortality rate
5. Improve maternal health
2015 target: reduce by three quarters the proportion of women that die during childbirth
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
2015 target: halt and begin to reverse the incidence of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other major diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
Integration of the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the depletion of environmental resources
2015 target: reduce by half the proportion of people without access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation
By 2020: achieve a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.
8. Develop a global partnership for development
Commitment of countries in both the developed and developing parts of the world to work together in achieving open, rule-based trading and financial system and more aid from the advanced capitalist countries to Third World countries towards reducing poverty.
It was noted when the Declaration of the MDGs was made that a steady commitment of barely 0.7% of the gross national income of the advanced capitalist countries over the first fifteen years of the 21st century could pull out the immense majority of the human race from poverty. Thus far, however, less than 0.09% of the 0.7% promise has been fulfilled annually while stupendous amounts in capital flight are milked from these same countries. This is only one reason within the broader framework of understanding why it seems very likely that the MDGs will not be met, particularly in the Third World, where they are actually more relevant. We shall first look at possible reasons why the declaration, with the MDGs was made in the first place, below and then put this framework in perspective.
There are several reasons that can explain the “inspiration” for the MDGs. We shall look at a few salient ones now.
First is the euphoria of a new millennium. Since humankind learnt how to measure time in seasons and years, we have learnt as well to have hope in the new. A good example at the simplest and personal level is the rate at which people make New Year resolutions at the beginning of each year. A new century awakes even greater cause to change than a new year. A millennium is even something greater, being a thousand years! Men and women have been moved to expect and seek to create great things with millennial spirits, both materially and spiritually. The MDGs is in this sense akin materially to the beliefs in the coming of a Mahdi or a messiah at the commencement of a millennium, which cuts across many a faith. The leaders of the world thus would could not but have been concerned to present an answer to the dreams of many for some sort of change at the turn of the millennium.
Second is the abundance of wealth society now has and the very obvious deprivation of the majority of humankind despite this. This obscene inequality exists within countries and between countries, with the poor people in the Third World, particularly the women, being at the lowest rungs of the ladder of poverty. Two things are latent in this reason. The first is that there has been no millennium before now at which humankind had enough resources for the need of ALL human beings to be met, at its onset. It is the greed of a few that have kept the immense majority in abject poverty. The second is that in an age of mass communication with the internet and cable television for example, the ostentatious lives of the rich is stark naked before all to see. This makes mass anger a potential danger.
The third and probably the most pressing reason for the ambitious MDGs declaration is that the have-nots started a fight-back, like none before since 1968. The beginning of this fight-back to neoliberal globalisation, which today as come to be known as the alternative globalisation movement, was at Seattle on November 30, 1999: less than a year to the United Nations Millennium Declaration. Despite the stark inequalities that the world had been thrown into by the forces of neoliberalism, commencing from the rise to power of Thatcher and Reagan in Britain and USA respectively, it is unlikely that there would have been such a radical declaration of ”commitment” as the MDGs if civil society had not started a fight-back after twenty years of capitalist triumphalism. To paraphrase Steve Biko, the extent to which the slave is kept in slavery is partly dependent on the extent of his/her readiness to fight for freedom.
The MDGs we must say, considering the world as it is today is a radical declaration. It is difficult to however conclude that there is much seriousness on the part of its architects about making the covenant a reality that could lead to social transformation in the interest of the working people across the world. The reason for this is the socio-economic and political framework being promoted by the same world leaders that signed the UN Millennium Declaration.
The past thirty years have been marked by what is best described as neoliberal globalisation of capitalism. This involves restructuring the economies and societies of countries and between countries in a way and manner to ensure the for-profit interests of the capitalists. The developmentalist welfare states in the West and the interventionist states in Africa for example in the early post-colonial days have been rolled-back. Such phrases as “retrenchment”, “rightsizing”, “public sector reforms”, and others that amount to putting working people more and more at the mercy of capitalists who are concerned with profits and not necessarily “development” have become common language.
It is impossible for the MDGs to be attained with neoliberalism as the guiding paradigm for socio-economic and political, evolution of human societies.
On civil society and social transformation
The term civil society has a long history, but yet is a contested one. It featured in literature first in the writings of Socrates in ancient Athens where it was used to refer to all processes, activities and institutions outside the polis or what today we would call the polity.
