President of Nigeria
Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, has mandated workers in Cross River
State to cast their votes for Governor Ben Ayade in Saturday’s governorship
election.
Wabba who spoke through Comrade Ofueonyeadi Innocent at
the commissioning of NLC’s ultra modern complex in Calabar, told workers in the
State that failure to vote Ayade would be at their own detriment.
“If you stay away, shame on you; this is the only
opportunity and time you can come and make a statement, and your votes must be
counted….let the right thing be done and at the end of the day, we shall all
join in dancing shaku-shaku,” he
told the excited workers.
The Labour boss thanked Professor Ayade for the new NLC
complex, saying there is no doubt that the people of the State are with him.
“The people are with you and the workers are at home with
you”, he stated
Wabba applauded the Cross River state Governor for his giant
strides, describing his achievements in office as making Cross River the Isreal
of Nigeria.
“I am not here to read all that you have done, it is
unprecedented, you have come to prove to us that, human capital development is
far higher than infrastructural development, that is why Israel stands
out, you are making Cross river, the Israel of Nigeria”
Professor Ayade in his remarks took the workers
through the Mediaeval history of labour struggles saying ” labour got it
own domiciliation , reduce to a mere tool yet labour is human being, yet labour
is a tool, and so in the 14th century there was a class struggle where the
Boers believed that there were the owners of labour and that labour is a
slave. This did not allow for a carnametics balance between government and
labour”
Continuing,Ayade said labour has gone through a lot of
change, crystallizing into a new philosophy. “Labour is no longer a tool
but a collective engine of progress that brings about collectives growth; so
your prosperity agenda focuses on coming together with the publics structure of
governance to build a fiesta of bliss,of great opportunity, a horiziing of hope
for the downtrodden.”
The governor pledged to continue to pay salaries of Cross
River workers “even if the Federal government fails to release allocation”
The State chairman of NL, Comrade John Ushie, described
Ayade as a the people’s governor who has sustained the payment of salaries and
pension of workers while also attending to the industrial and infrastructural
needs of the state. Ushie said the new labour House represents the strength of
Cross River workers.