SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE NIGERIA LABOUR CONGRESS (NLC), COMRADE JOE AJAERO AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE RAIN SCHOOL OF THE NIGERIA LABOUR CONGRESS (NLC), UYO ON THE 21ST JULY, 2025.
Protocols!
It is my great honour to stand before you today at yet another gathering of the Rain School of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
I welcome you all to Uyo, a city that has become a beacon of learning and struggle for Nigerian workers.
Welcome to the 21st Rain School and welcome to the Workers’ Campus. It is another great opportunity to sharpen our skills, deepen our capacities and be more prepared for the battle that continuously confronts us as workers and as workers’ organisations.
This year’s theme, “Labour and Human Rights in a Shrinking Democratic Space,” is not just a topic for discussion; it is a call to action; a summons for us to rise and defend the soul of our democracy.
It could not have come at a better time than this; a period preceding the May Day when we discussed the Civic space of which the democratic space is a key component. A period when the socioeconomic framework is filled with crisscrossing suspicions as governance continues to produce negative results for the citizenry and as various mass-based organisations seek to engage government to be more creative in their policies so that the people will be at the heart of their activities, thus produce better results for the nation and the citizens.
It is coming at a time when Nigeria is ranked as one of the ten countries in the world with worst forms of workers’ rights violations. There is always an inverse relationship between the abuse of human and workers’ rights and the nature of a nation’s democratic space.
As the democratic space expands, abuse of human and workers’ rights shrinks but as the democratic space shrinks, abuse of human and workers’ rights expands.
Should we then be concerned about the democratic space as workers and trade unions? Yes, we should because a shrinking democratic space is a threat to Workers and the Masses and indeed our nation.
Comrades, democratic space is the arena where citizens especially the working class exercise their rights to free speech, assembly, and participation in governance.
It is the space where policies are debated, where accountability is demanded, and where the voices of the oppressed must be heard.
But today, that space is under siege. Today, that space is being trampled upon by those who have captured the levers of governance not knowing that they put all of us in perils.
Just as we declared during this year’s May Day, “The civic space” the arena where we voice our concerns, challenge injustice, and demand accountability is being systematically compressed.”
How can we effectively protect the rights and privileges of workers in a space that no longer guarantees us our rights to participate in governance? How can we drive policies that defend the interests of the working people in our nation when there is a deliberate effort to emasculate workers’ organisations?
How can we seek the espousal of the people’s desires when the Rule of Law is trampled upon and continuously dismantled?
I know that these questions must have propelled the planners of this year’s School into focusing on this to allow all of us to interrogate this situation so that we can generate robust strategies to ensure that we remain in a position to continue delivering benefits to our members and indeed our secondary constituency; the broader citizens.
The threats against Mr. Obi and his supporters are a stark reminder of how quickly democratic safeguards are being eroded in our nation, with grave consequences for workers.
We are not surprised at the undemocratic utterances of the Edo Governor; Senator Okpebholo. If he can invade NLC’s Secretariat and seeks to clone his own NLC in the state despite all entreaties then, he can threaten citizens of Nigeria without any thoughts.
This, to us, is a function of ignorance on the tenets of democracy and morbid fear of the same process that brought him and others into office.
The ability to organize; whether in unions, civil society, or political parties; is the bedrock of a functioning democracy.
When governors unilaterally decide who can speak, assemble, or even celebrate a birthday, they are not just targeting opposition voices; they are testing how far they can suppress collective action altogether.
For the NLC, this is an urgent call to defend the democratic space that allows us to fight for workers’ rights.
If we allow these encroachments to go unchallenged, we risk normalising a reality where the government picks and chooses who enjoys constitutional rights.
We must stand firm, not just for Nigerian workers whose livelihood depends on the freedom to demand justice without fear but for those who seek to contest for power in Nigeria.
It is clear that governance has been abandoned for 2027 politicking. We are all on our own. Leaders who should be working to alleviate suffering are instead consumed by power games, leaving workers and ordinary Nigerians to bear the brunt of economic hardship and burgeoning insecurity which their policies imposed on us.
In a robust democratic space, it will be politically suicidal for this to happen because the deepened engagement will be used to hold such individuals to account.
How can you hold them to account when the Rule of Law is heavily compromised? How can you hold them to account when the principles of Separation of Power in a democracy are consciously undermined?
When the Legislature becomes an extension of the Executive and the Judiciary speaks the voice of the Executive, democracy is kept in abeyance and becomes dysfunctional to the detriment of checks and balances and national progress.
You must point out a new pathway to operate effectively in an environment where the expression of contrary opinions is criminalized through this year’s school.
You must generate a way to continue protecting the rights of workers and the masses in a society where protests are met with repression.
You must frown at the idea of criminalizing the planned protests by Retired Police officers who are currently facing harrowing experiences in the hands of the state.
The right to dissent, comrades, a cornerstone of democracy, is being outlawed.
