NLC ESTABLISHED LABOUR PARTY - AREMU

 

Issa Aremu, a former trade unionist, indicated in an interview with Arise Television that there is no doubt that the Labour Party was birthed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

During the interview, Aremu said, "Let me make it clear that a unionist is forever a unionist." I was a member of the executive council of the NLC. At some point, I was deputy general secretary of the Labour Party, and this tells you that I was a founding member of the Labour Party. 

He added that "it was clear that the Labour Party was conceived by the Labour movement, precisely the Nigeria Labour Congress, and the Trade Union Congress later joined. The whole vision was that as good as the trade union struggle could be to improve the working and living conditions of the workers, there is a limitation to what trade can do, and Labour now thought that it was time for us to be politically involved. This is part of a long heritage. 

Regarding those that started NLC, he said, "Even the founding fathers of the labour men knew that the struggle to improve the lot of the workers was not inseparable from the demand for political power.

When asked whether the NLC registered the Labour Party, he said, "Obviously, but you also know that after the party has been registered, the party also has its own autonomy, and it is clear that the Nigeria Labour Congress is a formidable stakeholder within the national executive council of the Labour Party. As to the ownership, you can't doubt it. Even though the name originally was Social Democracy Party, we later transformed it to Labour Party.

He further added that "from the name, you can't doubt the fact that this party was conceived as the Labour movement