Former presidential candidate and energy entrepreneur Gbenga Hashim has called on Nigeria’s labour movement to take a more active and central role in safeguarding the country’s democracy from what he described as a gradual slide toward authoritarianism. Hashim made the appeal during a visit to Nigeria Labour Congress President Joe Ajaero, where he engaged him on the state of the nation and the role of workers in sustaining democratic governance.
Hashim, a former chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, recalled that labour played a key role in the struggle for independence and was a major force in ending military dictatorship. He warned that democracy risks losing its value if the welfare of citizens, particularly workers, is neglected, and urged political leaders to refocus governance on policies that improve the lives of ordinary Nigerians.
From an institutional perspective, