Get Guardian on GoogleFormer President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Hassan Sunmonu, has eulogised a scholar who loved the working class, the late Dr Segun Osoba.
Sunmonu gave the encomium in his presentation at a symposium organised in honour of Osoba, a Marxist historian who declined a professorship after over three decades of meritorious service to the Department of History at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife.
The symposium took place in Ijebu-Ode, the hometown of the late Osoba, who, along with the late Dr Bala Usman of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, wrote the minority report during the Constituent Assembly deliberation to produce the Constitution to guide the transition to democratic governance in 1979.
Sunmonu recalled that when he was President of the NLC, Osoba was always available to train the leaders of the trade unions by giving lectures to enable them to defend the interests of workers.
He added that Osoba encouraged the trade unions to embrace unity among the working classes so that they could have a formidable fighting force to champion the cause of workers.
Besides, Sunmonu said that at a time many trade union leaders did not know the implications of programmes being suggested by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Osoba was able to explain to the workers the need for them to reject the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) being promoted by the IMF.
The former NLC President said that Osoba encouraged trade unions to buy books that could better equip trade union leaders for effective performance of their duties.
