Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN on Sunday has said, nations are built by people and Nigeria is being built through the daily honest toil of hardworking Nigerian workers.
Prof. Osinbajo stated this on Sunday afternoon in his remarks to commemorate the Workers’ Day celebration which held at Eagle Square, Abuja, themed “Labour, Politics and the quest for Good Governance and Development in Nigeria."
“You keep the engines of our country running despite the challenges we face. You are the strength and the hope of our nation. Whatever heights of greatness we achieve as a people will be because of your contributions to our national enterprise,” he said.
“In every real sense, the Nigerian worker laid the foundations of our sovereignty and freedom with their blood and tears and nurture it till this day with their sweat and zeal,” the VP added.
Praising workers for their sacrifices and dignity of labour, the Vice President said: “it is impossible to tell the story of our nation's liberation from colonial rule without dwelling at length on the heroic contributions of the labour movement to that struggle.
“The labour movement is a foundational movement in the making of our nation. You are heirs of a movement that was involved in literally building modern Nigeria.”
While he noted the important role of workers, the Vice President pointed out that nation-building is the responsibility of every Nigerian
He further stated that “The progressive vision of inclusive growth and shared prosperity requires a revolution in our national productivity and our work ethic.
“On the part of the government, this means ensuring that every citizen has the opportunity to work, achieve productive personhood and participate in the development of their communities.”
“As a people, we must commit to an ethos of high productivity and innovation, and of using technology to transform the way we work and do business,” the VP stated, adding that “we cannot achieve this without a workforce that is attuned to optimizing our possibilities.”
Prof. Osinbajo observed that “the labour movement belongs firmly to the progressive political persuasion, noting that “labour has always made common cause with the progressives.”
