• NLC leader: Osifo is absentee unionist, resides in US
•TUC head: Ajaero is a disaster, should go for training
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The unease between the two key centres of organised labour in Nigeria boiled over into open hostilities yesterday, as the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, and his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Festus Osifo, clashed publicly over the federal government’s N70,000 monthly transport allowance for public sector workers.
The disagreement, which centred on the six-month palliative announced by the Bola Tinubu administration, played out on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, where both labour leaders took turns to attack each other’s credibility and negotiating capacity.
Last Tuesday, the federal government had announced the transport allowance in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) issued after a meeting between government representatives and NLC leaders in Abuja.
Barely 24 hours after the announcement, the TUC rejected the allowance, insisting that what Nigerian workers needed was a salary increase, not a temporary palliative. This set the tone for a clash between the two labour centres.
Reacting to the TUC’s position, Ajaero said the trade union led by Osifo ought to have negotiated its own terms with government rather than disown the outcome of a negotiation it did not participate in.
But Osifo countered that discussions on workers’ welfare and the allowance had begun long before Ajaero’s meeting with government, adding that government had separately engaged the TUC.
However, speaking on the programme yesterday, Ajaero maintained that the N70,000 allowance was the product of collective bargaining triggered by an ultimatum issued by the NLC.
“When he (Osifo) said I did not negotiate N70,000 transport allowance, I did not know what he meant. We (NLC) gave the government an ultimatum and the government asked for four days to meet with us.
“At the resumed sitting after four days, some agreements were reached. After every collective bargaining, the product is the agreement. It was in that agreement that the issue of N70,000 was reached,” he said.
Ajaero went further to question Osifo’s stewardship of the TUC and the whereabouts of the 90 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses donated to the TUC by the federal government.
Describing Osifo as an “absentee president,” Ajaero alleged that the TUC leader does not reside in Nigeria and was only running the union from abroad.
“He is an absentee president of the TUC. He does not live in Nigeria. He comes in from the US to attend meetings and rush back. He serves in the board of PENCOM. You cannot be living abroad and be holding a position in a central level organisation. I challenge him and the Nigeria Immigration Service to prove if he has been in this country for four to five months this year,” he added.
But in a reply after Ajaero’s interview, Osifo fired back strongly, saying the labour movement deserved better leadership and that Ajaero deserved to be pitied. He described the NLC chief as a disaster.
Besides, Osifo said the labour movement deserved some pity too after listening to the NLC president, noting that the movement once boasted great leaders. “I can boldly say that Joe Ajaero is a disaster to the trade union movement in Nigeria,” Osifo said.
The TUC president insisted that the NLC could not negotiate on behalf of TUC members, as the congress remains a recognised federation with its own affiliates and mandate.
On the allegation that he lives outside the country, Osifo said it was a shame that such a claim would come from the NLC president.
He disclosed that before handing over as President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in August, he shuttled from one shop floor to another negotiating salary increments for members.
Osifo said he was currently in the United Kingdom for training on advanced leadership and management and accused Ajaero of shortchanging Nigerian workers on account of poor negotiation skills.
“Ajaero has never led any union in Nigeria that is why he does not understand the principles of negotiation,” Osifo said. “What I will recommend for him is training and retraining,” he added.
For years, although the labour unions have had their differences, they have struggled to speak with one voice on major issues that affect workers.