Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja 

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged trade Union leaders across Africa and the world to join hands and collectively put a check to policy proposal, and every agreement that subjugates rather than liberates the African worker.

In a speech delivered at the 14th PSI Africa and Arab Countries Regional Conference (AFRECON 2025) held in Accra, Ghana on Thursday, NLC President Joe Ajaero, said trade unions can use their collective power in the ILO, the African Union, and all global fora to name, shame, and bring these rogue governments and businesses to account.

He said, “Under the crushing weight of neoliberal policies, enforced by our own governments, the African worker is caught in a vicious paradox: the harder we work, the deeper we sink into the quicksand of poverty. 

“Furthermore, we are witnessing a dangerous and unacceptable trend: the increasing use of state violence as an instrument of engagement in industrial relations. Let us call it by its name: this is class war waged from above. 

“We cannot, and we must not, tolerate this growing resort to intimidate trade union leaders into submission. Our duty is to seek new and better ways of engaging the state and the dangerous march of neoliberalism.”

Ajaero said the collective power of the labour leaders is needed at this crucial time if workers are to overcome these forces of impoverishment.

He added, “This conference must be a turning point. We must collectively interrogate every framework, every policy proposal, and every agreement that subjugates rather than liberates the African worker. 

“We must move beyond lamentations to a coordinated, pan-African strategy; a strategy that rewards work appropriately and make the worker more dignified.

“Let us use our collective power in the ILO, the African Union, and all global fora to name, shame, and bring these rogue governments and businesses to account.

“We must fight not just for the democracy of the ballot box, but for an effective governance that works for the masses; for the worker in the factory, the peasant on the farm, and the youth on the streets.

“This mission must be made clear to all; we must wrestle public service back from the jaws of the few and return it to the hands of the public. 

“We must build a movement so resilient that it can withstand the present and future onslaughts of neoliberalism and all forces that seek to undermine our unity and subject workers to their whims and caprices,” he said.

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