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Nigeria — Medical Workers Strike

Nasarawa Indefinite Strike

Health workers must sustain actions for improved funding and living conditions

Wednesday, 9 June 2021 10:09 (UTC)
Statement by the Movement for a Socialist Alternative
ISA in Nigeria
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The Movement for a Socialist Alternative (MSA) is in solidarity with the recently declared indefinite strike action by Nasarawa health workers. We join the health workers in their demand against the violation of the 2011 agreement and their demand for government to pay the backlog of salaries and implement payment of the N30,000 minimum wage.

We condemn this act of the Nasarawa state government, for failing to do what is necessary especially now when health workers’ lives are on the line, fighting the spread of COVID-19, despite the cut in funding for the state public health sector. It is on record that Nasarawa State is among the 18 States which has refused to pay the N30,000 minimum wage.

We condemn this inhuman act by the Nasarawa State Government. Because it is pro-capitalist in nature, it is failing to provide an adequately — funded public health sector and to implement the payment of the minimum wage. The State Government has continued to give excuses of lack of resources and insecurity to be able to fund public health.

But current realities prove the government’s positions are false. The rise of insecurity is largely blamed on the failed policies of the government. We are not in doubt that the Nasarawa State Government might act like Kaduna. However, workers should be wary of this move to call off the strike.

MSA want to urge the health workers to be resolute in their struggles until their demands are meant.

While we support the indefinite strike declared after a press briefing, the MSA urge the leadership of the Coalition of Health Professionals’ Association of Nasarawa Health Workers to use this strike to organise actions to pressure the government to meet their demands and improve budgetary allocations for the health sector.

The MSA is of the view that a sit-at-home strike without engaging in actions like picketing, holding regular meetings and issuing regular press statements will isolate the strike and this can either resort or push the government to raise false anti-strike propaganda against the workers.

We urge the leadership of the Association to reach out to the general public with mass actions and public awareness to win solidarity among working class families in the state.

Largely, we urge the Nasarawa State Branch of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the National leadership of Ayuba Wabba, President of the NLC to give solidarity to the striking workers. The solidarity is to rally mass support behind the health workers to force the government meet the 2011 agreement and most especially the demand for the payment of the N30,000 minimum wage and promotion of workers as agreed by the State government.

We also use this opportunity to state that we, a revolutionary organization, see the failure of the Nigerian state to adequately fund public health and all other infrastructures as linked to the failure of the anti-poor and pro-rich capitalist system. Without the entire capitalist system replaced with a genuine socialist alternative, the crisis will be an unending for mass of workers and youth.

While the entire capitalist ruling elite have their parties, working people have none of their own. This is why the MSA calls for the building of a new mass working people’s political alternative of workers and the poor; anchored on a clear-cut programme of replacing this profit-based driven capitalist system with a socialist planned society.

This will be different in its entirety from the saddening experience of the Soviet Union, under the command of Stalin and its successors, which lacked democracy despite the central planning.

MSA extends solidarity to the striking health workers and urge them to fight on until victory is attained!

SOLIDARITY!

Aj. Dagga Tolar

Spokesperson, MSA

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Nasarawa Indefinite Strike (09 Jun 2021)

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