NLC PAYS TRIBUTE TO BUHARI, SAYS LATE PRESIDENT REDEEMED HIS PAST WITH WORKERS

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By Aishat Momoh. O.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has mourned the passing of former President Muhammadu Buhari, noting that he used his second opportunity as a civilian leader to correct past actions against Nigerian workers.

In a tribute signed by the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, the union reflected on Buhari’s legacy from the unique lens of organised labour, stating that while his tenure as military ruler between 1984 and 1985 was marked by mass retrenchments and hardship for workers, his return as a democratically elected president between 2015 and 2023 signaled a deliberate shift in approach.

“We must admit, his death has come as a surprise even as his first term was marked by long spells in hospital. But he emerged from it all strong and impregnable,” Ajaero noted. “Even out of office, his ramrod frame and long measured strides in or out of his farm were thought to be eloquent testimony of his good health. But we are all mortal.”

According to the NLC, Buhari had “two chances to fix the country” first as a “young angry military general” and later as a “conciliatory civilian president with a fatherly disposition.”

“Whatever those verdicts might be, it is near-unanimous that Buhari was associated with a single-mindedness of purpose (which some ascribed to stubbornness) and a drive to protect the sovereignty and dignity of Nigeria as he understood it,” Ajaero stated.

The NLC commended Buhari’s civilian administration for refraining from mass retrenchments, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, and for extending financial support to states to ensure salaries and pensions were paid.

“Although some governors betrayed this trust, Buhari repeatedly gave facilities to state governments to clear backlogs of salaries and pensions, as well as to enable regular wage payments,” the NLC added.

While acknowledging controversial economic decisions such as fuel price hikes, the labour union praised Buhari for resisting pressure to privatize refineries or fully devalue the naira, and for maintaining policies that aligned with the welfare of workers and the broader public.

“In the late President, we have lost a leader who corrected his mistakes against workers during his second coming; who stood with the people and country, a leader who truly put the country first no matter the cost,” the NLC declared.

The statement concluded with a prayer: “May Allah forgive his sins as well as grant him peaceful repose.”