₦airaland Forum

AFTER a long period of suspense, President, Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Adams Oshiomhole, at the weekend disclosed that he will vie for the Edo State governorship race.

He, however, warned against rigging next year's polls, vowing that Labour would resist any attempt at truncating the will of the people this time.

Oshiomhole stated this at Afuze, Edo State at a rally organised by Owan youths to drum up support for his governorhip ambition.

In a speech which dwelt extensively on why he was going to contest the governorship of his home state, Edo, the Labour leader said that the tragedy of the nation was that good and honest Nigerians always refrained from participating in active politics under the guise that it was a dirty game.

"Corruption and bad governance thrive in Nigeria because honest Nigerians do not participate in partisan politics," he said.

The union leader begged to differ with the school of thought which holds that politics is a dirty game, arguing that it is the actors who are dirty and not the art itself, which can be cleansed through the active participation of honest Nigerians.

Oshiomhole remarked that unlike in the past when there was a selection instead of an election, Nigerians should be allowed to freely elect their leaders as it is the only way democracy can thrive in the country.

To those who may be thinking of manipulating the process as they have done in the past, he maintained that the NLC would fight back if winners were imposed.

"All my life, I have been fighting. I am not afraid to fight. Nobody has a monopoly of thuggery," he said amid a deafening ovation.

He said that Nigerians have been so traumatised and disillusioned with politics as a result of massive rigging of votes that most do not even bother to vote, stressing that this time around enough was enough.

He said organised Labour could no longer afford to just sit down and lament while the people's right was being trampled upon with impunity.

Oshiomhole added that he was going into politics with a view to offering quality leadership to the long-suffering people of Edo State and Nigerians who have been pauperised by bad government policies and corruption.

The Labour activist lamented the pathetic state of the nation's public schools and the high rate of graduate unemployment "which has made the average Nigerian to lose hope of a better tomorrow."