Workers are excluded from critical decisions. Policies on taxes, pensions, Concessions and privatization are imposed without our input.
If we do not act now, if we do not occupy, defend, and expand the democratic space, we risk losing the very freedoms that generations of workers fought and bled for.
If we do not rise up and hold the hands of each other across the diverse unions and across the various divides, we may end up having a nation where the forces of authoritarianism hold sway.
If we do not see this as a collective struggle and also make attempt to build the necessary synergies instead of thinking that this is the struggle of the national leadership, we may be in eternal jeopardy.
If we continue slumbering, we may wake up to find out that this prevailing greed has turned our nation into a Somalia.
There are urgent battles before us and this year’s school will help us prepare for them effectively.
The Fight for a decent Wage has remained crucial. The struggle for the National Minimum Wage is far from over. While some progress has been made in the public sector, millions of workers in the private sector and parastatals are still enslaved by starvation wages.
Public sector workers are still not fully enjoying the benefits of the National Minimum Wage act. We therefore demand full compliance across all sectors! No worker in Nigeria should earn less than what is required to live in dignity.
We are still worried about the refusal of government to constitute the Boards of statutory institutions where tripartite representation is Law.
The refusal to constitute the PENCOM Board, where labour is statutorily represented, is unlawful and unacceptable.
Even more egregious is the conversion of 50% of workers’ NSITF contributions into government revenue. This is not in line with the promise of transparency in governance.
Let us together tell government that we will not allow our hard-earned benefits to continue to be managed unlawfully.
At this year’s 113th International Labour Conference (ILC), landmark agreements were reached: A new Convention and Recommendation will be worked to achieve Decent Work for Platform Workers which is a victory for gig economy workers who face exploitation and the challenges posed by Algorithm.
A Convention on Biohazards which is critical for protecting workers in hazardous environments has been established; Continued work on Informality which will help bring millions of informal workers under the umbrella of labour rights.
However, comrades, these victories mean little if we do not fight for the domestication of the one already established in Nigeria. We must ensure that our laws and policies align with these global standards.
We must continue our work on Decent Work for Platform Economy workers until it becomes an international standard same for that on Informality.
Mentioning the challenges of Algorithm to us reminds me of the urgent need for us not to slumber so that AI will not endanger or harm workers, thus guaranteeing a future of work that is democratic and caters to our collective interests as workers and as a people.
Innovation should never come at the expense of workers and human dignity. The advancement of machines must never overshadow the inherent worth, rights, and aspirations of people; especially the workers who power every enterprise. Technology must be leveraged to expand Democracy, Decent Work and social justice, never to diminish them.
It is important to inform you that recently, the new management of the NSITF, acting under the influence of anti-worker forces, is attempting to illegally take over the NLC National Secretariat.
Let me be clear: this is not just an attack on a building; it is an attack on the collective voice of Nigerian workers. It is part of the grand agenda to silence our voices but we assure you that just like other attempts have failed, this one will also fail but we need all of you to be alert.
Like we have said before, we see this for what it is; a grand plan to muzzle the NLC, weaken our movement, and silence workers as the 2027 elections approach.
But we say to them: You will fail! The NLC is not just a building or an institution; it is the fighting spirit of millions of workers and masses and no force can suppress it.
We Must Organize, Mobilize, and Build Workers’ Political Power and use it to participate and expand the democratic space.
As the 2027 elections draw closer, politicians are already scheming; not to serve, but to grab power. We cannot afford to be spectators. We must rethink our political engagement. Labour must build its own power, not just to endorse candidates, but to influence and dictate pro-worker policies.
We must organize at the grassroots, in factories, in markets and in the informal economy. We must form alliances with civil society, students, and the masses to resist anti-people policies. It is our responsibility to ensure that the Politics of 2027 produces utmost benefits for Nigerian workers and masses.
How are we going to do this effectively, comrades? We (the NLC) has created a Platform over two decades ago. We must resolve through our conversations here to re-awaken, restructure and rebrand the Labour Party (LP) as a truly working-class party capable of mobilizing the innate powers of the working people throughout the country and use it to put people back at the core of governance. It is our Party. Let us give it leadership. Let us not give any excuses but occupy effectively the structures of the party wherever we are.
Comrades, this year’s Rain School should therefore not only be just for learning; it should be for strategizing, organizing, and preparing for the battles ahead. We urge you to learn, deepen your understanding of labour laws, human rights, Organising and political strategy.
Organize and fight, comrades! Return to your unions and workplaces with a renewed commitment to build workers’ power to expand the democratic space. Resist every attempt to shrink the democratic space as it is an attempt to silence our voices and continue trampling upon our rights.
The NLC remains unbowed! Together, we shall expand our democratic space; shrink abuse of workers’ rights and build a Nigeria that works for all, not just a privileged few.
We wish you all a very stimulating time! Let the conversation begin!
A people United, cannot be defeated! Workers united, cannot be defeated!
Thank you .
