NLC exposes anti-worker policies in Nigeria to international community

• As Ajaero turns Oslo award into rallying cry for Nigerian workers

Bimbola Oyesola, Geneva

President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, yesterday, transformed an international award ceremony in Oslo, Norway, into a thunderous indictment of repression, poverty and anti-worker policies in Nigeria, declaring that the Arthur Svensson International Award would serve not as a trophy, but as a weapon in the fight for labour rights.

Standing before trade union leaders, diplomats and activists at the June 10 ceremony in Norway’s capital, Ajaero said he accepted the 2026 award on behalf of millions of Nigerian workers who wake up every morning to the smell of tear gas, the sound of sirens and the cold silence of a state that preys on its own people.

“The ruling class does not give you freedom. You take it bloody-knuckled, with your lungs full of tear gas and your heart full of rage,” Ajaero told the audience.

The labour leader dedicated the honour to workers facing hunger, insecurity and intimidation in Africa’s largest economy. He praised the Arthur Svensson Foundation for recognising struggles in the global south, saying the award reminded workers that the international working class is not a metaphor but a family.

He recounted what he described as a campaign of harassment by Nigerian authorities since 2023, including arrests, repeated interrogations, surveillance and allegations, ranging from cybercrime to treason.

“Me, a trade unionist, financing terror? No, the only terror we finance is the terror that grips the heart of every exploiter when workers unite,” he said.

He also spoke of personal attacks, including the destruction of his Lagos home by fire, detention by security agencies and restrictions on his international travel.

He accused security forces of violently disrupting strikes and protests, citing raids on the NLC offices and the occupation of the union’s national secretariat in August 2024.

“They have the jails, the guns and the instruments of fear. But, we have the power, the power to stop the world because we move the world,” Ajaero declared.

Despite the pressure, he insisted that the labour movement remained resilient. “Every time they silence one voice, 10,000 voices rise,” he said, invoking the legacy of Norwegian trade unionist, Arthur Svensson, after whom the award is named.

Far from portraying the prize as a personal achievement, Ajaero framed it as a mandate for intensified organising among formal and informal workers alike.

“This award is not an end; it is a launchpad,” he said. “Your suffering is not in vain. Your resistance is not invisible. The world is watching and the world is ready to act in solidarity.”

He criticised the multinational corporations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and Nigerian politicians preparing for the 2027 elections, accusing them of perpetuating economic hardship.

“Accolades do not pacify us; they propel us. This award is not water on the flames; it is fuel for the fire,” he warned.

Ajaero said the NLC would expand organising among informal economy workers, platform workers and the unemployed, while continuing to challenge anti-labour laws and violations of International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions.

He dedicated the award to workers who had been tear-gassed, victimised and made poorer the more they work, as well as to victims of violence and insecurity across Nigeria.

Closing his speech with a Marxist call for collective action, he urged workers worldwide to return to “our picket lines, our factories, our streets” and continue organising.

“The struggle continues,” he said. “And now it continues with a new weapon: the Arthur Svensson Award in one hand and the unbreakable solidarity of the global working class in the other.”

The ceremony ended with prolonged applause from delegates representing labour organisations across Europe, Africa and Asia, many of whom rose to their feet as Ajaero concluded with the chant: “Dare to struggle! Dare to win!”