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The General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Emmanuel Ugboaja, has died at the age of 60.
Ugboaja, a veteran trade unionist and lawyer, reportedly died after a protracted illness. Details of his death were still sketchy as of press time.
However, his death was announced to members of the NLC National Executive Council (NEC), currently meeting in Enugu, Enugu State.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, was said to have read a letter from the deceased’s family to members of the NEC during the meeting.
Ugboaja was appointed General Secretary of the NLC in August 2019, succeeding Peter Ozo-Eson. Born on May 15, 1966, he obtained a law degree from the University of Calabar in 1987.
After spending about four years in private legal practice, he joined the trade union movement in 1993.
He began his union career with the National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non-Metallic Products Employees (NUCFRLANMPE), an affiliate of the NLC. He rose through the ranks and served as the union’s General Secretary between 2000 and 2005.
Ugboaja later moved into civil society activism, serving as Coordinator, Advocacy and Mobilisation, at the Alliance for Credible Elections between 2006 and 2009.
He joined the NLC Secretariat in 2009 and subsequently rose to become Principal Assistant General Secretary and Head of Industrial Relations and Organising.
In 2019, he emerged through a competitive selection process as the successor to Ozo-Eson.
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The NLC National Executive Council ratified his appointment at its meeting in Kano on August 21, 2019. He became the fifth General Secretary of the Congress since its establishment in 1978.
Ugboaja was also involved in major national constitutional and political reform processes. He was a delegate to the Political/Constitutional Reform Conference convened by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005.
In 2014, he participated as a delegate at the Constitution Review Conference convened under former President Goodluck Jonathan.
As General Secretary, Ugboaja played a key role in the day-to-day administration of the NLC, including industrial relations, negotiations with government and employers, coordination of affiliate unions and mobilisation of workers.
He was involved in several major labour-government negotiations, including discussions on the implementation of the N30,000 national minimum wage.
In April 2026, Ugboaja signed an NLC directive calling on workers in states yet to fully implement the 2024 National Minimum Wage Act to participate in street rallies on May Day.
His death marks the loss of one of the experienced figures in Nigeria’s organised labour movement.
Ugboaja combined a legal background with more than three decades of trade union and civil society experience, having risen from private legal practice to union leadership and eventually the top administrative position at the NLC.
