COMRADE Joe Ajaero is a very powerful man .He is the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) .Beyond that , he has been a constant feature in the Power Sector , where he has dominated the Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), for over 3 decades. He has been General Secretary of that Union and he superintended the union side of the transition from the Behemoth called Never Expect Powers Always (NEPA) to the current phenomenon for those of us in Benin that translates to But Electricity Doesn’t Come (BEDC).This has also put Comrade Joe Ajaero in stumpeduous wealth.
Following the decimation of the Labour Movement in Nigeria during the Military Era and with the exit of the intrepid Pascal Bafyau as President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), there emerged a new crop of leaders in the Labour Movement. These Leaders became more interested in politics than policies .So you see many of them seeing their ascedency to Leadership in Labour Activities as a starting point to get Leadership in the Political Sphere .
However, none of these Leaders has been more audacious than Comrade Joe Ajaero , who for the very first time , made a Nigeria Labour Congress President to share the same podium with a Presidential Candidate of a Political Party .He was a constant feature in the Political Campaigns of Mr Peter Obi , the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party .
Not satisfied with sharing the limelight with politicians, Comrade Joe Ajaero has now made an audacious attempt to take over the Leadership of the Labour Party , a novelty never heard of in the history of Nigeria.
Comrade Ajaero claims to have dissolved the National Working Committee of the Labour Party ,just because the party bear the name , ‘Labour ‘ like the the Nigerian Labour Congress .There is the Labour Party in the United Kingdom, how come the Labour Unions do not hijack the leadership of the Labour Party in the UK?
Common sense, which is not common , would however tell Comrade Joe Ajaero that there is a difference between the Labour Party and the Nigeria Labour Congress .Joe Ajaero may wake up one day and dissolve the National Working Committee of All Progressives Congress, because the party carries the nomenclature “Congress”, like the Nigeria Labour Congress .
Comrade Joe Ajaero should be informed that the Nigeria Labour Congress is different from the Labour Party .Both Institutions have their respective common seal and they can both sue and be sued in their respective names .While the activities of the Labour Congress is regulated by the Trade Unions Act , Cap T14 ,LFN, 2004, the activities of the Labour Party is regulated the Electoral Act ,2020.Both Institutions are diametrically separate and do not converse in operational activities.
Both Institutions have separate Constitutions and Separate Board of Trustees.Conrade Ajaero had no locus standi (sufficient interest), to even call a meeting, not to talk of dissolving what he did not constitute in the first place. It is only the National Convention of the Labour Party that elected the Julius Abure led National Working Committee that can remove them.
Nigeria is a Society governed by Law and not the whims and caprices of perceived powerful individuals and self appointed meddlesome interlopers and rabble rousers . What Comrade Joe Ajaro did is impersonation .Holding himself out as being what he is not .
Unionism is Separate and distinct from Politics . What Comrade Ajero did has no place in our laws .It amounts to rascality in uniionism.It is a journey that never started ,exercise in futility and a wild goose chase .
In the eyes of the Law , Julius Abure remains the National Chairman of Labour Party and indeed he is the only recognised and recognisable National Chairman of the Labour Party in law and in facts .If Joe Ajaero wanted to be National Chairman of the Labour Party , he would have purchased the nomination forms and contested the elections .Having missed his flight , Joe Ajaero wants to crash the plane .He should go by train, which presupposes continuing with his Labour movement.
Nigeria is not a lawless society .Joe Ajaero should stop his Ojoro .
About the Author:
Douglas Ogbankwa Esq @douglasogbankwa@gmail.com, is the Convener of National Movement for the Actualisation of Good Governance (NAMAGG).
