The late renowned liter
ary writer, Chinua Achebe had since made it clear that when things fall apart, the centre can no longer hold.
The same way, the Holy Bible tells us that a house divided against itself cannot stand.  This is typical of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Rivers State Chapter.
The State NLC over the past one year has been embroiled in an avoidable rift which has rendered it ineffective to speak in one voice on issues affecting the workforce. The division in the union arose from disagreement in the election of its state officers.  This kind of disagreement is, however, not strange nor peculiar to the state, it cuts across the nation, but the others have been able to resolve their differences, while that of Rivers State still lingers. Why?
As a labour organisation, do the two factions of the NLC in the state know the implications of their factionalisation on workers’ welfare? Anyway, the leadership of the union has over the years failed to live up to workers’ expectations as they are known for serving their own personal interest to the detriments of workers’ welfare.
The NLC is one of the umbrella bodies of trade unions in Nigeria and supposedly a non-partisan organisation, expected to midwife between workers and their employers.
In this regard it is only reasonable for the Rivers State chapter of the NLC to realize and understand that it is the welfare of workers they are playing with it, with the factionalisation in the union.
Going by what is happening in the union now, I am tempted to conclude that the factional leaderships do not have the welfare of members at heart and perhaps have nothing to offer to better the working conditions of the state workforce.  As it stands now, it is no longer a hidden fact that the Beatrice Itubo and the Ada Williams  factional leaderships are seeking for self-benefits, rather than the traditional urge to struggle for workers’ welfare.
Although, the founding fathers of trade unionism in Nigeria has emphasized that working class action must be both social and political, especially after the industrial revolution in the coal city of Enugu,  such actions however, must not be to the detriment of workers.
If I may ask, now that the state NLC’s umbrella of “united we stand’ has been torn, what becomes the faith of workers they claim to be representing and fighting for?
I think the best solution to this quagmire the union finds itself is to dissolve the two factional leaderships and set up a caretaker committee, devoid of political party inclination, that can reconcile the issues at stake and organise a fresh, free and fair election for a new leadership of the chapter to emerge.
Before now, the lock down had always been between government and the trade unions, but today, the unions are their own enemies. A situation whereby Workers’ or May Day is celebrated on two different grounds or places by two leadership factions is not and cannot be in the best interest of workers.  The prime function of trade unions the world over is to protect and improve on the wages and working conditions of their members through collective actions, or bargaining with the employers.  A union whose leadership derails from these objectives is not worthy of its existence.
Historically, one of the main reasons for the setting up of trade unions was  for the workers to acquire a combined bargaining strength which would enable them to deal with the employers, but in the present circumstance which the Rivers State chapter of NLC has dumped itself, what can it do?  Its existence, therefore, does not serve any useful purpose to the Rivers workforce whose salaries are being deducted on monthly basis as union dues.
In most cases, government is always happy when there is disagreement or crisis among union leaders, but the case of Rivers State is different.  The state government had recently, through the Head of Service (HOS), advised the leaders of the two factions to sheathe their swords and resolve their differences to enable the government remit the workers’ check-off dues to the union.
But till now, the two factions still remain adamant.  The question is, whose interest are these two factions serving if they cannot reconcile election matters that have lingered for over a year?  How then would these leaders reconcile differences among their members?
Although the state government is a third party in the NLC rift in the state, I think it will not be out of place for government to reconcile the two factions.  I say this because unusual problems sometimes require unusual solution.  But if, after the government’s intervention, the two factions are adamant, it means they are heading towards self-destruction.  And the Rivers State workforce I believe, will not hesitate to force them eat the humble pie.

Shedie Okpara