President Bola Tinubu has celebrated veteran labour leader Hassan Sunmonu on his 85th birthday on January 7, praising his pioneering contributions to Nigerian workers’ welfare and nation-building.
In a State House statement issued on Monday by the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu commended Sunmonu’s decades-long dedication to the labour movement. Sunmonu, a former president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) from 1978 to 1984 and ex-General Secretary of the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity, rose to prominence amid turbulent times for organised labour.
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The President highlighted the historical context of Sunmonu’s leadership. “One cannot help but notice Alhaji Sunmonu’s outstanding pioneering leadership within the labour force and commitment to the well-being of workers,” Tinubu said.
He noted that Sunmonu’s NLC emerged after the Obasanjo military regime disbanded four national unions in 1978, including the moderate United Labour Congress led by Haroun Adebola and the radical Nigeria Trade Union Congress. “His emergence at the pinnacle of the labour movement is instructive,” Tinubu added. “It’s on record that, before NLC’s formation in 1978, the Obasanjo government had disbanded four national labour unions… As labour leader, Sunmonu’s NLC presented a Charter of Demands that, among other things, eventually led to the institutionalisation of a national minimum wage and minimum pension scheme.”
Tinubu expressed gratitude for Sunmonu’s passion and wished him robust health and vitality ahead.
