By Denja Yaqub
When some leaders of The Guardian newspapers branch of the Nigeria Union of Journalists led by Gbolahan Gbadamosi, now a lawyer based in the United States of America were sacked by the management of the flagship of Nigeria’s newspaper industry sometime in the year 2000, they filed a complaint at the headquarters of Nigeria Labour Congress, then fully located in Yaba, Lagos under the leadership of Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole.
After attempts to resolve the issues through dialogue to ultimately reinstate the union leaders failed, NLC decided to massively picket the premises of the newspaper firm. Journalists from all the major print and electronic news media were effectively mobilized to cover the picket.
Among them was a young labour
journalist from Vanguard newspaper who did not only cover the picket but was
part of the tactical planning team who along with another senior journalist,
Comrade Owei Lakemfa were familiar with the terrain, especially the timing of
the picket to coincide with both editorial and production period.
As agreed, workers from
affiliates of the NLC massively, like bees moved from Yaba to RUTAM HOUSE, the
headquarters of The Guardian newspapers located at Isolo and effectively took
over the premises, taking the management in total surprise.
Rather than keep safe in a
corner writing reports, the journalist from Vanguard newspaper was leading a
team of workers straight to production lines, including the newsroom to ensure
none of the reporters could sit on their news desks. He led us to the location
of the production machines and workers ensured the machines went off.
And for days, we occupied The Guardian newspapers premises despite presence of heavily armed riot policemen mobilized by the management to attack us. That exceptionally brave journalist is Joe Ajaero of the Vanguard newspapers at that time.
Born in Emekuku, Owerri North
Local Government Area of Imo State, South East Nigeria in 1964, December 17 and
educated at the Universities of Nigeria, Nsukka and Lagos; Times Journalism
Institute, Lagos, he also attended the International Professional Practice
Partnership in Cape Town, South Africa where he obtained a certificate in
Advance Tariff Structuring and Subsidy Design Options.
He attended St. George’s
Business School at the Cambridge University, Harvard Business School as well as
the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation in
Turin, Italy.
Comrade Joe recently completed his Law degree at Baze University, Abuja.
He earlier had his first degree in Education at the University of Nigeria,
Nsukka; Masters in Industrial and Labour Relations at the University of Lagos.
He did his mandatory youth
service under the National Youth Service Corp at the 1st Mechanised Division of
the Nigeria Army in Kaduna
He later joined Vanguard newspapers where he rose to become Assistant News Editor before he realised he could serve humanity more fighting for and defending workers’ rights working directly in the trade unions. He left Vanguard to head the Information and Training Department of the National Union of Electricity Workers, now National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, recruited by one of our best in the trade union movement at the time, Comrade Precious Kiri Kalio, now late. Kiri – Kalio was also one of the Deputy Presidents of NLC just as he was General Secretary of NUEE and a strong opponent of the privatization of public electricity.
Comrade Joe who succeeded him as General Secretary of NUEE is currently on
leave of absence and serving as President of Africa’s largest labour centre,
the Nigeria Labour Congress since February 2023.
Comrade Joe is not a stranger in
the movement. He has always been part of mass struggles from his days as a
student activist at UNN. As a journalist, he was part of “rescue actions” led
by people like Comrade Lanre Arogundade and others like Comrades Owei Lakemfa,
Tony Iyare etc to ensure the Nigeria Union of Journalists was properly led by
people who knew defence of the rights and freedoms of members of the union were
inviolable, especially at a period media houses and journalists became
vulnerable during the era of military dictatorship; with a decree specifically
promulgated to circumscribe the rights of journalists to practice their
profession without hindrance.
Comrade Joe was fully involved
in the pro-democracy struggles that ended military rule in Nigeria and suffered
brutalities in the hands of state agents, particularly the secret police, the
State Security Service. One of such incidents occurred in Ilorin, the capital
of Kwara State, north central Nigeria while attending a tactical meeting of a
combination of human rights and labour activists during the regime of General
Sani Abacha. He is not a stranger to brutalities, either by state agents or
paid street urchins.
The recent physical attacks on
him by state agents in Owerri where he led workers, as appropriately decided by
the National Executive Council of NLC was not anything he never expected. Any
serious workers’ leader will not expect anything less from a state that
considers workers, creators of the wealth that has been and still being
massively plundered and siphoned into private vaults of public officials and
their cronies, less deserving of their wages and pensions.
Only little minds; reactionaries
and beneficiaries of the rot that has eclipsed our country will allude his role
as a labour leader in the struggle for the right of Imo State workers to have
their salaries and pension entitlements paid as a personal engagement to
advance any cause other than implementing decisions of an organization he is
leading as well-known freebooters, political jobbers and dancers in the
unfortunate gallery of visionless anti people politicians have roundly claimed
in public space.
Not when the state government is
recalcitrant and shamelessly repudiating workers agitation for the payment of
more than 42 months salaries and pension entitlements. Not when the state
government has consistently avoided dialogue. Indeed, not when NEC of an
organisation he leads has directed that a strike and mass actions be organised
against the state government to ensure workers’ rights in the state are fully
enforced.
For Comrade Joe Ajaero, he new
what leadership means and he knows the price of leadership and he is clearly
prepared for it. This he demonstrated as the General Secretary of NUEE. He
didn’t sell out workers when public electricity was “auctioned” on the
privatization table as directed by the International Monetary Fund and its neo
liberal imperialist partners, characterized by their local comprador agents who
had connived to make public-owned state enterprises run out of purpose.
After the vicious fatal attacks
on him and some trade union leaders in Owerri, affiliates of the NLC decided to
take very decisive national actions in line with what is historically correct.
An injury to one is an injury to all. Every conscious labour leader with
conscience knows this.
A national strike and mass
actions were organized and successfully held not just to protest against the
brutal attacks on the President of NLC and other labour leaders but against any
form of attack on any Nigerian during any protest against any form of
violations of fundamental rights.
All verbal attacks that followed
the national actions have recorded the attackers as gangsters of the same
gallery the Debtor Governor of Imo State who chose to unleash violence on those
he is shamelessly owing is criminally dancing. No leader of repute will wish
his own history destroyed with careless statements on protests against violent
attacks on labour leaders, except those who allow momentary emotions, political
indiscretions and deliberate attempt to rubbish a movement to propel individual
self-glorifications that have over time become unsustainable.
Comrade Joe led workers protests
in Owerri as President of NLC and when he was so brutally attacked, only a
state apologist; anti people advocate will condemn a national action against
such fatal attack.
We are happy Comrade Joe
celebrated his 59th birthday alive on Sunday 17th December 2023 just as we pray
Comrade President of NLC lives longer in sound health to continue in our
collective struggles for a better society.
Happy birthday Comrade Joe Ajaero, the President of Nigeria Labour Congress, Africa’s largest labour centre.
*Yaqub is a commentator on public issues
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