It was further defined by Hegel in a similar light. In the last century, probably the most succinct definition of it was by the Italian Marxist, Antonio Gramsci. The civil society he described as the site of class struggles within which the dominant political forces exercises its hegemony on one hand, while forces who seek a transformation of the subsisting order, building a national-popular, counter-hegemonic opposition, contend for power, on the other.
For the purposes of our discourse, we consider the civil society as comprising all those, actors, institutions, processes and activities beyond the nuclear family, and outside the political society, which we consider here as the State. It is thus a broad sphere which covers; trade unions, ethnic organisations, business community, associations, youth movements, political parties, etc.
We will however further try to distil, the civil society movement, from within civil society itself. This would comprise those groups within civil society that are conscious of being elements that could play roles in the formulation of public policies, as pressure groups for example. For ease of discussion though, we would exclude trade unions from this movement, while in a broader sense it is part of it. This is due to its peculiarity as a class organisation of the workers.
The Nigerian civil society movement dates back to the anti-colonial period. This to a large extent was the nationalist movement. This movement and the trade unions played the decisive role in bringing about Self-Government for Nigeria in 1960. The nature of the post-colonial state we have, however, is such that, the imperialist interests of the Western countries is still dominant in our economy and the broader society.
In more recent times, a new “civil society movement” has arisen in Nigeria with the decline of socialist forces at the global level and as well in Nigeria. The civil society movement in Nigeria is now constituted by several NGOs, INGOs “NGIs” and “GONGOs”, in several fields such as human rights, gender mainstreaming, HIV/AIDS and several developmental issues.
A number of these NGOs and “NGOs” have been active in engaging the MDGs. Different NGOs address specific MDGs, while some try to engage with them all. The more political NGOs have distilled into the Joint Action Forum, which together with NLC and TUC constitute the Labour Civil Society Conference (LASCO).
It is beyond dispute that there is a great swell of enthusiasm amongst several NGOs and civil society activists for social transformation. A number of problems however militate against the roles most of these can play in leading to thorough-going pro-people social transformation. Probably the most cogent of these is the donor-driven character of their activities. Similarly, the question of democratic accountability and legitimacy can not be wished away as most of these NGOs are non-membership organisations that claim to speak on behalf of “the people”. Related to the donor-driven nature of NGOism is also the fact that most of the NGOs accept the status quo of capitalism as given and many wittingly or unwittingly accept neoliberal policies even where and when they frown at its most draconian manifestations.
In concluding this section, it must be stated that for the civil society movement in Nigeria to actively be a player in the quest for the social transformation of Nigeria. Critical civil society, must through diligent work, come to play a leading role within the civil society movement as a whole. This, however can not be limited to the more political civil society of JAF for example, it must extend to all facets of the civil society movement.
MDGs, social transformation and the civil society movement; a working class perspective
The working class occupies a very important position within modern industrial society and for the possibilities of social transformation in any society. As the NLC motto goes: “labour creates wealth”. It is the working class that generates the wealth of society, the bulk of which is appropriated by the capitalist.
Working people are however the most deprived of people in society . This contradiction of the creators of wealth suffering deprivation and want is characteristic of capitalist production. At its heart is the power the capitalists have to legally exploit the workers. Social transformation that would benefit the immense majority in society has to address the issue of power and would involve structural and distributive changes in the economy and polity and a re-orientation of social values, norms and priorities along lines that are mass-democratic and popular.
In the simplest of terms, a pro-people transformation of our society can be won and guaranteed only through the institution of revolutionary change from the grassroots. Indeed, no country has achieved marked progress without some form of revolution or the other, the nature of which is determined by the level of its socio-economic development and the world order at a particular point in time.
The MDGs are essentially reformist. Reforms are palliative measures meant to give minimal levels of relief. Reforms are not bad in themselves as they often are given as concessions by the ruling classes and elites due to rising militancy of the workers and/or civil society movements. The intent of the elites in conceding to reforms is to nip such activism as that they were made to concede to in the bud so that greater demands are not made. The reforms, however, could provide windows of opportunity for deepening the struggle. This though, is to the extent that the workers and their allies do not allow themselves to fall into the illusion of gradual reforms leading to qualitative changes, in their lives. This amounts to reformism, and is a great danger to the working class movement which should be combated without throwing away the benefits of reforms in general.
