Posted by By PFRANCIS AWOWOLE-BROWNE, Abuja on
Amid flurry of congratulatory messages from member-countries of the European Union, Labour and Civil Society Coalition (LASCO), Wednesday warned members of the diplomatic corps in the country to respect the wishes of Nigerians by staying away from the inauguration of Alhaji Umaru Yar'Adua as President, but to side with the people by obeying the two-day sit at home action called by it.
Amid flurry of congratulatory messages from member-countries of the European Union, Labour and Civil Society Coalition (LASCO), Wednesday warned members of the diplomatic corps in the country to respect the wishes of Nigerians by staying away from the inauguration of Alhaji Umaru Yar'Adua as President, but to side with the people by obeying the two-day sit at home action called by it.
Giving a run down of its preparation for the action billed for May 28 and 29, President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr. Abdulwaheed Omar, his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Mr. Peter Esele as well as the Civil Society leader told newsmen they were fully prepared for the action and had actually mobilized affiliated union members, traders, and other categories of workers to ensure a successful outing, the first from the new labour leaders.
The group disclosed that it was aware government was comfortable with the sit at home, however, the second day of the action will witness physical protest by way of mass actions and rallies in major cities and towns across the country.
Though the European Union had condemned the last April polls as falling short of expectations for free and fair election in a democratic Nigeria, members of the union individually have been congratulating the president-elect, and some of then had indicated their intention to show up at the swearing-in ceremony, a situation labour argued was anti-Nigerian people.
Labour argued that rather than celebrating democracy day, government would be celebrating the murder of democracy, therefore the international community should not join in the celebration.
Briefing newsmen Wednesday, the group flayed the Labour Minister, Dr. Hassan Lawal, over his position at a ministerial valedictory briefing, that "government would not lose sleep over the decision of labour to embark on sit at home to protest the election, won by my party fairly."
Leaders of the Labour and Civil Society Coalition who took turn to field questions from newsmen at the Labour House in Abuja described the minister as merely bluffing for saying government was unruffled over the strike.
"This is the level to which governance had been bastardized, our view is that the minister is bluffing, because no sane person can be happy that the nation's productive population is protesting and will sit at home. What a shallow interpretation of the situation. How do you explain that to your international guests? All we know is that we are going to protest the elections."
Earlier, while appealing to Nigerians and other nationals resident in the country to comply with the sit at home directive, Mr. Omar explained that the action became necessary by the willful destruction of democratic culture and institutions, the imposition of the tyranny of a few, the relentless assault on the peoples, values and culture, the unwholesome corruption of the polity and the system, all of which resulted in the disgraceful and unacceptable conduct of the 2007 general elections.
"These elections have been considered by Nigerians and international observers as the worst in the history of this country. The tragedy of our situation is that while other countries, including the supposedly less endowed, are moving forward. The conduct of these elections has taken us several decades back, yet, we are said to be the giant of giant of Africa . No wonder, we are the butt of cruel jokes across the world.
"Leadership that chooses to learn nothing will never learn anything. A leadership that chooses to ignore its people will only serve itself with dire consequences. We're duty-bound to protest the criminal results of these scandalous elections, because we individually and collectively owe this nation and generations yet unborn something in spite of repeated acts of betrayal committed against us by the government", he maintained.
He added that the nation and her people can never get it right "if we accept to live with every electoral infamy, no nation, and no people ever make progress on the wheel of injustice or corruption. The decision and the power to move this country forward lies in our hands.
We either make it or reject it. However, judging from the overwhelming and spontaneous protests that greeted the outcome of the election, we have no doubt that the decision has already been taken."
He then advised the people to join in the mass protest, even when they were threatened by the agents of the state, pointing out that "it was better to die on our feet than to live permanently on our knees."