What The Papers Say
Daily Times, Nigeria
Bravo! OAU
The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) should be praised for successfully holding its 20th summit despite the spirited efforts by the enemies of the continent to once more disrupt the meeting. All along many people thought that the threatened withdrawal of Morocco from the organisation if the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was admitted would, as was the case in Tripoli, prevent the formation of a quorum. But this was not so. Instead African leaders demonstrated an amazing faith in the survival of the continental body when 49 out of 50 members attended.Reports attributed the massive turnout to Nigeria's recognition of the SADR on the eve of the summit. This decisive action by our government and the dominant role which our Head of State, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, played throughout the meeting showed the determination of this regime to reassert Nigeria's leadership of the OAU.
There is no doubt that lack of purposeful leadership has militated against the effectiveness of the OAU in the past. It was this loophole that Morocco and other enemies of African unity have been exploiting to the detriment of the continent.
For instance, in the past four summits of the OAU, most of the time was wasted discussing only knotty political issues such as the Western Sahara and Chad, leaving little or no time for the tackling of the enormous economic problems of the continent.
The withdrawal of Morocco from the OAU was, therefore, good riddance because it made it possible for African leaders during the just concluded summit to devote all their time and energy to finding solutions to Africa's other crucial problems. They discussed elaborately the problems of drought, desertification, famine and hunger which have been ravaging the continent as well as Africa's mounting debts, apartheid and other critical issues.
No doubt, far-reaching decisions, including proposals for the implementation of the 1980 Lagos Plan of Action, were made.
General Buhari even suggested that another OAU economic summit should be held to consider new ways of collectively tackling Africa's debilitating economic problems. If this is done along with Algeria's President Chadli Benjedid's proposal for the setting up of an OAU fund to combat these problems, then the continent would be on the path to economic recovery.
We congratulate African leaders for shaming those who wish the OAU dismembered. All that they should do now is to ensure that they take concrete steps to implement the decisions of the summit.
The solution to Africa's problem lies more with achieving concrete results than mere churning out of volumes of resolutions which are not implemented.
Peoples Daily Graphic - Ghana
Searchlight on WDC executives
Almost three years ago the government called for the formation of People's Defence Committees in various organisations principally to protect the interest of technicians, farmers, factory hands and clerks; protect public properties and increase production.The response was dynamic. Meetings were held, the committees were born, and elected executives took their offices with glowing speeches pledging loyalty and promising "for all times to protect the interest of the working population".
Today workers in every organisation need no soothsayer to brief them on whether the WDC in their organisations have lived up to their words and expectations or have let them down.
The answer is not far-fetched. Some have become tin gods, they must be shown the exit. We have had the opportunity to draw the attention of the public to the change in the life-style of some of the WDC's executives. We have exposed the collusions between corrupt management and some of the executives who want to perpetuate the misrule and corruption in their various organisations.
No doubt we hope the Secretary for NDC is keeping the records on those patriotic management personnel and workers who had suffered intimidations, transfers and even dismissals from their own workers representatives because they dared to criticise their life-styles and abuse of power. One of the puzzles for most workers is why some members of the NDC Secretariat at times intervene to superimpose some executives found to be corrupt by patriotic workers.
While we will leave the details and names of those organi- sations and their executives involved, suffice it to say that some workers executives have betrayed us and abused the confidence that has been reposed in them to salvage the shattered economy of this nation and improve the standard of living.
While credit cannot be denied other workers who have withstood temptations and lived up to their calls, we do not hesitate to urge the government to take a second look at those who claim to represent workers.
It should not be forgotten that it debases the morale of patriotic workers to see their representatives driving home in staff cars while they are told by these very people that they should find their own ways home because they could not get petrol for the corporation buses to convey them.
We will, however, humbly suggest that our surveys on the whole revealed that the majority of the WDC executives in a number of organisations have acquired bourgeois life-styles. In their expected roles as watchdogs of our interests and public properties they have caused the nation to lose millions; they have frustrated dedicated management; they have played into the hands of the enemies of the revolution and opened the way to pessimists to rejoice.
The government must bring all to book.
