The NATIONAL PRAYER ALTAR
MARATHON PRAYERS
Monday 10th - Sunday 16th June 2024
NLC: THE CONSTITUTION IS THE PROBLEM, NOT WAGE INCREASE
Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors, there is safety (Prov. 11: 14).
We commend the leaders and members of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), with all their affiliate bodies, for rising to the challenge of defending the rights of the ordinary citizen in Nigeria. The recent nationwide strike of the labour should be a wake-up call to a self-seeking and heartless political class, that it can no longer continue to take Nigerians for granted.
In the prayer call of 25th – 31st May 2024, we carried an article entitled “WHO OWNS NIGERIA?” In that prayer call, we highlighted the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as the bane of the Nigerian society. We further highlighted four areas in which the 1999 Constitution (as amended) negatively impacts Nigeria.
The 3rd – 4th June 2024 warning strike of NLC aims at negotiating better wages for Nigerian workers. This is a noble objective, but it falls far from the goal of making life easy for all Nigerians. It does not matter how much salary increase labour leaders are able to negotiate, inflation will wipe it off as soon as it arrives. Nigeria is no longer productive, because it runs a dysfunctional constitution that chokes the life out of the constituent units in the country and prevents them from working. Therefore, any salary increase at this time will harm the economy. It will be too much money chasing too few goods.
There was a time in Nigeria when the monthly salary of a university graduate was N484.00. At that time, monthly rent for a three-bedroom flat was N200.00 in some cities, while a brand-new car was N4,804. This was in 1984. Today, both the rent and the car are priced in millions while the monthly salary of the graduate must be in six figures for it to make sense. Even for a graduate earning a monthly salary of N100,000 today, he will have to make do with the minimum basics of life to survive the month.
Therefore, when NLC and TUC repeatedly propose certain figures as new national minimum wage, what do they think would happen to the economy? Are we going to purchase a loaf of bread for N100,000? If labour is piqued with the irresponsible legislators who allocate to themselves humungous monthly salaries and allowances, the solution is not a tit-for-tat humongous salary increase across board. An eye-for-an-eye will make everyone blind.
There is a better way to handle the problem, and it will not cost the labour unions any extra effort, but it will guarantee maximum benefit for everyone in the country. The same nationwide strike and shutting down of services (excluding essential services) is all that is required, and far-reaching rewards will accrue to all the citizens.
The problem of Nigeria is not lack of money. Nigeria is a stupendously rich country, but its sovereignty has been hijacked. At present, Nigerians are not free citizens in their country. Some faceless forces have hijacked the liberty of the people and turned them into “dhimmis”, second-class citizens, in their country. What labour is doing is akin to slaves going on strike in a sugarcane plantation for better treatment. Even if they obtain the better treatment, they are still slaves. Is it not better to fight for freedom?
The sponsors of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) usurped the sovereign right of Nigerians to give the country a constitution and organize Nigeria according to their wish. Nigerians are suffering today because they did not organize Nigeria in its present manner. It was done by a group of forces, who blatantly lied by claiming that “WE THE PEOPLE” of Nigeria produced the 1999 Constitution (as amended) when, in fact, WE THE PEOPLE knew nothing about it. It is an act of treason. It is that illegitimate constitution that has locked up Nigeria in a cell of poverty and death. This is what NLC and TUC should resolve and not wage increase.
In the prayer call of 25th – 31st March 2024, we highlighted four areas (amongst many others) in which the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is harming Nigerians.
Those four areas are:
1. Insecurity
2. Unemployment and poverty
3. Religious intolerance
4. Corruption
If leaders of labour could concentrate on getting a new Constitution for Nigeria, they would resolve these four harmful points, as well as the many unnamed others. Then, there would be no need for any salary increase. Employment opportunities will blossom. There would be peace and safety all over the country. The cases of insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism will die a natural death. Productivity will increase all over the country and each constituent part will generate its electricity and provide effective transportation system for the people. The quality of education will improve, and it will be free. Quality healthcare will be accessible to all citizens and the brain drain of medical personnel will cease. The cost of foodstuff will drop as farming activities will resume in full scale all over the country. All these will make life easier for all the citizens.
There are two ways to go about the new Constitution:
1. There could be a demand for an immediate return to the 1963 Republican Constitution. This can be achieved within a few months with minor amendments. A transition program can be put in place for the current political office holders till 2027 when their tenure will end. If the country can revert to the Independence Anthem, why can it not revert to the Independence Constitution?
2. The other option is for a conference of ethnic nationalities to be convened for the various constituent units to renegotiate Nigeria and develop a new constitution from their negotiations.
All these can be achieved in 2024.
The fraudulent and illegitimate 1999 Constitution (as amended) acknowledges in its Section 14 (2)a that “sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority;” This being the case, labour should reclaim the sovereignty of the people over Nigeria so that the country can be organized by the people in a manner that will benefit the citizens. The sovereignty of Nigeria has been hijacked. This is the reason votes no longer count and courts have replaced the ballot box.
If NLC and TUC are truly desirous of helping Nigerian workers, they should focus on resolving the constitutional dispute in the country and leave wage increase. Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.
God bless Nigeria.
If this prayer call makes sense to you, kindly share it until it gets to leaders of NLC and TUC.
PRAYER POINTS
1). Prov. 11: 14
Pray for Godly counsel to guide Nigerians in positions of authority and influence so that they can use their positions to lead the country aright.
2). 2 Samuel 15: 31; Ezekiel 11: 2
Pray that God will overturn every evil and wicked counsel that is working against the peace and progress of Nigeria. Pray that God will silence all evil speakers within and outside Nigeria.
3). Isaiah 28: 14 – 15
Pray that every covenant that some political leaders have entered into with forces of darkness, that makes them insensitive to the suffering of the people, shall be annulled, in the name of Jesus Christ.
4). 2 Cor. 11: 13 – 15
Pray for the swift judgment of God on Church leaders who entered into covenant with marine spirits and traffic with the occult while claiming to be servants of Jesus Christ.
5). Isaiah 27: 1
Take authority over the spirit of leviathan and bind its power and influence over Nigeria. Pray that the judgment of God shall come swiftly upon leviathan, and it shall be cut off from Nigeria.
6). Isaiah 25: 6 – 8
Pray that all Nigerians shall arise in one accord and demand a new constitution for the country. Pray that the veil and the spell placed upon the country shall be destroyed.
7). Col. 2: 14 – 15
Decree and nullify every constitution, decree, treaty, ordinance, byelaw, and any regulation in Nigeria that causes oppression, suppression, and regression of the country and the people. Amen.
