The General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Emmanuel Ugboaja, passed away at the age of 60.

While details of his death were still sketchy at the time of filing this report, it was learnt that Ugboaja died after a protracted illness.

NLC President Joe Ajaero read a letter from the late General Secretary’s family to members of the Congress National Executive Council (NEC), who are currently meeting in Enugu, Enugu State.

The late General Secretary was a veteran trade unionist and lawyer who was appointed NLC General Secretary in August 2019.

Ugboaja was born on May 15, 1966, and obtained a law degree from the University of Calabar in 1987. After spending about four years in private legal practice, he entered the trade union movement in 1993.

The NLC’s historical biography describes him as the first Nigerian lawyer to work full-time for a trade union.

His first major union position was with the National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non-Metallic Products Employees, NUCFRLANMPE, an NLC affiliate. He rose through the organisation and served as its General Secretary from 2000 to 2005.

Ugboaja’s career was not confined to conventional trade unionism.

From 2006 to 2009, he served as Coordinator, Advocacy and Mobilisation, at the Alliance for Credible Elections, a civil-society organisation focused on electoral issues.

He subsequently joined the NLC Secretariat in 2009.