VZCZCXRO1379
OO RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHUJA #1307/01 2010849
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 200849Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6589
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 2003
RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 0963
RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 1679
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0150
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ABUJA 001307 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL, AF/W 
PLEASE PASS USTR FOR AGAMA 
DOL FOR SUDHA HALEY 
DOC FOR 3317/ITA/OA/KBURRESS 
TREASURY FOR DAN PETERS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EAID PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIAN LABOR DISCONTENT BECOMING CONTAGIOUS, BUT 
GON ONLY PROVIDING TRIAGE 
 
REF: A. ABUJA 1289 
     ¶B. ABUJA 1191 
     ¶C. ABUJA 1117 
     ¶D. ABUJA 821 
     ¶E. ABUJA 609 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  Frustration and discontent in the labor 
sector was at its most contagious state during the week of 
July 6-10, as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its 
affiliates led demonstrations -- and inspired others to do so 
-- within education, health, and media institutions across 
the country.  All of these sectors have conveyed similar 
appeals to the GON to honor its commitments made more than 
six years ago to increase wages, pay arrears in monetized 
benefits, and institutional development.  The latest strikes 
and threats of strikes follow others that have taken place 
across the country within the past seven months, as well as 
NLC labor rallies (reftels B, C, and D), with a focus on the 
GON's unresponsiveness and inability to honor its commitments 
on a variety of union demands, particularly salary levels. 
Combined, labor unrest appears to be increasing in strength 
and intensity, while the GON's response has been at best, a 
piecemeal triage of promises and requests for more time.  As 
a result, discontent within Nigeria's labor sector seems to 
be nearing a peak, increasing the potential for nation-wide 
shutdowns and by extension, the threat to services in the 
health and education sectors and with media institutions. 
The Mission will monitor these strikes closely and also 
monitor the potential for violence.  Thus far, no violence 
has been reported.  End Summary. 
 
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EDUCATION: Academic Unions Capitalize on NLC Momentum 
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¶2. (U) About a week after the NLC's last coordinated protest 
rally in Borno State (reftel A) in June, the ASUU embarked on 
its own strike, to demand better funding for education 
programs, adequate renumeration of staff, autonomy and 
democratization of university decision-making, and 
reinstatement of the sacked lecturers due to retirement age. 
Senior Staff Association of Universities President, Adewusi 
Promise, told LabOff on July 10 that the demands date back to 
a 2001 agreement with the GON to negotiate these same issues. 
 The strike, which has now entered its fourth week, is not 
supported by all university staff across the country (ref A) 
but its timing--during end of semester examinations--was 
instrumental in eliciting the only tangible GON response in 
the last seven months to labor union strikes, threats of 
strikes, and protest rallies across the country.  On July 2, 
the GON announced through its Minister of Education, Dr. Sam 
Egwu, and later Minister of Information, Dora Akunyili that 
the GON has agreed to ASUU's demands for academic freedom, 
specifically that university boards will have more 
non-government members than government members; approved the 
change in retirement age from 65 to 70 years-old; and a 40% 
increase in ASUU member salaries. 
 
¶3. (U) ASUU continued its strike to meet its final demand for 
more government-funded university programs, but Egwu 
responded to local reporters on July 13 that "the GON has 
conceded enough" and that ASUU members "should consider the 
plight of the students and go back to the classroom because 
only students and their parents are being punished, not the 
government."  (Note:  Several university students in Abuja, 
some of whom work for Mission Nigeria, told LabOff that 
students, but not their parents, fully support the strike 
even though their exams have been delayed as a result.  End 
Note.)  ASUU issued a July 11 statement, which warned that 
"the strike had just begun" and appealed to Nigerians to 
"understand and prepare for a very long strike since it would 
 
ABUJA 00001307  002 OF 004 
 
 
not back down from its final demand for better university 
funding.   Meanwhile, Trade Union Congress (TUC) President 
Peter Esele and General Secretary John Kolawole issued their 
own national communiqu on July 11, which stated that "Egwu 
is not capable to lead the education sector" and requested 
that the GON "immediately remove Egwu from office or face the 
wrath of labor." 
 
