It happens often. Birthdays or anniversaries take the back seat when urgent and pressing developments crowd the mind. Last Monday was not an exception. June 3 was the day forty years ago, when the first copy of Sunday Vanguard rolled out. It is not a day I am expected to forget easily given the role I played in midwifing this birth. Besides, a few ex-staff had hinted me earlier in the year of their intention to mark the day.
The strike this time, is about demand for living wages for Nigerian workers. It is a demand that is not unreasonable given the rapid erosion on the purse of the poor and given the lifestyle of our political elites. But asking for about half a million Naira seems ridiculous, even as a negotiating point. It also says something about those leading the labour movement.
Given the foregoing, it’s hard to believe the strike is in the interest of the average Joe. Or that the resulting salary increase would be beneficial to all concerned to quote a four-way Rotary test. What I would have wished for, is to have Labour use some of its considerable, but often misapplied powers, to push for fiscal discipline among our leaders especially the Executive and Legislature, to reflect the realities in the country.