Makarfi Urges Labour To Fight For Good Governance, Not Money

The organised labour has been charged by the former governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makarfi, to always fight for good governance rather than fight for money.

Makarfi stated this while speaking with newsmen during the 36th Plenary/AGM of the Unity Schools Old Students Association which held at the Federal Government College, Kaduna on Saturday

He revealed that when he was a governor, the only thing labour leaders were after was money and they end up with money that is not useful.

The former governor urged them to demand good governance, infrastructure, security, and other things that are expected from government, a living wage which will be minimal.

He claimed that if they always demand for money and gets N10 and N30 was taken away from them, he asked how do they benefit?.

Makafi said, “When you hear of wage increase in serious economies, it is by 1, 2, 2.3 per cent because it is not about the money; it is about what the government should provide. But here in Nigeria, we have freed the government from providing those things and said no, give me, I can provide for myself when it is not possible.”

The Minister of Water Resources, Adamu Suleiman, commended the nation’s founding leaders for establishing the 104 unity schools across the country.

He called for a restructuring of the concept behind the establishment of Unity school, he said, “These days, admission is a little bit skewed towards catchment areas.”

In her keynote presentation on the ‘Role of USOSA in enthroning good governance for national development,’ a former acting Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Dr Habiba Muda Lawal, said the future of Nigeria depended on good governance.

“USOSA, with its network of membership, human capital and goodwill across every neighbourhood, states and local governments of Nigeria and with unique access to the instrumentalities of official power of governance as well as private sector, religious leaders, civic and other sources of influence can work with the government of the Federation to provide a better system of education for the Nigerian child to thrive in a modern economy, that will eventually translate into national development.”

The President General of USOSA, Lawrence Wilbert, in his statement called on Nigerians to contribute to good governance and urged leaders to take care of the many defects in the 1999 Constitution.

He said, “Many informed speakers, writers and scholars, have argued compulsively that Nigeria’s socio-political economy has to be tinkered with to give Nigeria any chance of survival.”

“It is now widespread knowledge that Nigeria’s political leaders actually have no other choices but to take another look at the many defects that have been exhaustively pointed out in the 1999 Constitution.”