CRISIS-ridden National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) has accused both the National leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its Ogun State council of actions that are not only surreptitious and provocative but also constitute an affront on the extant rules and regulations of the NLC.
The Food Union, as NUFBTE is popularly called, also accused the organs of NLC of “systematic act of impunity” as it asks the national leadership of Congress to “intervene in the interest of Labour solidarity.”
The letter, signed by Acting General Secretary of the Food Union, Comrade Mike Olanrewaju, dated 11th August, 2021, and obtained by National Record, expressed the union’s disappointment over the failure of the Ogun State Council of NLC to honour a March 22nd, 2021 letter withdrawing its Ogun State Council Chairman, Comrade Abiodun Philip, from NLC’s State Administrative Committee (SAC) and the State Executive Council (SEC) of Ogun State.
The union, in the letter, said it is demanding Comrade Abe’s withdrawal from the state organs because he had been expelled from the union.
In the letter entitled “RE: Withdrawal of Comrade Abe, Abiodun Philip from the State Administrative Committee (SAC) and State Executive Council (SEC) of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Ogun State Council (A Reminder)” [sic]; Comrade Olanrewaju expressed frustration of the Food Union over what he called “tactical circumvention and disregard” of the union’s March 22nd letter.
“Further to our letter dated 22nd March, 2021 on the above subject matter, we are extremely constrained to follow up with this reminder owing to the unambiguous facts emerging from your State Council indicating a tactical circumvention and disregard to the purpose and content of the letter under reference.
“Without mincing words, the actions and surreptitious activities of your Council is [sic] viewed as a calculated efforts [sic] aimed at provoking our Union and members in Ogun State in particular.
“Furthermore, your actions amount to direct affront against Extant Rules and Regulations of the Congress as well as a violent violation of our Union’s Constitution which unequivocally forbid non-financial members of staff of our Union from representing or participating in Labour Congress organs and activities on behalf of our Union as an affiliate of the Congress,” the letter reads in part.
Comrade Olanrewaju accused the State Council of “undue recognition and patronage of expelled members of our Union,” a situation he said “is a direct disobedience and deliberate violation of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Extant Laws and Regulations.”
He therefore demanded of the chairman of the State Council to, in view of “the monumental adverse effect on Labour solidarity and unity…, stop with immediate effect any further recognition and patronage of all expelled members who have ceased to be financial members of our Union and by extension members of the Congress.”
In the final paragraph of the letter, Olanrewaju enjoined the national leadership of Congress, to which he served copies of the letter, to “intervene in the overall interest of Labour solidarity and also to checkmate systematic act of impunity by organs of the Congress.”
Calls to the Acting General Secretary of the NLC, Comrade Ismail Bello, who was served a copy of the letter, rang out while a text message to his mobile phone and another to his WhatsApp were not responded to as at press time.
Efforts to also get Comrade Abiodun Philip also failed as his mobile number was not reachable.
However, a member of the Redemption Group of the Food Union, which has over the past one year challenged the Comrade Lateef Oyelekan national leadership of the Food Union for what it described as illegal elongation of tenure and violation of the union’s constitution, told National Record on the condition of anonymity that “it is the Oyelekan leadership that is engaged in very well-known acts of systematic impunity” and not the Ogun State Council of the NLC or anybody else.
“There is an ironic twist in the whole affair in our dear union. If there is any affront against any extant rules and regulations of our union or that of the Congress, the Oyelekan leadership symbolises it in all ramifications.
“We don’t blame him [Oyelekan] or are we surprised that he has started lecturing the President of NLC. How will he not when the NLC President, and to a large extent, the Ministry of Labour, have both conspired to aid and abet Oyelekan’s illegality. I have seen the letter and I hope Comrade Wabba reads behind the lines to see how his actions and inactions have combine to embolden Oye to now heap on the NLC insults. It is just the beginning; they may perhaps begin to see how drunk he has become with power.
“It is a shame that those talking about violation of extant rules are the same people violating court orders that stopped an emergency conference; that asked all parties to maintain status quo ante; that said union members should not be expelled, name them. I can tell you with certainty that in his bid to hold on to power, Oye has violated all these orders by expelling members too numerous to name here. The NLC President knows about what I am telling you.
“We know how much of our union’s resources Oyelekan is spending to ensure he stays as life President of our union. You don’t know but I can tell you that Oyelekan has bought the support of the top hierarchy of the NLC. It is not for anything that they are quiet in the face of the massive redundancy that has been going on in the food industry. At the last count, over 500 workers were sacked, and we are told more are still going to be sacked. I know this because all those sacked are members of the Redemption group. Comrade Wabba knows; and all members of the NLC national leadership know this, but they choose to keep quiet,” the aggrieved Redemption Group member said.
