For several years running the Nigerian worker has increasingly been at the receiving end of the fallout of a failure of political leadership: derelict infrastructure, collapsing social services, insecurity of life and property, inebriated manufacturing sector, a comatose economy and endemic corruption. Laws protecting the Nigerian worker are virtually non-existent and lack bite where they exist. Casualization of labour has become the norm rather than the exception. The Nigerian worker effectively finds himself or herself confronting the twin-headed monster of rising costs of living and stagnating wages.

The unprecedented global economic crisis has only succeeded in making a bad case worse. As the quantum of the nation's revenues nosedived due to plummeting prices for crude oil so have workers' conditions worsened. In fact, the Nigerian worker seems to be bearing the brunt of the ongoing economic meltdown. Plant closures have escalated with the attendant loss of jobs and incomes. This has also meant a depletion of membership in workers' organizations. The level of youth and graduate unemployment remains very high and the educational institutions continue to produce more graduates every year far beyond the current carrying capacity of the national economy. It is an indubitable fact that the Nigerian worker is worse-off today than at any time in the nation's checkered history.

Some have argued that the Nigerian worker is generally lazy; has a poor work attitude; lacks commitment; lacks the repertoire of skills needed to raise productivity; with low ethical and professional reference points. Some or all of these may be true but they remain factors that can be ameliorated with a well-directed intervention programme. Most of them can be corrected through appropriate training and raising the workers' self-esteem and performance through improving their welfare. It is a trite saying that a hungry man is an angry man and nowhere is this reflected better than in the propensity for workers to embark on strikes as a first resort in dealing with Government and private employers alike. Unfortunately, apart from worsening the economic woes of the nation through loss of production and man hours, incessant strikes have culminated in the erosion of public sympathy and empathy for legitimate labour causes.

The task of creating jobs and enhancing Nigerian workers' welfare and productivity is arduous but achievable. Existing labour laws - with particular reference to the Labour Act and the Trade Disputes Act - must be revisited to eliminate provisions that make a mockery of efforts to enforce workers' rights. Casualization of labour must be prohibited without any dilly-dallying. Government must also resist the temptation to break the unity existing in the Nigerian Labour Congress through divide-and-rule strategies. Whatever doubtful short-term gains the government may derive from such interference are more than off-set in the long run by increased instability in the working environment and the ascendancy of mutual distrust and suspicion. It is in the best interest of the economy that both Labour and Government engage themselves in a win-win partnership to move the economy forward.

There is a crying need for the Government to create an enabling environment for businesses by ensuring the security of life and property, providing appropriate infrastructure and making it easier for entrepreneurs to access cheaper credit. When the business sector grows, both Government and Labour benefit; the government earns higher tax revenues while workers enjoy higher incomes, more job opportunities and expansion of their ranks.

There is the need to review the National Minimum Wage. The current monthly minimum wage of N7,500.00 is untenable given the escalating costs of transportation, housing, food, education, clothing and healthcare. We recommend the setting-up of a tripartite commission of enquiry - Government, Labour and employers - to investigate how much it would take for an average Nigerian worker to survive in today's environment and call on the Government to act with sincerity of purpose and concern for the welfare of Nigerian citizens barely making ends meet at the lowest rung of society.

Labour leadership, on the other hand, must think out of the box and be more creative and daring in their bid to successfully voyage into previously uncharted territories to stem contraction of membership. Workers must be prepared to acquire new skills necessary in handling today's challenges. The Labour movement is at a vantage position to spearhead the fight against corruption. Governments only pay lip-service to the war against corruption because they believe they can get away with financial malfeasance; hence Labour - in concert with the media and civil society groups - must act as effective pressure groups. All said and done, we wish Nigerian workers a Happy May Day celebration.