NLC urges resilient leadership amid rising insecurity

The Nigeria Labour Congress on Tuesday urged workers to cultivate resilient and strategic leadership to navigate the twin challenges of rising insecurity and systemic exploitation in the country.

The announcement followed the opening address by President Comrade Joe Ajaero of the NLC at the 2025 Harmattan School, held at Top Rank Hotel, Utako, Abuja, on 24 November.

The Harmattan School, a forum for educating and mobilising the nation’s workforce, brought together participants from across Nigeria to debate the theme “Workers’ Rights in the Context of Global Economic Crises and Technological Advancement”.

In his address, the union leader drew attention to the dual pressures confronting Nigerian workers: intensifying workplace exploitation and the gradual erosion of political and social rights.

He pointed to instances of rights violations in major corporations, including the Dangote Group and the NLNG Train 7 project, warning that these cases exemplify a broader pattern of exploitation that threatens the welfare of workers nationwide.

“Monopoly capital is operating as a state within a state, crushing trade union rights and treating workers as disposable inputs in vast profit-making machines,” Ajaero stated. He further cautioned against legal reforms and special economic zones being proposed by the government, describing them as efforts to codify class-based exploitation.

Beyond workplace exploitation, the NLC president linked technological advancement and global capital interests to Nigeria’s rising insecurity.