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- 
HEALTH: Medical Doctors and Administrative Staff Carry 
Momentum 
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- 
 
¶3. (U)  Around the same time as ASUU's national strike, the 
Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) warned 
the Ministry of Health on July 6 that it would be embarking 
on its own strike to protest the GON's failure to pay more 
than six years in arrears of monetized fringe benefits to 
health workers, dating back to a 2003 agreement between the 
GON and MHWUN. On July 9, public hospitals across the country 
became paralyzed, shutting down emergency wards, preventing 
treatment of admitted patients, and closing general practice 
clinics.  Local press reported that people were seen wheeling 
their sick family members out of hospitals.  MHUN General 
Secretary Marcus Omakuale told LabOff on July 10 that "we are 
very sorry for the strain and suffering of those affected by 
the absence of medical care, but after six years of 
unresponsiveness, we had no choice."  Omakuale told LabOff 
that the GON only agreed to pay 50% of its arrears, but did 
not make a commitment to pay the balance.  He also conveyed 
that "the GON's piecemeal response to Nigeria's labor 
problems is completely the wrong strategy and needs more of a 
holistic and centralized approach to working with labor." 
 
¶4. (U) Less than a week after the MHWUN strike, on July 13, 
the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) (a confederation of 
Nigerian government doctors) threatened to join their health 
worker colleagues if the GON failed to meet their demands for 
better pay and improved conditions of service for government 
doctors.  NMA National Secretary, Dr. Kenneth Okoro, 
announced to reporters that the NMA is giving the GON a 
28-day extension to consider their demands, which according 
to Okoro, have been ignored for over 11 years.  In an obvious 
attempt to rally the public, GON Minister of Health Babatunde 
Osotimehin and Special Adviser to the Minister of Media Niyi 
Ojuolape announced through various media outlets they are 
"calling on all Nigerians to join their plea for the NMA not 
to embark on a strike that could result in unnecessary loss 
of life and great pain."  Osotimehin also announced that an 
agreement would be finalized by the end of September (2009). 
 
 
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MEDIA: Entertainers and Journalists Join the Choir 
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¶5. (U) State owned radio and television stations threatened 
to join the Radio, Television, Theatre, and Arts Workers 
Union of Nigeria (RATTAWU), Nigeria Union of Journalists 
(NUJ) and Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil 
Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees 
(AUPCTRE) in their one week-old strike, protesting 
non-payment of arrears in monetized benefits owed to its 
members.  RATTAWU General Secretary Henry Odugala told LabOff 
that they have been waiting for more than five years for the 
GON to pay its arrears, and that union leaders like himself 
are under tremendous pressure "as members seem to have 
reached their boiling point."  Odugala also informed LabOff 
that the GON summoned RATTAWU for meetings, where they 
 
ABUJA 00001307  003 OF 004 
 
 
promised to pay arrears in one week.  On July 14, Odugala 
told LabOff that he called off their strike after the GON 
gave into their demands, but pointed out that his success 
"does not necessarily translate into success for the larger 
good of labor."  He explained that "the GON's eleventh hour 
approach to solving labor unrest is short-sighted and in the 
long run not doing any of us any good." 
 
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GON RESPONSE: An 11th Hour Take it or Leave It 
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¶6. (U) According to all of the union leaders with whom LabOff 
spoke, (NLC, TUC, RATTAWU, ASUU, MHWUN), the GON has made 
many promises over the last several months, but minimal 
concessions.  Back in January, NLC General Secretary John 
Odah told LabOff that organized labor was willing to give the 
Ministry of Labour and Productivity the benefit of the doubt 
and at least six months to reorganize itself under its then 
new Minister, Adetokunbo Kayode, appointed in December 2008. 
According to several of LabOff's Labor Ministry contacts, 
private individual meetings took place with the NLC and other 
protesting unions over the last several months to try to 
resolve their disputes, but it was not until the first two 
weeks of July, (almost six months to the day of Minister 
Kayode's appointment) when the ASUU strike inspired seven 
more unions to strike or threaten strikes, that the GON 
responded with proposed deliverables.  Most of the GON's 
concessions were made in the first two weeks of July when 
labor unions were at their loudest and most organized across 
various sectors.  So far, the GON through its Labor, Health, 
and Education ministries approved of partial payment of 
arrears in monetized benefits, better pay, and changes to the 
retirement age, with a commitment to allocate more in next 
year's budget. 
 