The practical significance of the above to the MDGs is that we should demand the pursuit of the attainment of the MDGs, while showing how the free-market ideology of capitalism negates such possibilities and thus the need for radical changes in the power relations between and within countries of the world. We should however pursue much more than the attainment of the MDGs, we should mobilize to build another Nigeria, indeed another world based on the liberating powers of the working class in mobilizing all other exploited and oppressed segments of the society. The clearest theoretical formulation of how the self-emancipation of the working class and the construction of a better world could be won is Marxism. The clarity of Marxist thoughts was further confirmed by the bourgeoisie itself when Karl Marx was declared the greatest thinker of the last millennium by the BBC.
The way and manner the Federal Government is supposedly pursuing the attainment of the MDGs should be exposed as promoting the dependent neo-colonial position of our country. It is focussed on external developmental assistance, a good chunk of which service overhead costs and fill pockets of bureaucrats and politicians.
The state of the civil society movement in Nigeria does as well pose a cause for concern. Many a “CSO” particularly the self-styled NGOs are no less external donor-focussed as the Federal Government. The activities they often pursue are determined more by the dictates of their foreign donors than the needs of the Nigerian masses. Be that as it may, there exist a number of genuinely committed CSOs including but also yet beyond those currently allied to the trade unions on the platform of the Labour Civil Society Coalition (LASCO) that all efforts need to be put into building programmatic bridges to serve the purpose of mobilising for social change.
The sphere of forces considered as political should also be broadened. Platforms of such groups as artisans, market people and NGOs involved in issues of health, education, etc, from a rights-based approach should be forged into LASCO. The Labour Party would need to be strengthened ideologically along the socialist lines stated in the NLC’s policy on politics, politically by contending for a revolutionary transformation of Nigeria and organisationally by expanding the its working class membership base. A closer relationship between LP and the NLC needs to be instituted for these to be consummated.
The labour movement with its civil society allies in fighting for a transformation of Nigeria must not lose sight of the international dimensions of the struggle for social change. There is a pressing need for the popular sectors in Nigeria to become active in the alternative globalisation movement that has swept through the world in the past ten years without much resonance at home here while many an NGO bureaucrat junket around the world for its programmes. We should through education and our organising activities ensure that workers and other toilers realise the links between international capitalist interests of neoliberalism and the decadent ruling elites in our countries with their anti-people programmes. In building the internationalist spirit of the working class and fighting to make another possible world real, we need to also battle for reforms of the global and regional institutions such as the United Nations, World Bank, IMF, AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS.
The working class in considering the MDGs and social change must in the final analysis learn how to use every single won reform to build its strength for revolutionary transformation hat will put the human being and not capital at the heart of development. The working class despite its important role in the struggle for social transformation, however, cannot go it alone. It will have to provide leadership to a broad array of persons who are as well exploited and oppressed by the minority of elites.
Conclusion
This paper as attempted to summarily put in perspective the MDGs in relation to social transformation from a perspective of the working class as a critical element within the broad civil society. The possibilities presented by the MDGs as reforms were identified and its limitations which include the insincerity of world elites and the ruling class in Nigeria, as well.
The paper further considered the Nigerian civil society movement in relation to the place of the working class within it. At the heart of the paper’s view is the perspective that the working class must win power in its own name, representing the interest of the broad masses for lasting social transformation to be a reality in Nigeria. The MDGs in themselves can not lead to social transformation nor can the capitalist policies and programmes pursued by the ruling class.
The struggle ahead is tough and could be long. In the long run though, this is the only sure way to build a new world in which our children will flourish and fulfil the depths of their potentialities.
