PRONACO chief seeks unity of organised labour, ACN
The former Director of Security and Logistics, Pro-National Conference Organisation (PRONACO), Comrade Linus Okoroji has urged the organised labour and non-governmental organisations to join forces with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to defeat the ruling party in 2015.
Okoroji who made the remark during his 62nd birthday at St. Matthew Catholic, Church, Lagos, explained that the organised labour, other non-governmental organi-sations (NGOs) and ACN would unseat the ruling government if they harness their political strength.
He said: “There is no doubt in my mind that the shortest and easier manner to achieve change in 2015 is for organised labour, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to collaborate with the ACN. In our considered opinion, the party remains the most vibrant, vocal and leading opposition party in Nigeria today.”
The labour activist who suggested that such collaboration could be achieve through negotiation and strategic meetings, noted that if progressive forces took over the leadership of the country, all the hopes that were lost would be rekindled and the ordinary people would benefit for it massively.
In his words: “There should be strategic meetings and negotiation between leadership of NGOs, labour and CSOs on the one hand and on the other hand, meetings and negotiations with the leadership of ACN with a view to channelling the strength of the party for the benefit of the people.”
Okoroji, in his address entitled; ‘Towards a Working, Progressive, Development and People-Oriented Nigeria’, said there was the big issue of impunity and lack of rule of law everywhere. “It may not be wrong to state that we are still under the brutal rule of military dictatorship as espoused by the ruling party.”
He maintained that the federal structure inherited at independence was lopsidedly arranged to meet colonial interests and had projected the narrow interest of some powerful few who were bent on retaining the status quo. He maintained that with another opportunity to tinker with the constitution, the wrongs could be corrected.
“Some regions since independence assumed the octopus status, they monopolised the political system and power. They made political changes unachievable; sometimes they are referred to as oligarchy or the caliphate nevertheless they have their surrogates all over.”
According to him, efforts to stabilise the polity since independence have not received adequate attention because of misrule: “It is disturbing that all the political parties that at one time or the other, ruled the country since independence had been sponsored by the old establishment that failed to give room for progressive ideas.
“Our most profound concern is the fact that this establishment and the political parties they promoted and sponsored lack progressive ideas, development tactics and people-oriented philosophy; this we must guard against now.”
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