THERE are indications that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) may have been divided on whether or not to mobilize Nigerians for a mass protest over the absence of President Yar’Adua and the refusal of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and some legislators to hand over power to the vice president.

Investigations by LabourToday revealed that some notable members in the leadership of the congress are not comfortable with the unusual docility of the congress at this point in time, noting that the president’s continued absence from his constitutional duties is slowing down socio-economic progress in the country.

Some unionists, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Nigerians expected the congress to have mobilized the masses for a mass action that would make the FEC and legislators obey the constitution and hand over power to the vice president, pending when the president returns, for the country to move on.

“So many things have been at a standstill due to the continued absence of Mr. President, deregulation is there, implementation of agreement between FG and ASUU, NASU, SSANU, post amnesty programmes are stagnated at this time, even the budget is there. We cannot continue to fold our arms and be passive while some few selfish legislators are holding the entire nation, that is over 150 million people, to ransome,” a source argued.

Another source revealed that most of them in the NLC were worried over the passiveness of the congress, saying people have called him, asking why the NLC has not mobilized Nigerians at this pressing time. “Honestly it is embarrassing because the masses are suffering and they rely on the NLC to make the call, but what can we do when the leadership is docile?,” he lamented. He said it was only the NLC that could  make the call and the protest would be effective because other smaller unions cannot pull massive result, pointing out that some groups have protested but that it yielded no results.

An impeccable source in the leadership of the NLC, who spoke in confidence, noted that the docility of the congress may not be unconnected with the fact that the top echelon of the NLC leadership are Northerners, who, probably, are giving solidarity to their brother. He, however, acknowledged that Nigerians were disappointed in the NLC, based on the calls he had received from people.

According to him, “if the NLC is sincere in its course towards Nigerians, its mass action can actually put an end to the prolonged rancour in the National Assembly and FEC and it can make them do the right thing.

“If the NLC is sincere and calls for mass strike actions and mass protests, grounds the economy just for a few days, NASS and FEC will have no choice than to do the right thing, for the country to progress. I remember in an Asian country, the people protested over their leadership and they grounded the airports all over the country, the man in question had to relinquish power. Nigerian people only need to do some of these mass actions, and the few selfish cabals will succumb to the will of the people,” he stressed.

President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), at a public function in Lagos recently, blasted the Nigeria Labour Congress over its “docile and unpatriotic attitude towards the state of the nation, particularly on the embarrassing continued absence of President Yar’Adua from the country.”

The activist said Nigerians expected that the organised Labour should by now, have organised various protest actions across the country to press home the demands of Nigerian workers and the entire citizenry on the continued absence of the president and the refusal of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and some selfish legislators to transfer power to the vice president, for continued developmental progress in the country.

According to him, “Nigerians are, as a result of the executive vacuum in the Presidency, going through hardship over lingering fuel scarcity, they are being embarrassed globally as a terrorist country because if our president was available, President Obama would have had a dialogue with him over the attempted USA plane blast by a Nigerian before publicly declaring Nigeria as a terrorist state.

“Socio-economic issues like the condemnable violence and mayhem in Jos, post amnesty programmes which are grounded, workers’ minimum wage issues, constitutional/electoral reform and others are there to be resolved,” he added.

Similarly, National President of the Campaign for Democracy, Dr. (Mrs) Joe Okei-Odumakin, expressed displeasure over the congress’ passiveness, saying all hands must be on deck now to make the National Assembly and FEC obey the constitution and the will of the people, which supercedes any individual’s selfish ambition. She noted that her group has joined other notable Nigerians, under the Save Nigeria Group, to protest the unconstitutional actions of the FEC and the House, but that much was expected of the NLC, rather than statements on the pages of the dailies.

“So many executive functions are presently grounded because of the vacuum created for over two months now and yet the NLC, which represents the Nigerian workers, has kept quiet, unnecessarily passive and submissive to the undemocratic activities of the FEC and some legislators. NLC’s passiveness at this period is disappointing. All hands should be on deck now to make the wrongs right and prevent anarchy,” she stressed.