President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has declared that arrests, harassment and intimidation will not deter organised labour from pursuing workers’ rights and economic justice in Nigeria.
Ajaero made the remarks in Oslo, Norway, while receiving the 2026 Arthur Svensson Award, a globally recognised honour within the labour movement. During his acceptance speech, the NLC president accused the Nigerian government of using fear, surveillance, arrests and other forms of intimidation to suppress workers and labour activists advocating improved living conditions.
The labour leader described what he called years of persecution directed at him and the broader labour movement. According to Ajaero, these experiences included detention, repeated interrogations, surveillance, allegations of cybercrime and treason, as well as actions aimed at disrupting labour activities.
“I stand before you today not as a man, but as a symbol, a true symbol of millions of Nigerian workers who wake up every morning not just to the smell of tear gas, the sound of sirens, and the cold silence of a state that preys on its own people but who go to work hungry and come back hungrier, more emasculated than before they left for work,” he said.
Receiving the Arthur Svensson Award, Ajaero said the recognition represented more than a personal achievement.
“I receive this Arthur Svensson International Award not as a trophy, not as a ribbon to hang on a lapel. Not at all. I receive it as a weapon, a weapon forged in the memory of a great Norwegian militant, Arthur Svensson, a man who knew that trade union rights are human rights, and that international solidarity is the only shield against the whip of rampaging multinational capital,” he stated.
Ajaero alleged that defending workers’ welfare had attracted pressure from state institutions and security agencies. “In Nigeria today, to defend a living wage is to become a target of the state. To demand that a worker should not die of hunger in a country swimming in crude oil is to be labelled an enemy of the state,” he said.
The NLC president further claimed that he and other labour activists had been arrested and questioned on allegations including terrorism financing, cybercrime, criminal conspiracy, subversion and treasonable felony.
He also recounted an incident in which a fire destroyed his Lagos residence and alleged that he had been abducted, detained and brutalised for insisting on the implementation of agreements protecting workers’ rights. According to Ajaero, security operatives also disrupted labour activities, including the occupation of the NLC national secretariat on August 7, 2024.
Despite the challenges, Ajaero insisted that organised labour would continue its advocacy for workers across the country.
“They have the jails, the guns and the instruments of fear. However, we have the power; the power to stop the world because we move the world. We create wealth. We are workers,” he said. The NLC president maintained that collective action remains the strength of the labour movement, arguing that attempts to silence workers would not end demands for improved welfare and economic justice.
The Arthur Svensson Award recognition placed international attention on Ajaero’s account of the challenges facing organised labour in Nigeria. While highlighting alleged intimidation and restrictions faced by labour activists, the NLC president reiterated his commitment to continuing the struggle for workers’ rights and improved living conditions.
