A socialist and human rights activist, Francis Nwapa, has said that Nigerian workers have “nothing to celebrate” on May 1, 2026, Workers’ Day, accusing President Bola Tinubu’s administration of unleashing harsh economic policies that have deepened poverty and crushed Nigerian workers.
Nwapa also condemned labour leaders for allegedly abandoning the working class, accusing them of betraying Nigerian workers.
In a May Day statement issued on Friday, May 1, 2026, Nwapa said Workers’ Day should not be treated as a carnival but as a day rooted in blood, sacrifice and resistance, recalling the historic Haymarket struggle in the United States where workers fought and died for the eight-hour workday.
According to him, Nigerian workers are now facing a similar moment of hardship and exploitation, but are being failed by those expected to defend them.
“May 1st is not a carnival. It is a day born in blood and resistance, from the heroic struggle of workers during the Haymarket Affair in the United States, where workers fought and died for the 8-hour workday,” he said.
“Today, Nigerian workers stand at a similar historic crossroads, but instead of resistance, we are confronted with betrayal.”
Nwapa blamed the worsening economic crisis on the removal of fuel subsidy announced by Tinubu on May 29, 2023.
According to him, it triggered spiralling fuel prices, rising transport costs, food inflation and worsening hardship for millions of workers whose wages have remained stagnant.
“That single pronouncement unleashed a wave of neoliberal attacks, fuel prices skyrocketed, transportation costs surged, food inflation exploded, and wages remained stagnant.
“Nigeria, an oil-producing nation, now suffers some of the harshest fuel costs globally, as the regime deregulates the sector and effectively hands over price control to private monopolies like Dangote Refinery,” he said.
He further accused the government of favouring elites while ordinary Nigerians bear the burden of taxation and multiple charges.
“This is economic sabotage,” Nwapa stated. “While countries like Iran, even under sanctions and war pressures, shield their citizens from unbearable price hikes, Nigeria’s ruling elite subsidises only the rich through tax waivers, bloated political salaries, and corporate incentives, while workers are crushed under PAYE taxes, VAT, bank charges, and multiple exploitative levies.”
The activist also attacked the electricity sector privatisation, describing it as a “monumental fraud,” and said the controversial Band A, B and C tariff system amounts to legalised extortion.
“This is not reform; it is organised profiteering,” he said.
Nwapa accused the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), led by Joe Ajaero and Festus Osifo, respectively, of collaborating with the Tinubu administration rather than resisting anti-worker policies.
“Instead of mobilising resistance, they have entered into an unholy alliance with the Tinubu regime, acting as collaborators rather than defenders of workers.”
He also raised alarm over the state of education, saying student loans introduced by the government were a trap that would plunge young Nigerians into debt, while citing reports of students engaging in egg donation schemes to survive.
“This is not development, it is social collapse,” he said.
On insecurity, Nwapa lamented that workers, women and children are being kidnapped daily, while soldiers allegedly die without proper equipment despite huge defence budgets.
He described the current ₦70,000 minimum wage as grossly inadequate.
“The so-called ₦70,000 minimum wage is a cruel joke, insufficient even for transportation. Worse still, many state governments refuse to implement it.”
He also condemned the widespread casualisation of labour, claiming over 60 per cent of Nigerian workers lack job security and full employment rights.
According to him, the labour movement once built by heroes like Michael Imoudu has now been hijacked by self-serving bureaucrats.
“The labour movement has been hijacked by bureaucrats who are ideologically bankrupt and self-serving.”
Nwapa called on Nigerian workers to reject ceremonial May Day celebrations and instead organise mass resistance across workplaces, communities and campuses.
He demanded reversal of fuel price hikes, nationalisation of the oil and energy sectors under workers’ control, cancellation of exploitative electricity tariffs, a living wage indexed to inflation, free education, healthcare investment, an end to casualisation, democratic union reforms and the creation of a genuine workers’ political alternative.
“No more silence. No more betrayal. This May Day, let it mark the beginning of resistance,” he said.
