Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has extolled the virtue of the Nigerian workers whom he said sacrificed their ‘sweat and zeal’ to nurture the nation from birth till date.
He spoke Sunday during this year’s Workers’ Day Rally themed ‘Labour, Politics, and the Quest for Good Governance and Development’ in Abuja.
He said: “The labour movement is a foundational movement in the making of our nation. You are heirs of a movement that was involved in literally building modern Nigeria.
“Over a century ago, the Nigerian working class laid the railway tracks and erected telegraph poles connecting the vast reaches of a country that was about to be born. Indeed, it is impossible to tell the story of our nation’s liberation from colonial rule without dwelling at length on the heroic contributions of the labour movement to that struggle.
“The struggle for fairness and equity in relations between the employer and the worker and the campaign for the dignity of the Nigerian worker in the colonial era were closely bound up with the quest for independence. Some would say that both struggles were two sides of the same coin. For just as the Nigerian worker sought to be accorded equal rights in his own land, the nationalist movement sought to break the yoke of colonialism and transform our people from subjects to citizens.
“In this epic struggle, the Nigerian working class was the army of the nationalist movement. We remember the 1945 General Strike and the Iva Valley Massacre in 1949 in which striking miners seeking their rights were killed by colonial authorities.
“These are watershed events in the evolution of our nation. Names such as those of Pa Michael Imoudu, Mallam Aminu Kano, Nduka Eze, F.O. Coker, E.E. Esua and M.A. Bankole among others are seared into the national memory – they belong to iconic figures in the labour movement who played critical roles in our quest for liberation from colonial rule.
“When we sing our National Anthem and proclaim that the “the labours of our heroes past shall never be in vain”, we are invoking the memory of legions of patriotic agitators among whom were leading lights of the labour movement. Therefore, the Nigerian worker in every real sense laid the foundations of our sovereignty and freedom with their blood and tears and nurture it till this day with their sweat and zeal.
“So the 1st of May is a day laden with historical significance and the importance of this occasion is further underscored by the fact that it is the last May Day celebration before a national election. In commemorating this event, there is much to reflect upon and the theme you have chosen for this occasion invites us to ponder on “Labour, Politics and the Quest for Good Governance and Development.”
