The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has
expressed sadness at Nigeria’s “tale of conundrum”
riddled with various crises 57 years after its
independence.

In its independence message on Saturday, the union
said Nigeria at this stage still “dances naked to the full
glare of the whole world while its roof is on fire”.

It said though remaining as one country after 57 years
is something to cheer about, “our staying together has
been at the cost of innocent blood and outright
violation of the fundamental rights of Nigerians”.

“Ordinarily it should not be out of place if we roll out
our drums today to celebrate this feat, but we cannot,
because like they say ‘you don’t participate in a dance
competition when your house is on fire.’ Nigeria is
dancing at the market square naked to the full glare of
the whole world when our roof is on fire,” TUC said in a
message signed by Bobboi Kaigama, its president.

“This day should remind us of our heritage, the vision
and struggles of the founding fathers, unfortunately,
some have had cause to question the rationale behind
the quest for independence in the first place.

“Our tale is that of a conundrum with insurgencies,
collapsed educational system, gross unemployment,
ritual killing, cultism, prostitution/rape, mass
emigration, de-industrialisation, tribalism and
nepotism, inept leadership, environmental challenge,
infrastructural decay, gender issues, Badoo,
kidnapping, YahooPlus, corruption and anti-graft, and
a host of others.”

Kaigama added that the pain Nigeria bears is a
needless one “given the enormous wealth of human
and natural resources God has bestowed to this
country”.

He said Nigeria is not at par with many of the
countries that attained their independence in 1960
“even when they do not have one-tenth of what we
have in terms of human and natural resources”.

The union, therefore, challenged the country’s
leadership to see this year’s independence anniversary
as a vintage opportunity to reflect on our polity,
economy and society at large.

It said: “Our key functionaries and institutions must be
made to work respectively and religiously like it is
done elsewhere. Insecticides and deodorants have
their roles. You cannot achieve result when you
misapply the two liquids.

“We wish to appeal to the federal government to
remember its ‘change mantra’. It makes no sense
accusing and condemning the previous
administrations for corruption only for the recovered
money to be re-looted. Mere leaving a political party
for the ruling party must not make anybody a saint.

“The world is watching and waiting for the pride of
Africa and most populated black nation to blossom.
The federal government’s economic recovery plan
must not fail. No more excuses.”

TheCable