OBASANJO ON LABOUR REFORMS: HOW NIGERIA’S WORKERS WERE FREED FROM CIA AND KGB INTERFERENCE
Read Time:1 Minute, 14 Second
By: Fasasi Hammad
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed that the labour reforms introduced during his tenure as military head of state were aimed at reducing the Nigerian labour movement’s heavy reliance on foreign funding during the Cold War.
Obasanjo made the remarks on Wednesday during the 85th birthday celebration and memoir launch of Hassan Sunmonu, the pioneer president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
Obasanjo, who served as military head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as democratically elected president from 1999 to 2007, said that before the reforms, Nigeria’s labour organisations were divided into two factions—one funded by the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the other by the Soviet-era KGB.
He explained that the reforms were necessary to ensure that the labour movement was organised, controlled, and financed by Nigerians rather than foreign actors.
“These two labour organisations were Nigerian in name, but they were not funded by Nigeria,” Obasanjo said. “One was financed by the KGB and the other by the CIA. I believe Hassan belonged to the faction supported by the KGB. When I came on the scene, I wanted a labour union that was truly Nigerian—organised, controlled, and funded by Nigerians. That led to the labour union reform, and I appointed Justice Adebiyi to oversee it.”
Obasanjo added that the reforms ultimately led to the creation of the Nigeria Labour Congress, now the umbrella body for labour unions across the country.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0