¶7. (U) The GON's response appeared to satisfy RATTAWU and its 
sister media unions, NUJ and AUPCTRE, both of which called 
off their strikes.  For Nigeria's public education and health 
unions, however, both have decided to continue their three 
week-old strikes with no end in sight until all of their 
demands, some dating back more than six years, are fully met. 
 Using the media, GON Health and Education Ministers have 
expressed the most vocal of GON responses to the striking 
unions, heavily criticizing them for inflicting "punishment" 
and "death" on Nigerians.  On July 17, the Industrial 
Arbitration Panel (IAP), which serves as the GON's tripartite 
dispute settlement and conflict resolution court, ordered 
ASUU members back to work while assuring that "no members 
would be victimized or sacked by government as a result of 
the strike."  Health Minister Osotimehin took his battle 
against the health worker unions to the National Assembly's 
House Committee on Health on July 16, requesting that they 
intervene, while on July 17 the Secretary of Bauchi State 
government was heard on VOA's Hausa Radio Service asserting 
that "absolutely no negotiations will take place" and then 
demanding that "those considering strikes immediately turn in 
the keys to their cars, homes, and offices." 
 
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How Labor Strikes Affect U.S. Interests 
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¶8. (U) The USG has a compelling interest in fostering harmony 
among Nigeria's tripartite dialogue partners: labor, 
government, and the private sector.  Mission Nigeria's 
Mission Strategic Plan (MSP) sets forth America's partnership 
with Nigeria on four key strategic areas, three of which 
apply directly to Nigeria's labor sector: Investing in 
People, Economic Growth, and Governing Justly and 
Democratically.  As the above union demands and strikes 
 
ABUJA 00001307  004 OF 004 
 
 
clearly indicate, a serious lack of transparency, good 
governance, and investment in the workforce, prevents a fully 
functioning labor sector in Nigeria.  In turn, a 
deteriorating labor sector will impinge on the country's 
ability to provide for sufficient economic growth to help 
meet the basic needs of the population through greater 
employment opportunities and a stronger social safety net. 
Stronger economic growth through a thriving stronger labor 
sector, however, can result in a more transparent environment 
for business and provide the basis for empowering greater 
democratic participation.  This has been clearly the case 
with the NLC and its union affiliates that have joined forces 
with a civil society coalition comprised of the Nigerian Bar 
Association, people with disabilities, women and youth 
groups, and the media, in an effort to inform citizens of 
their rights in general and on electoral reform specifically. 
 They also plan to carry out civic and voter education 
activities in the lead up to the 2011 elections. 
 
¶9. (U) Comment:  As reported in refs B, C, and D, a 
structured and functioning tripartite dialogue is clearly 
lacking and sorely needed in Nigeria.  The GON's ad-hoc and 
piecemeal approach to its labor sector and the private 
sector's aversion to government interference has created a 
fractured labor sector, the result of which has been perhaps 
the most pervasive labor unrest since 2007, when Nigeria's 
petroleum sector labor unions caused the country to nearly 
shut down as a result of its nation-wide strikes.  As all of 
the unions' Secretaries General explained to LabOff over the 
last several months, a more holistic approach is needed in 
Nigeria to prevent the kind of labor unrest currently 
spreading across the country.  This sentiment has also been 
echoed by ILO Director in Nigeria Sina Chuma-Mkandawire and 
in LabOff's recent meeting on July 9 with ILO-Geneva Director 
of Social Dialogue Tayo Fashoyin (septel), who said that "the 
current scenario of GON's uncoordinated and individual 
bargaining with Nigeria's labor unions is unacceptable and is 
in great need of an established structure of tripartite 
dialogue if Nigeria hopes to evolve economically." 
 
¶10. (SBU) Comment continued:  Besides the myriad of other 
problems Nigeria confronts, the inability of Nigeria's 
government, private sector, and workers to understand each 
other and find mutually sustainable solutions is yet another 
factor preventing the country from realizing its full 
potential for sustainable growth.  Engaging in structured 
dialogue may be the first step not only to work out these 
differences, but in doing so, to create the basis for 
democratic governance and build a resilient labor market that 
contributes to long-term social and economic stability and 
peace.  Unfortunately, the current road taken by all members 
of Nigeria's labor sector is having the opposite effect, 
today affecting the education and health of its citizens, and 
tomorrow leading to larger social and economic development 
problems that Nigeria can ill afford.  End Comment. 
 
¶11. (U) This cable was coordinated with Consulate Lagos. 
SANDERS