Select bibliography
Evans, P. 1995, Embedded Autonomy States and Industrial Transformation, Princeton University Press, UK
Kiely, R. 1998, Industrialization and Development: a Comparative Analysis, Routledge, US
Lenin, V. I. 1916, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism a Popular outline, 1963 edn, Progress Publishers, Moscow
Lukacs, G. 1967, History and Class Consciousness: Studies in Marxist Dialectics, 3rd edn, MIT Press, Cambridge
Marx, K. and Engels, F. 1848, Manifesto of the Communist Party, In Marx/Engels Selected Works, Volume One, 1969 edn, Progress Publishers, Moscow
Nigeria Labour Congress, 1980, Workers’ Charter of Demands, NLC
O’Kane, R. H. T. 2000, Revolution: Critical Concepts in Political Science, Series in Routledge Critical Concepts, vol. 4, Francis and Taylor, London
Otive, I. 2006, ‘The Millennium Development Goals: Can Nigeria Meet the Goals in 2015?’, being a paper presented at a symposium on Millennium Development Goals and Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Prospects, organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Abuja District, on 27th July, 2006 at Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja.
*being a paper presented on Monday December 7, 2009 at the 8th NLC Harmattan School in Jos Hill Station Hotel, Plateau State
,
– UNDP 2006, Human Development Report
Introduction
The human race has come a long way from its humble beginnings when men and women were primitive gatherers of fruits, hardly understanding nature, not to talk of mastering it. Over the last three millennia, humankind has come to transform its environment and as well itself. Empires have arisen and fallen, so much wealth has been created by labour and several social-economic formations have been forged only to crumble.
The last two hundred years after the industrial revolution, first in Britain however mark the historic leap of the possibilities of human development. In these centuries of the modern industrial society, more wealth has been created than that created in the preceding three thousand. Large-scale manufacture as the heart of industrial production has created more than enough wealth for all human beings to live contented, particularly in the last three decades of “globalisation”. Yet, never before has so much inequality between and within countries existed. Never before now, has so much wealth been concentrated in the hands of a few and within a few countries on one hand with poverty and penury being the lot of millions of people on the other hand. As Jeff Sachs for example, notes: "a few centuries ago, vast divides in wealth and poverty around the world did not exist. Just about everybody was poor, with the exception of a very small minority of rulers and large landowners." He realizes the transformational powers of the industrial revolution. "The onset of the Industrial Revolution", he asserts "supported by a rise in agricultural productivity, unleashed an explosive period of modern economic growth".
It is within this context in one instance, that the Millennium Development Goals can be understood. The other instance related to it is the struggle for social transformation that several social forces, including trade unions, and other social movements in the civil society have waged against the condemnable state of so much lack and suffering in the midst of abundance and plenty.
In this presentation, we shall attempt to summarily put in perspective the Millennium Development Goals in relation to the quest for social transformation, with particular reference to the civil society movement in Nigeria. In the first section, we consider the MDGs – explanations on why and how they were arrived at; the possibilities they present for social transformation and; their limitations. The second section looks at the civil society in general and the Nigerian civil society in particular – considering its engagement with the MDGs and; its possible import for the social transformation of Nigeria. The final section will try to situate the broader civil society movement’s roles on MDGs and social transformation broadly, within a trade union perspective. Finally, tentative conclusions are drawn on the way forward.
On the Millennium Development Goals
In September 2000, at New York, the largest gathering of heads of governments and states across the world, ratified a Covenant, christened the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which was to bind all nation-states in achieving eight set goals by 2015. These 8 goals the attainment of which would lead to the transformation of the world, particularly the Third World are to:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty
2015 target: halve proportion of people living on less than $1.00 a day and those suffering hunger
2. Achieve Universal Basic Education
2015 target: achieve universal primary education completion
3. Promote gender equality
2015 target: eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary enrolment and achieve equity at all levels
4. Reduce Child mortality
2015 target: reduce by two thirds, the child mortality rate
5. Improve maternal health
2015 target: reduce by three quarters the proportion of women that die during childbirth
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
2015 target: halt and begin to reverse the incidence of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other major diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
Integration of the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the depletion of environmental resources
2015 target: reduce by half the proportion of people without access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation
By 2020: achieve a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.
8. Develop a global partnership for development
Commitment of countries in both the developed and developing parts of the world to work together in achieving open, rule-based trading and financial system and more aid from the advanced capitalist countries to Third World countries towards reducing poverty.
