Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU, to halt its current strike and resume work.
Osinbajo stated this on Sunday, in his remarks to commemorate the Workers’ Day celebration which was held at Eagle Square, Abuja, themed “Labour, Politics and the quest for Good Governance and Development in Nigeria.”
The Vice President who stated that workers “ keep the engines of our country running despite the challenges we face”, added they are the strength and the hope of our nation.”
“Whatever heights of greatness we achieve as a people will be because of your contributions to our national enterprise,” he said.
“In every real sense, the Nigerian worker laid the foundations of our sovereignty and freedom with their blood and tears and nurtured it till this day with their sweat and zeal,” the VP added.
The vice president appealed to the body and the broader labour community to embrace dialogue with the Government.
“We are not unmindful of the anxieties of our children and their parents who are plagued by thoughts of an uncertain future as they stay home because their universities have been shut by an industrial action,” he observed.
He also appealed to the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress to help facilitate a resolution,
According to him, “ we both want the same thing – a country that works for all and offers each citizen a fair deal – even if occasionally we differ on how to achieve this goal. But at all times, we have through dialogue found a path forward… I believe that we can find a path forward in good faith. And this is what we must do”
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He disclosed that the government was making efforts in addressing security challenges by “re-engineering our security architecture with greater focus on technology and modern force multiplier platforms.”
Osinbajo also stated the administration’s determination to improve the education sector, ramp up its Social Investment Programmes, broadband connectivity for Nigerians by 2025, and “establish a technology economy that will leverage on our broadband connectivity for all.”
This, he noted, will “encourage tech companies to train more tech engineers and increase the quantum and quality of tech talent in Nigeria.”
“We have the talent, the resources, the resourcefulness, the resilience and the faith to do all these and more in a few short years. But we must decisively defeat the anarchists and terrorists, unite and heal our people and let a united and powerful country attain its manifest destiny,” he observed.
“The Nigerian worker in every real sense laid the foundations of our sovereignty and freedom with their blood and tears, and nurtured it till this day with their sweat and zeal.”
According to him, “ the Buhari’s administration has made the biggest Social Investment Programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa, through the Survival Fund, payroll support scheme for over 1 million workers, MSMEs, supports for 4 million new farmers, Social Housing scheme, Solar Power Naija for 5 million homes and by expanding health insurance coverage, aim for universal healthcare.
“Nations are built by people and Nigeria is being built through the daily honest toil of hardworking Nigerian workers,
Osinbajo praised Nigerian workers for their sacrifices and dignity of labour, adding that “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 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.”
While he noted the important role of workers, the Vice President pointed out that nation-building is the responsibility of every Nigerian.
He further stated that “The progressive vision of inclusive growth and shared prosperity requires a revolution in our national productivity and our work ethic.
“On the part of the government, this means ensuring that every citizen has the opportunity to work, achieve productive personhood and participate in the development of their communities.”
“As a people, we must commit to an ethos of high productivity and innovation, and of using technology to transform the way we work and do business,” the VP stated, adding that “we cannot achieve this without a workforce that is attuned to optimising our possibilities.”
He noted that “the labour movement belongs firmly to the progressive political persuasion, noting that “labour has always made common cause with the progressives.”
He revealed that the ruling All Progressives Congress was “an alliance of progressives” that in 2015 “became the first opposition party to defeat a ruling party against all odds and secure a national victory at the polls.”
“It was a watershed moment for our nation because, until that momentous event, the progressive tendency had been the neglected cornerstone of our nation’s history.
“progressive politics” is how politics can deliver good governance and development.
He explained: “as a progressive, I believe that good governance and development means compulsory free education for the unlettered, universal healthcare coverage, inclusion for the alienated, social mobility for the poor, justice for the wronged and social security for the vulnerable.
“The progressive vision of Nigeria is of a nation in which the relations between the government and the governed are defined by a social covenant. It is a society in which no Nigerian is left behind. It is of a canopy of inclusive and broad-based prosperity in which the security and the welfare of each citizen are guaranteed.”
Buttressing further on the impact of progressives’ politics on socio-economic development, the Vice President highlighted the Buhari administration’s Social Investment Programmes, which have impacted tens of millions of beneficiaries nationwide.
“We have pursued our progressive agenda for inclusion and social protection in a period of global turbulence,” Prof. Osinbajo added, assuring that “we are committed to doing much more.”
“We must continue to take care of our people, especially when they are no longer active. No society has achieved appreciable levels of development without looking out for the older demographic of its population, especially those who have faithfully served the country,” he emphasised”
