For three days this week, Nigeria’s apex labour organisation, Nigeria Labour Congress, will celebrate forty years since it was founded in 1978. We congratulate the union for its resilience and steadfastness that have seen it through many struggles in fighting for the right of workers. There was a prayer session last Friday and church services were held yesterday to mark the event that would officially start from today, February 26-28.
Nigeria Labour Congress [NLC] was officially established in 1978 as the only national federation of trade unions in the country, collapsing four previous labour centres into one. These were Nigeria Trade Union Congress [NTUC], Labour Unity Front [LUF], United Labour Congress [ULC] and Nigeria Workers Council [NWC]. NLC’s emergence by military decree still achieved a good purpose because it ended decades of rivalry and rancour involving the four centres and unions affiliated to them. The unions, numbering over 1,000 were also restructured into 42 industrial unions.
NLC went through some times. In 1988 its national structures were dissolved by the Babangida military regime because of its opposition to the Structural Adjustment Programme [SAP] and fuel price hikes. An Administrator was appointed to govern NLC. In 1994, the military regime of General Sani Abacha again dissolved NLC’s National Executive Council and appointed a Sole Administrator, because of the union’s insistence for the restoration of democracy.
Nigeria has had many colourful labour leaders starting from Chief Michael Imoudu, the nation’s first union leader born in 1902. His labour activities started as a member of Railway Workers Union (RWU). Under his leadership the union demanded for higher pay, de-casualisation of workers and for the improved conditions for technical workers. NLC’s first, very dynamic president in 1978 was Alhaji Hassan Sunmonu, who was succeeded by Ali Chiroma in 1984. The late Pascal Bafyau was NLC president from 1988-1994. One of the most exciting and memorable NLC leaders ever was Adams Oshiomhole, who came from the textile sector in 1999 when democracy was restored after military rule. He later became governor of Edo State. Oshiomhole led strikes and protests against fuel price hike. He also negotiated 25 percent wage increase to public sector workers during Obasanjo’s administration. After Oshiomhole came Abdulwaheed Omar of the teachers’ union who was elected NLC president in 2007. Then came the current president Ayuba Wabba, who came from the Health Workers Union and was elected in 2015.
The last few years have however been very tough for NLC. Where rulers once trembled at the mention of its name and especially when it threatened to go on strike, these days NLC is not as potent as it used to be. Many reasons account for this turn of events including the collapse of some powerful economic sectors, factionalism among labour leaders and also the weak national economy. After the election of Wabba, General Secretary of National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) Joe Ajaero, who contested with Wabba, never accepted the results. Last year Ajaero and the President of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers [NUPENG] Igwe Achese jointly announced the formation of a parallel labour centre called the United Labour Congress (ULC). Even though the so-called United Labour Congress is not recognised by government, its existence has further weakened NLC.
The most telling example of NLC’s loss of influence in Nigeria was when it called for a national strike in 2016 after the government increased fuel pump price to N145 per litre. Unlike what used to happen before, most Nigerians appeared to disagree with the strike and it soon collapsed without achieving its aims.
As NLC enters the next stage of its life, we urge labour leaders to mend fences so as to regain the confidence of the people and be strong enough to confront the government in workers’ interests. It is also time for NLC to take a holistic look at the national labour and political environment and reposition itself accordingly. We wish the NLC all the best in the continuing struggle to defend worker’s interests.
