Daily Trust

After an 8-year tenure (2015-2023) of Ayuba Wabba as president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero was on Wednesday, February 8, 2023.

The decay that now epitomizes the NLC could be appreciated if put within the context of the intra-union fighting, which in recent years, typified every round of its attempt to elect new executives. Government at all levels is no longer held accountable; suggesting a negative transformation of the NLC from a once confederation of pro-active labour leaders to one whose leadership has lost everything, which in the past, characterised the charisma of highly principled activists. In his acceptance speech as the 9th president of the NLC, Ajaero said the new executive members were committed to pursuing the interest of workers and the desires of Nigerians; promising that his leadership would speak for the millions of Nigerians. The post-Oshiomhole NLC failed in the exercise of this political function. Following democratic reforms, some of the anti-labour regulations were abolished in January 1999; the same month Adams Oshiomhole was elected as the 6th president of the reformed labour union. Until his emergence, he was the deputy national president of the labour union.