It was noted when the Declaration of the MDGs was made that a steady commitment of barely 0.7% of the gross national income of the advanced capitalist countries over the first fifteen years of the 21st century could pull out the immense majority of the human race from poverty. Thus far, however, less than 0.09% of the 0.7% promise has been fulfilled annually while stupendous amounts in capital flight are milked from these same countries. This is only one reason within the broader framework of understanding why it seems very likely that the MDGs will not be met, particularly in the Third World, where they are actually more relevant. We shall first look at possible reasons why the declaration, with the MDGs was made in the first place, below and then put this framework in perspective.
There are several reasons that can explain the “inspiration” for the MDGs. We shall look at a few salient ones now.
First is the euphoria of a new millennium. Since humankind learnt how to measure time in seasons and years, we have learnt as well to have hope in the new. A good example at the simplest and personal level is the rate at which people make New Year resolutions at the beginning of each year. A new century awakes even greater cause to change than a new year. A millennium is even something greater, being a thousand years! Men and women have been moved to expect and seek to create great things with millennial spirits, both materially and spiritually. The MDGs is in this sense akin materially to the beliefs in the coming of a Mahdi or a messiah at the commencement of a millennium, which cuts across many a faith. The leaders of the world thus would could not but have been concerned to present an answer to the dreams of many for some sort of change at the turn of the millennium.
Second is the abundance of wealth society now has and the very obvious deprivation of the majority of humankind despite this. This obscene inequality exists within countries and between countries, with the poor people in the Third World, particularly the women, being at the lowest rungs of the ladder of poverty. Two things are latent in this reason. The first is that there has been no millennium before now at which humankind had enough resources for the need of ALL human beings to be met, at its onset. It is the greed of a few that have kept the immense majority in abject poverty. The second is that in an age of mass communication with the internet and cable television for example, the ostentatious lives of the rich is stark naked before all to see. This makes mass anger a potential danger.
The third and probably the most pressing reason for the ambitious MDGs declaration is that the have-nots started a fight-back, like none before since 1968. The beginning of this fight-back to neoliberal globalisation, which today as come to be known as the alternative globalisation movement, was at Seattle on November 30, 1999: less than a year to the United Nations Millennium Declaration. Despite the stark inequalities that the world had been thrown into by the forces of neoliberalism, commencing from the rise to power of Thatcher and Reagan in Britain and USA respectively, it is unlikely that there would have been such a radical declaration of ”commitment” as the MDGs if civil society had not started a fight-back after twenty years of capitalist triumphalism. To paraphrase Steve Biko, the extent to which the slave is kept in slavery is partly dependent on the extent of his/her readiness to fight for freedom.
The MDGs we must say, considering the world as it is today is a radical declaration. It is difficult to however conclude that there is much seriousness on the part of its architects about making the covenant a reality that could lead to social transformation in the interest of the working people across the world. The reason for this is the socio-economic and political framework being promoted by the same world leaders that signed the UN Millennium Declaration.
The past thirty years have been marked by what is best described as neoliberal globalisation of capitalism. This involves restructuring the economies and societies of countries and between countries in a way and manner to ensure the for-profit interests of the capitalists. The developmentalist welfare states in the West and the interventionist states in Africa for example in the early post-colonial days have been rolled-back. Such phrases as “retrenchment”, “rightsizing”, “public sector reforms”, and others that amount to putting working people more and more at the mercy of capitalists who are concerned with profits and not necessarily “development” have become common language.
It is impossible for the MDGs to be attained with neoliberalism as the guiding paradigm for socio-economic and political, evolution of human societies.
On civil society and social transformation
The term civil society has a long history, but yet is a contested one. It featured in literature first in the writings of Socrates in ancient Athens where it was used to refer to all processes, activities and institutions outside the polis or what today we would call the polity.
It was further defined by Hegel in a similar light. In the last century, probably the most succinct definition of it was by the Italian Marxist, Antonio Gramsci. The civil society he described as the site of class struggles within which the dominant political forces exercises its hegemony on one hand, while forces who seek a transformation of the subsisting order, building a national-popular, counter-hegemonic opposition, contend for power, on the other.
For the purposes of our discourse, we consider the civil society as comprising all those, actors, institutions, processes and activities beyond the nuclear family, and outside the political society, which we consider here as the State. It is thus a broad sphere which covers; trade unions, ethnic organisations, business community, associations, youth movements, political parties, etc.
