BREAKING: NLC General Secretary Ugboaja D!es

The General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Emmanuel Ugboaja, has died at the age of 60 after reportedly battling a prolonged illness.

According to Ireporter Online, Ugboaja died on Wednesday, although details surrounding his death were still unclear at the time of filing this report.

Sources said NLC President Joe Ajaero informed members of the Congress’ National Executive Council about the development during an ongoing meeting in Enugu State. Ajaero was said to have read a letter from Ugboaja’s family announcing his death to the NEC members.

Ugboaja was a lawyer and veteran trade unionist whose career in organised labour spanned more than three decades. Born on May 15, 1966, he studied Law at the University of Calabar and graduated in 1987.

After practising law privately for about four years, he joined the trade union movement in 1993. The NLC’s historical records describe him as the first Nigerian lawyer to work full-time for a trade union.

He began his union career with the National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non-Metallic Products Employees, where he later served as General Secretary from 2000 to 2005.

Ugboaja subsequently moved into civil society advocacy, working as Coordinator of Advocacy and Mobilisation at the Alliance for Credible Elections between 2006 and 2009 before joining the NLC Secretariat in 2009.

Throughout his career, he participated in several major national reform and constitutional processes. He was a delegate to the Political and Constitutional Reform Conference convened by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005 and later participated in the Constitution Review Conference organised under former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014.

Before becoming NLC General Secretary, Ugboaja served as Principal Assistant General Secretary and headed the Congress’ Industrial Relations and Organising Department.

He succeeded Peter Ozo-Eson as General Secretary in 2019 after the NLC National Executive Council ratified his appointment at a meeting in Kano on August 21 of that year. His appointment made him the fifth General Secretary of the labour centre since its establishment in 1978.

As General Secretary, Ugboaja played a prominent role in the NLC’s administrative operations, industrial relations and negotiations involving government, employers and affiliated unions.

Among his notable responsibilities was his involvement in negotiations surrounding the implementation of the ₦30,000 national minimum wage in 2019. The process was marked by disagreements and threats of industrial action before an agreement was eventually reached.

He remained actively involved in labour mobilisation and negotiations in subsequent years. In April 2026, he signed an NLC directive urging workers in states that had not fully implemented the 2024 National Minimum Wage Act to participate in May Day street rallies.

His death marks the loss of a prominent figure who contributed to Nigeria’s labour movement through legal practice, trade unionism, civil society advocacy and national policy engagement.