.1st May, 2025
News Desk
- The Coalition for Democracy in Nigeria)(CODIN) a Principal Human Rights and anti Corruption Group joined the Nigerian Workers and the global labour Movement to celebrate the 2025 International Workers Day.
According to the President of the Group, Comrade Mashood Erubami a labour Activist, a Democracy Advocate and a hopeful Candidate for the 2027 House of Representatives in the Egbeda ONA Ara Federal Constituency Congratulated all working class and well Wishers for leaving to witness and celebrate another workers Day.
He commends the Nigerian workers for their diligence and sacrifice from last year’s celebration as a result of immeasurable activities which had added to the productivity, growth and development of the Nation.
He called on the Nigerian workers to rejig their efforts towards rebuilding the Nation for peace and changing the tactics and strategies of winning concession for the good welfare of their members recalling that the day which started in 1886 came into being as a result of joint actions of the American Federation of Organised Trades and Labor Unions, in 1884 when they demanded an eight-hour workday, to come into effect as of May 01, 1886.
The celebration of workers day on every May 1, derived it’s form from the consequences of violent clashes between labor and police during the Haymarket Riot in 1886, when thousands of workers in Chicago took to the street to agitate for better welfare of workers, against multiple hourly working per day and demanded for a gazetted eight hourly work per day.Workers that iot led to bringing the employer to terms and settled for eight hours with improved work standards.
Ever since, many countries had joined in accepting this work conditions while the day is declared as free working day to celebrate workers hard work and contributions to society, particularly the recognition of eight hours of work per day instead of the multiple hours working per day as it were.
The Group warned workers not to depend on securing welfarism through only economisim and demanded for a new approach of negotiating for salary and improved welfare through tackling the effects of the causes of their underdevelopment and poor remuneration.
As Workers celebrate the 2025 International workers day, Comrade Erubami adviced the workers to join hands with the government to set a new and better template for securing the hopes in the renewed hope agenda of the government towards jointly improving governance that will enable for maximal benefits by labour from the wealth of the Nation.
The Group further advised Workers to note the reasons why they have been celebrating years of their days amid excruciating poverty and undervalued incomes is a result of not dealing with the causes of their problems.
The Democratic Coalition also reiterated that since Nigeria joined in the global Celebration, it has been regrettable that employers of labour have not seen the day as a day for capacity strengthening for the workers and for promoting increased productivity through boosting workers income for better life.
Regrettably too, Nigerian Workers have not used the day to agitate for improved welfare and good standard of life for their members who step out of different social economic crises as a result of poor remuneration, collapsing values of their salaries and consequential poverty of material well-being.
The Group pointed out that Workers that are the Hen which lay the Golden Eggs upon which the employers hibernate should consider everything wrong that nothing is being done during these annual rituals by the employers to strengthen their capacity for increased productivity through boosting of their incomes by not jettison of new tactics and strategies of dealing with the causes of their sufferings in the midst of plenty.
The Group reemphasized that the history and evolution of Labour Day is a story of the struggles and triumphs of the labour movement over their lamentations. Therefore, Workers must start to demand for the retrieval of the Structure of the Labour Party from the current Usurpers to engage a truly productive partisan politics by setting up political structures across the political zones, wards, local government, states, geo political zones and at National level.
Also, Labour must stand as real Champion for special concession of Welfare and social improvement in income and allowances for their members.
The Group pointedly declared that every worker’s day to be celebrated as a public holiday, should be used as a day for political rallies to restate the gains from the achievements of the working class and as most appropriate time to recognize the contributions of workers to society while honouring the struggles of Compatriots who fought and sacrificed for better working conditions and labour rights.
Comrade Mashood Erubami
PRESIDENT AND CONVENER: COALITION FOR DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA, (CODIN);
NIGERIA VOTERS ASSEMBLY (VOTAS);
Executive Director Centre For Human Rights and Ethics in Development (CHRED);
Past President, Campaign For Democracy ( CD),
Past Chair, Transition Monitoring Group (TMG),
Past Chair, The West African Election Observation Network (WAEON)
emails: erubamio@yahoo.co.UK, erubamimashood@gmail.com