We will however further try to distil, the civil society movement, from within civil society itself. This would comprise those groups within civil society that are conscious of being elements that could play roles in the formulation of public policies, as pressure groups for example. For ease of discussion though, we would exclude trade unions from this movement, while in a broader sense it is part of it. This is due to its peculiarity as a class organisation of the workers.
The Nigerian civil society movement dates back to the anti-colonial period. This to a large extent was the nationalist movement. This movement and the trade unions played the decisive role in bringing about Self-Government for Nigeria in 1960. The nature of the post-colonial state we have, however, is such that, the imperialist interests of the Western countries is still dominant in our economy and the broader society.
In more recent times, a new “civil society movement” has arisen in Nigeria with the decline of socialist forces at the global level and as well in Nigeria. The civil society movement in Nigeria is now constituted by several NGOs, INGOs “NGIs” and “GONGOs”, in several fields such as human rights, gender mainstreaming, HIV/AIDS and several developmental issues.
A number of these NGOs and “NGOs” have been active in engaging the MDGs. Different NGOs address specific MDGs, while some try to engage with them all. The more political NGOs have distilled into the Joint Action Forum, which together with NLC and TUC constitute the Labour Civil Society Conference (LASCO).
It is beyond dispute that there is a great swell of enthusiasm amongst several NGOs and civil society activists for social transformation. A number of problems however militate against the roles most of these can play in leading to thorough-going pro-people social transformation. Probably the most cogent of these is the donor-driven character of their activities. Similarly, the question of democratic accountability and legitimacy can not be wished away as most of these NGOs are non-membership organisations that claim to speak on behalf of “the people”. Related to the donor-driven nature of NGOism is also the fact that most of the NGOs accept the status quo of capitalism as given and many wittingly or unwittingly accept neoliberal policies even where and when they frown at its most draconian manifestations.
In concluding this section, it must be stated that for the civil society movement in Nigeria to actively be a player in the quest for the social transformation of Nigeria. Critical civil society, must through diligent work, come to play a leading role within the civil society movement as a whole. This, however can not be limited to the more political civil society of JAF for example, it must extend to all facets of the civil society movement.
MDGs, social transformation and the civil society movement; a working class perspective
The working class occupies a very important position within modern industrial society and for the possibilities of social transformation in any society. As the NLC motto goes: “labour creates wealth”. It is the working class that generates the wealth of society, the bulk of which is appropriated by the capitalist.
Working people are however the most deprived of people in society . This contradiction of the creators of wealth suffering deprivation and want is characteristic of capitalist production. At its heart is the power the capitalists have to legally exploit the workers. Social transformation that would benefit the immense majority in society has to address the issue of power and would involve structural and distributive changes in the economy and polity and a re-orientation of social values, norms and priorities along lines that are mass-democratic and popular.
In the simplest of terms, a pro-people transformation of our society can be won and guaranteed only through the institution of revolutionary change from the grassroots. Indeed, no country has achieved marked progress without some form of revolution or the other, the nature of which is determined by the level of its socio-economic development and the world order at a particular point in time.
The MDGs are essentially reformist. Reforms are palliative measures meant to give minimal levels of relief. Reforms are not bad in themselves as they often are given as concessions by the ruling classes and elites due to rising militancy of the workers and/or civil society movements. The intent of the elites in conceding to reforms is to nip such activism as that they were made to concede to in the bud so that greater demands are not made. The reforms, however, could provide windows of opportunity for deepening the struggle. This though, is to the extent that the workers and their allies do not allow themselves to fall into the illusion of gradual reforms leading to qualitative changes, in their lives. This amounts to reformism, and is a great danger to the working class movement which should be combated without throwing away the benefits of reforms in general.
The practical significance of the above to the MDGs is that we should demand the pursuit of the attainment of the MDGs, while showing how the free-market ideology of capitalism negates such possibilities and thus the need for radical changes in the power relations between and within countries of the world. We should however pursue much more than the attainment of the MDGs, we should mobilize to build another Nigeria, indeed another world based on the liberating powers of the working class in mobilizing all other exploited and oppressed segments of the society. The clearest theoretical formulation of how the self-emancipation of the working class and the construction of a better world could be won is Marxism. The clarity of Marxist thoughts was further confirmed by the bourgeoisie itself when Karl Marx was declared the greatest thinker of the last millennium by the BBC.
