Nigeria’s labour movement has lost one of its most experienced hands, with Emmanuel Ugboaja, General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), dying at 60 after more than two decades at the forefront of trade unionism.
Ugboaja’s death was disclosed in a letter by his family to members of the NLC’s National Executive Council (NEC) and subsequently made public by NLC President, Joe Ajaero.
The veteran trade unionist and lawyer, who became the fifth General Secretary of the NLC in August 2019, spent more than two decades representing workers and shaping labour relations in Nigeria.
Born on May 15, 1966, Ugboaja obtained a law degree from the University of Calabar in 1987 and went on to build a career combining legal practice with trade union activism.
According to the NLC’s historical biography, Ugboaja was the first Nigerian lawyer to work full-time for a trade union, marking him out as a prominent figure in the country’s organised labour movement.
