BY OKEY NDIRIBE
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ABUJA- Tributes have continued to pour in for the late former NLC President, Comrade Paschal Bafyau who died in Abuja last Tuesday.
Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, the incumbent NLC President who confirmed the death described it as tragic, especially now the congress was still mourning the death of one of its officials.
Omar in a statement said: “It is with shock and deep sorrow but with total submission to the Almighty, that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) announces the passing away of its former President, Comrade Paschal Myeleri Bafyau.”
Bafyau who passed on at 11.30pm on Tuesday 15th May, 2012 was the NLC President between 1988 to 1994.
“The five years during which he was NLC President were the turbulent years of Generals Babangida and Abacha regimes. Comrade Bafyau had been elected NLC President in December 1988 after a ten-month seizure of the Congress by the Babangida regime. His Presidency ended in 1994 when the Military under General Abacha again seized the Congress.
“Despite this turbulent period in the country’s history, which included the June 12 crises, Comrade Bafyau made remarkable achievements as NLC President. These include the building of the 12-Storey Labour House in Abuja; establishment of the Labour Transport Service (now Labour City Transport); the founding of the now defunct Labour Bank (LACON); and the establishment of the old Labour Party in 1989.
“But perhaps what he would be best remembered for was the strive for a strong and united Labour Movement. This, saw in 1988, the uniting of the two factions of the NLC, the Democrats and Progressives, which were engaged in a fratricidal ideological struggle”
In a similar reaction to the death of Bafyau, the Minister of Labour and Productivity Chief Emeka Wogu also expressed shock over the demise of the former labour leader.
Wogu eulogized Bafyau for his resilient efforts at improving the welfare of Nigerian workers as evident in the negotiation of the National Minimum Wage of 1991 and the establishment of Federal Urban Mass Transit (FUMT) program which he championed among others.
According to Wogu: “We have lost a fore-most labour leader; an astute politician whose wealth of experience could be drawn upon as we move towards a paradigm shift in labour government relationship from adversarial position of industrial relations practice to a more flexible win-win relationship”.
The Minister prayed also prayed for the repose of the soul of Bafyau while asking God to grant the family and the entire labour movement in Nigeria the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
