A nation does not rise on concrete and steel alone. It rises on the backs, hands, and minds of its workers.
When workers are neglected, the cost is a disaster. Projects stall. Standards fall. Hospitals empty of care, classrooms of knowledge, farms of harvest. Neglect breeds disillusion, and disillusion breaks nations faster than any storm.
But when workers are committed, they become the engine of progress. The teacher who stays late. The engineer who double-checks the beam. The farmer who tends the soil before sunrise. The nurse who works a double shift. Their commitment turns policy into reality and promises into roads, light, and food.
Commitment, however, is not born in a vacuum. It is nurtured by dignity. And dignity begins with fair wages paid on time, safe conditions, and respect for labour. To demand commitment while denying fair reward is to ask a man to build a house and sleep outside it.
So the social contract is clear: A nation owes its workers respect and just wages. Workers owe their nation skill, integrity, and commitment. One without the other is disaster. Together, they are nation-building.
As we mark this season, let us remember: the worker is not a tool. The worker is the builder. Pay the builder, protect the builder, and the nation will stand.
Happy Worker’s Day and a new month!
-Chief Abiodun Lasile DL MnbR
Orunto Baalufe Owu Kingdom Abeokuta
Chairman Association of Nigerian Authors Ogun ChapterÂ