The way and manner the Federal Government is supposedly pursuing the attainment of the MDGs should be exposed as promoting the dependent neo-colonial position of our country. It is focussed on external developmental assistance, a good chunk of which service overhead costs and fill pockets of bureaucrats and politicians.
The state of the civil society movement in Nigeria does as well pose a cause for concern. Many a “CSO” particularly the self-styled NGOs are no less external donor-focussed as the Federal Government. The activities they often pursue are determined more by the dictates of their foreign donors than the needs of the Nigerian masses. Be that as it may, there exist a number of genuinely committed CSOs including but also yet beyond those currently allied to the trade unions on the platform of the Labour Civil Society Coalition (LASCO) that all efforts need to be put into building programmatic bridges to serve the purpose of mobilising for social change.
The sphere of forces considered as political should also be broadened. Platforms of such groups as artisans, market people and NGOs involved in issues of health, education, etc, from a rights-based approach should be forged into LASCO. The Labour Party would need to be strengthened ideologically along the socialist lines stated in the NLC’s policy on politics, politically by contending for a revolutionary transformation of Nigeria and organisationally by expanding the its working class membership base. A closer relationship between LP and the NLC needs to be instituted for these to be consummated.
The labour movement with its civil society allies in fighting for a transformation of Nigeria must not lose sight of the international dimensions of the struggle for social change. There is a pressing need for the popular sectors in Nigeria to become active in the alternative globalisation movement that has swept through the world in the past ten years without much resonance at home here while many an NGO bureaucrat junket around the world for its programmes. We should through education and our organising activities ensure that workers and other toilers realise the links between international capitalist interests of neoliberalism and the decadent ruling elites in our countries with their anti-people programmes. In building the internationalist spirit of the working class and fighting to make another possible world real, we need to also battle for reforms of the global and regional institutions such as the United Nations, World Bank, IMF, AU, NEPAD, ECOWAS.
The working class in considering the MDGs and social change must in the final analysis learn how to use every single won reform to build its strength for revolutionary transformation hat will put the human being and not capital at the heart of development. The working class despite its important role in the struggle for social transformation, however, cannot go it alone. It will have to provide leadership to a broad array of persons who are as well exploited and oppressed by the minority of elites.
Conclusion
This paper as attempted to summarily put in perspective the MDGs in relation to social transformation from a perspective of the working class as a critical element within the broad civil society. The possibilities presented by the MDGs as reforms were identified and its limitations which include the insincerity of world elites and the ruling class in Nigeria, as well.
The paper further considered the Nigerian civil society movement in relation to the place of the working class within it. At the heart of the paper’s view is the perspective that the working class must win power in its own name, representing the interest of the broad masses for lasting social transformation to be a reality in Nigeria. The MDGs in themselves can not lead to social transformation nor can the capitalist policies and programmes pursued by the ruling class.
The struggle ahead is tough and could be long. In the long run though, this is the only sure way to build a new world in which our children will flourish and fulfil the depths of their potentialities.
Select bibliography
Evans, P. 1995, Embedded Autonomy States and Industrial Transformation, Princeton University Press, UK
Kiely, R. 1998, Industrialization and Development: a Comparative Analysis, Routledge, US
Lenin, V. I. 1916, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism a Popular outline, 1963 edn, Progress Publishers, Moscow
Lukacs, G. 1967, History and Class Consciousness: Studies in Marxist Dialectics, 3rd edn, MIT Press, Cambridge
Marx, K. and Engels, F. 1848, Manifesto of the Communist Party, In Marx/Engels Selected Works, Volume One, 1969 edn, Progress Publishers, Moscow
Nigeria Labour Congress, 1980, Workers’ Charter of Demands, NLC
O’Kane, R. H. T. 2000, Revolution: Critical Concepts in Political Science, Series in Routledge Critical Concepts, vol. 4, Francis and Taylor, London
Otive, I. 2006, ‘The Millennium Development Goals: Can Nigeria Meet the Goals in 2015?’, being a paper presented at a symposium on Millennium Development Goals and Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Prospects, organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Abuja District, on 27th July, 2006 at Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja.
*being a paper presented on Monday December 7, 2009 at the 8th NLC Harmattan School in Jos Hill Station Hotel, Plateau State
,
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