Last Saturday, July 19, 2025, the late Comrade Jonathan Ihonde’s home in Benin City came alive once more — this time not with the bustle of his activism, but with the warmth of remembrance. Friends, family, mentees, students, labour leaders, activists, and professionals gathered for his 87th posthumous birthday, marking the day with the very thing he loved most: ideas, debate, and the fight for a better Nigeria.
It was the first memorial lecture in his honour, and it drew the respect his memory has always commanded. Ihonde, who passed away last year, was more than a labour leader. He was a teacher, an artist, and an intellectual whose life embodied the culture of principled activism. In the world of Nigerian labour struggles, his name stands not in the footnotes but boldly in the main text.
Delivering the lecture, Dr. Osagie Obayuwana — former Edo State Attorney General — spoke on “The Man Comrade Jonathan Ihonde and His Historical Significance as an Activist and Labour Leader.” He explored not just Ihonde’s political convictions, but his philosophy of service, his belief in beauty as part of public life, and his refusal to compromise with injustice.
Obayuwana reminded the audience that Ihonde built on the work of greats like Pa Michael Imoudu — a pioneer of Nigerian labour — but went further, adding ideology, art, and compassion to the fight. If Imoudu fought with rugged courage, Ihonde fought with the pen, the stage, and the megaphone, inspiring both workers and the watching public.
In the 1970s, when Nollywood didn’t exist, Ihonde created Hotel De Jordan, a hugely popular TV drama on NTA Benin. But for him, it wasn’t just entertainment — it was social medicine, a way to spark awareness and purge dangerous complacency. His art, like his activism, was a tool for enlightenment.
He had chances to enrich himself, to bend his ideals for comfort or position. He resisted them all. Even when betrayed by fellow activists who abandoned the struggle for personal gain, Ihonde stayed rooted in his convictions. His vision of Nigeria — egalitarian, just, and truly democratic — remained untarnished.
Saturday’s event wasn’t just nostalgia. Obayuwana used the platform to connect Ihonde’s ideals to today’s crises — crushing living conditions, struggling pensioners, a political system in need of a true people’s constitution. He challenged leaders and citizens alike to rise to the moment.
The atmosphere was electric yet warm. Dr. Bello Idaevbor’s skilled compering kept the afternoon flowing into a harmonious evening. Joy, Ihonde’s last daughter, spoke for the family, her words capturing both pride and longing. Photographers darted about, capturing moments that will, no doubt, be treasured for years to come.
For those who knew Ihonde, the day was a reminder that giants don’t really die — they live on in the work, in the ideas, and in the fire they leave behind.
