Ifeanyi Ejiofor, counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has criticized the substandard conditions of Nigerian laborers under the control of political figures.

Ejifor reportedly stated that the plight of Nigerian workers is characterized by low pay, growing inflation, unpaid paychecks, and dwindling job security.

The human rights attorney cited the plight of the country’s workers as a result of inadequate political leadership and administration in a statement released on Friday in honor of International Workers Day.

Additionally, he criticized organized labor unions’ approach to promoting workers’ rights. Ejiofor called for the country’s political economy to undergo immediate reform and reorganization.

He wrote: “While the world marked Workers’ Day yesterday, Nigerian workers had little or nothing to celebrate. With dismal pay, rising inflation, unpaid salaries, and dwindling job security, the average Nigerian worker remains locked in poverty and misery.

In a nation endowed with an abundance of natural resources, the political economy is set up to benefit the wealthy and corrupt elite, while workers suffer in silence. The institution designed to safeguard workers has turned into a complicit party in their subjugation, and our labor unions are weaker.

“May 1st will remain just another day—loud in rhetoric but meaningless in practice—until we reorganize our economy and governance to genuinely value workers.”

“Immediate reform is needed. Our political economy needs to be reorganized to benefit the general populace rather than to uphold the privileges of the wealthy. The Nigerian worker will keep bleeding in silence till then, behind a frayed banner of broken promises.