Emmanuel Ayeoribe is the immediate past chairman of the Kwara State chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC). He led the local union for a period of eight years without leading out workers in any strike. The harmonious relationship between the NLC and the government of the then Governor Bukola Saraki has remained a test case for government and labour relationship in the state. He spoke with ABIODUN FAGBEMI in Ilorin on the state of the nation on the celebration of its 52nd independent anniversary.

Is Nigeria actually developing age at 52?

Nigeria has a purpose in the scheme of events spiritually, economically and politically. I do not therefore share in the views of some people that the nation is big for nothing or a mere geographical expression. No nation is built in a day, and Nigeria cannot be an exception. If we are lamenting the nation's independent status today, then we are pouring invectives on those who fought like Trojans to give us the independence and on God who made it possible. I will look at Nigeria as a structure and I will start my analysis from its foundation. The founding fathers laid a foundation built on love, peace and hope.

Kindly give insights into the foundation of Nigeria.

The foundation fathers related with one another well without reference to ethnic or religious differences. They did not make pecuniary issue their interests. Many of them died penniless laying a solid foundation for the nation. The solid foundation then, rather than any intervention saved Nigeria despite a bloody civil war of three years. But those who took over from the founding fathers did not build on the foundation. They abandoned it and laid another. They silenced those considered the custodians of the older foundation. The results are what we have today as a modern day Nigeria: Corruption of the highest order, intolerance, faithlessness, insecurity, suspiciousness, infrastructural decay, nepotism, ethnic differences just to mention a few.

What then is the way forward for the nation and its people?

We need to go back to the original foundation by pulling down the one built by the selfish leaders. It has become apparent that the foundation cannot carry the weight of an ideal nation. Since the departure to the land beyond of the great Nigerians like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Sir Ahmadu Bello, etc, how many of such noble characters have emerged in modern day Nigeria? Rather we have seen egocentric individuals using the good names of these leaders to deceive their people and continue to enslave them over God's given natural resources. They wear the eye glasses of Awolowo but on blurred wicked eye balls. They put on his cap, but on empty heads. They claim to be patriotic like Bello, but they are sponsoring people against one another to destroy the peace of the land. They say they are the disciples of the great Owelle of Onitsha (Azikiwe), but their interest is on how to pauperize their people and exchange them for mundane considerations.

These hypocrites should be given a chance to confess their sins against this great nation, restitute their ways by returning the loots and refrain from their satanic activities. If they do, we should all forgive them and demand from them the exhibition of the true traits of the founding fathers of Nigeria. We will then begin to see better the potentials in this country. Workers will get their real salaries at the right time; politicians will no longer kill for monetary gains, and the youth can be gainfully employed. If we ignore the foundational issues, no matter the viability of any policy or theory, the nation will continue to wobble and fumble.

What area of Nigeria as a nation presently requires most urgent attention in your view?

My earnest desire for Nigeria as a nation is for it to sustain the tempo of its electoral reforms. Do not forget that to every new concept there will always be a lunatic fringe in it. We should not be mindful of the initial opposition to the reforms but the overall benefits should be of great concerns to us. When Prof. Attahiru Jega led Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), began its quests for credible electoral processes in Nigeria, we all saw those who suffered one degree of calamity or the other. In the process some members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) were killed while serving as electoral officers in their states of primary assignments.

We should not be deterred, we should rather consolidate on what we have achieved in the process. For now we realise that the electoral officers should be given more protection while prompt prosecution of electoral offenders should be done to serve as deterrence to others. Where proper security is guaranteed, you can be rest assured of seeing honest results and reports. Besides, it will keep those political office holders seeking for re-election on their toes, knowing that their performance in office rather than any other considerations will form the kernel for their re-election.

Besides, I am of the view that now that the electoral body has been institutionalised in Nigeria, we should equally try and make room for speedy actions on Election Petition Tribunals. Cases, where respondents are allowed to carry out un-hindered their constitutional duties while the petitioner will wait until after a year, including filing of appeals to the highest judicial hierarchy in the land, before knowing his fate is not too good.

We are happy over certain developments when we saw some who called themselves governors were sent packing by the orders of the tribunals. We should uphold this legacy and continue to build on it until when our nation becomes a place of praise on earth.

Kindly attempt a solution to the problem of joblessness in Nigeria.

It is laughable to read and hear through the mass media some of the promises being made to the youths by our governments' officials of the planned creation of job opportunities for them. The fact in this is that there can never be enough job opportunities for everybody at a time if we do not change some of the existing policies. We need to re-design the curricula at both the post-primary and tertiary levels of our educational system in order to start churning out graduates who rather than becoming job seekers are job providers. But on the temporary level, we can create hourly method of works in the country where workers will be paid based on the numbers of hours spent on the job. This proposition will no doubt lead to vacancies for others to fill. If Mr. 'B' for instance works daily between the hours of 7.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m. and Mr. 'A' takes over the same job at 2.00 p.m. and goes home by 6.00 p.m., the two of them will no doubt be remunerated differently due to the durations of time used on the job, but will still be fulfilled seeing work to do. Although the employers will spend more money on the employees, the aspect of joblessness with its associated problems will no doubt be reduced. So I think the government at all levels should consider this as a more pragmatic way of temporarily solving the problems of joblessness in Nigeria.

Is the present insecurity problem in some parts of Nigeria not defying military solutions?

The problem of insecurity is not peculiar to Nigeria. But the ability to put it under control is what is important. Again, the concept of insecurity has multiple semantic connotations. For instance, a man who has no feasible means of livelihood cannot be said to be secured. But if we examine the most common aspect of insecurity in Nigeria today, it is in the area of physical insecurity traceable to Boko Haram. We need to tow the lines of the nations of the world that have put their own version of Boko Haram under effective checks rather than linking it with religion of ethnic issues. Security personnel should be trained on how to curb terrorism while Nigerians should be more conscious of their own security. I believe that the issue will one day be a forgotten one if we all sincerely fight the monster.

How do we attain industrial harmony in Nigeria?

The simple principle of Industrial Labour Relations should be strictly adhered to. We should stop seeing both the employers and the employees as enemies of each other. You see, when workers are demanding for more wages, they are simply telling the employers that they can turn in more profits. But in Nigeria the employers do not reason like that. The best employer I had led workers to work for was Dr. Bukola Saraki. He has good understanding of the inherent principle of Industrial Labour Relations. He would not carry out any labour-related policy without consulting first with the workers. He would not say no to workers' demands without reasonable and pragmatic explanations. We can take a cue from this method if we truly want industrial peace in Nigeria. Again, workers will continue to demand for more not only in the area of wages, but in the areas of welfare, adequate compensation and severance allowances. Employers should know that workers will continually react to changes in the market forces.