ADDRESS BY FIWON GENERAL SECRETARY, COMRADE GBENGA KOMOLAFE ON JUNE 12, DEMOCRACY DAY

 

INSECURITY AND KIDNAPPING; FIWON CALLS FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION AS NATIONAL SECURITY IMPERATIVE.

By allcitynews.ng 

As Nigeria marks another Democracy Day, the Federation of Informal Workers Organizations of Nigeria (FIWON) is deeply concerned over the escalating wave of insecurity, banditry, and kidnapping across the nation, warning that the current crisis cannot be separated from the structural exclusion and social vulnerability of the vast majority of Nigerian working people. While we at FIWON recognize that June 12 is meant to celebrate the restoration of democracy and the will of the Nigerian people for democratic governance,  democracy unfortunately has remained hollow for millions of informal working people and unemployed Nigerians, who live without electricity and affordable fuel to power production and gainful employment, and without the most basic social protection. 

THE DEMOCRACY DAY PARADOX

Whereas Democracy is supposed to deliver dividends to the people—security, prosperity, and social justice, for over 93 percent of Nigerian working population in the informal economy, democracy has delivered little more than the freedom to struggle alone. The right to vote means nothing when you can not feed your family. Freedom of speech is hollow when hunger is the constant companion of most people. Democracy Day can not be a celebration when insecurity has become the daily reality for millions of Nigerians.

THE OYO STATE SCHOOL ABDUCTION: A SYMPTOM OF A DEEPER CRISIS

FIWON on this occasion pays particular attention to the recent abduction of school pupils and teachers in Oyo State, describing the incident as a tragic reminder of how far the nation has drifted from the promise of democracy. When schoolchildren and their teachers are torn from their classrooms by armed men, when education becomes a death trap, when parents live in perpetual fear of sending their children to school then something has fundamentally fractured in our social milieu. The Oyo State abduction is not an isolated incident. It is a symptom of a deeper crisis—a crisis of social exclusion, economic desperation, and the complete absence of social protection for the vast majority of Nigerians. The young men who carried out that kidnapping were themselves once children who deserved education, opportunity, and a future. Where did we fail them?

THE INSECURITY-SOCIAL PROTECTION NEXUS

FIWON maintains that the growing army of unemployed, underemployed, and socially unprotected youth and adults provides fertile ground for criminal recruitment and violent extremism.  The young person who can not afford healthcare, has no pension to look forward to and sees no future in legitimate work that pays slave wages becomes easy prey for bandits and criminal networks offering quick money. Insecurity is not just a military problem—it is a social protection crisis. The statistics are damning. Recent data shows that only 152,000 out of an estimated 77 million informal workers are enrolled in the micro-pension scheme—less than 0.2 percent—while healthcare coverage remains below 10 percent of the population.

HUNGER, POVERTY, AND DESPERATION AS FUEL FOR INSECURITY.

FIWON notes that the informal economy, which employs over 93 percent of Nigeria's active workforce and contributes at least 65 percent to the national GDP, remains characterized by low and irregular incomes, long working hours, absence of social protection, lack of access to information, markets, financing, and training, unsafe and unhealthy working conditions. When people can not feed their families, when a single illness can wipe out a lifetime of savings, when there is no safety net whatsoever—desperation sets in. Desperate people are vulnerable to manipulation by criminal elements. 

THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS BEHIND THE NUMBERS

FIWON notes that the abduction of schoolchildren in Oyo State is part of a disturbing pattern across the nation. Scores of communities in Kwara, Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, and Jigawa states have been deserted as residents flee persistent violence. The systematic targeting of educational institutions has forced thousands of children out of school, compounding the country's out-of-school children crisis and traumatising an entire generation of young Nigerians. Every kidnapped child, every displaced family, every community abandoned to bandits is an indictment of our collective failure to build a just and equitable society safe for our women and children, productive to all working people. This is not the democracy our heroes fought for.

FIWON'S DEMANDS ON DEMOCRACY DAY

As the nation marks Democracy Day 2026, FIWON demands the following urgent actions from the Federal and State Governments:

1. Government Co-Contribution to Micro-Pensions. FIWON reiterates its demand for a matching contribution system where the government complements the pension savings of informal workers—a 50:50 co-contribution model similar to what obtains in the formal sector. Currently, informal workers must save entirely from meager, irregular incomes, while inflation erodes whatever is saved.

2. FIWON calls for subsidized health insurance premiums for informal workers, with a 50:50 government-worker contribution model.

3. Free healthcare for vulnerable groups including pregnant women, children under five, the elderly (70 years and above), and persons with disabilities.

4.  Expansion of Workplace Protection Laws. The Employees' Compensation Act must be extended to cover informal workers who suffer injuries, disabilities, or death on the job, providing compensation and rehabilitation. 

5. Job Creation and Skills DevelopmentMassive investment in skills training, access to credit, and support for informal enterprises to provide legitimate livelihoods for millions of unemployed and underemployed Nigerians.

6. Address Forced Evictions and Loss of Livelihoods FIWON condemns forced evictions, especially in Lagos, noting that over one million people have been affected in two decades. Evictions destroy homes, businesses, schools, and livelihoods. The government must invest more in social housing and ensure alternative accommodation is provided whenever evictions are unavoidable. 

7. Protect Schools and Communities.  Government must provide adequate security for educational institutions and vulnerable communities, ensuring that children can learn without fear and families can live without terror.

THE WAY FORWARD

FIWON calls on President Bola Tinubu to urgently expand social protection coverage for informal workers as part of a comprehensive national security strategy. There is a need for a dual approach. Yes, the military must act on intelligence and do its job of dismantling bandit strongholds and securing vulnerable communities. But simultaneously, the government must address the socio-economic desperation that makes mass criminal recruitment possible. A hungry, hopeless, unprotected population will always be vulnerable to exploitation by criminal elements. This Democracy Day, let us remember that true democracy is not measured by elections alone but by the quality of life of the people. When schoolchildren are kidnapped, when workers can not afford healthcare, when the elderly have no pensions—then democracy has failed.

A CALL TO ACTION

FIWON urges all informal workers across Nigeria to use Democracy Day to reflect on their collective power and to continue the struggle for recognition, protection, and dignity. We can not build a secure nation on a foundation of mass poverty and exclusion. The time for tokenism is over. The time for real social protection as a national security imperative is now. This Democracy Day, we demand not just the freedom to vote but the freedom to live—in security, in dignity, and in peace. 

Signed: Comrade Gbenga Komolafe. General Secretary Federation of Informal Workers Organizations of Nigeria (FIWON

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