NLC restructures secretariat, appoints new scribe

The National Executive Council (NEC) of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has ordered the immediate reorganisation of the secretariat of the congress.

Rising from its meeting in Kano recently, the organ also ratified the retirement of Dr Peter Ozo-Eson while appointing Emmanuel Ogboaja as his replacement.

The NEC-in-session also ratified the appointment of Ismail Bello as Deputy General Secretary of the NLC. Bello was until his appointment the deputy general secretary of the textile union. 

The labour centre now has two Deputy General Secretaries. Before now, Chris Utot, who is oldest staff of the Congress, was the only Deputy General Secretary of Congress. 

NEC-in-session, which also empowered the National Administrative Council (NAC) of Congress to reorganise the secretariat said the exercise is aimed at enhancing the efficiency of the NLC secretariat.

NLC said the appointment of Ugboaja as the new General Secretary of the NLC is with immediate effect. Ugboaja, born on May 15, 1966, is a 1987 Law graduate of the University of Calabar.

In 1993, he became the first lawyer in Nigeria to work full-time for a trade union when he joined the National Union of Chemical Footwear Rubber Leather and Non-Metallic Products Employees (NUCFRLANMPE), an affiliate of the Nigeria Labour Congress.

He rose through the ranks of the union to serve as the General Secretary from 2000 to 2005.

Between 2006 and 2009, Ugboaja was appointed as the Coordinator, Advocacy and Mobilisation of the Alliance for Credible Elections, a foremost Nigerian Civil Society Organization with focus on electoral matters.

In 2005, he was a delegate to the 2005 President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Political/Constitutional Reform Conference. He was also a delegate to the President Goodluck Jonathan Constitution Review Conference of 2014.