The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on Nigerian workers to develop resilient and strategic leadership to confront the mounting challenges of rising insecurity and systemic exploitation across the country.
The charge was delivered by NLC President Comrade Joe Ajaero during his opening address at the 2025 Harmattan School, held on 24 November at Top Rank Hotel, Utako, Abuja. The annual forum serves as a platform for educating, organising, and mobilising workers nationwide.
This year’s edition gathered participants from different parts of the country to explore the theme, “Workers’ Rights in the Context of Global Economic Crises and Technological Advancement.”
In his remarks, Ajaero warned that Nigerian workers face two major pressures—worsening workplace exploitation and the erosion of political and social rights. He highlighted labour rights violations in major corporations, including the Dangote Group and the NLNG Train 7 project, describing them as part of a widening pattern of exploitation.
“Monopoly capital is operating as a state within a state, crushing trade union rights and treating workers as disposable inputs in vast profit-making machines,” he said. He also warned that proposed legal reforms and the expansion of special economic zones could formalise structures of class-based exploitation.
Ajaero further connected the country’s rising insecurity to global technological interests and competition for Nigeria’s mineral wealth. He argued that violence, kidnappings, and banditry are driven by the push for resources such as lithium, tin, and cobalt, citing Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Benue, Kogi, Kwara, and Plateau as hotspots of resource-induced conflict.
The labour leader also expressed concern over attempts to capture social security institutions—including the National Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and the Pensions Commission—warning that such efforts could jeopardise workers’ collective savings.
Ajaero urged participants of the Harmattan School to translate learning into practical strategies for defending labour rights, confronting emerging legal and political challenges, and responding to national insecurity. Courses offered at the school, including women’s leadership, organising, education, and general leadership, were designed to build a corps of seasoned labour cadres.
He emphasised the power of solidarity, calling for unity among workers, progressive intellectuals, and rural communities, noting that only a united working class can address Nigeria’s deepening crises.
The NLC commended organisers, speakers, and facilitators for making the 2025 Harmattan School a robust platform for strategic learning and mobilisation, with plans to reconvene in 2026.
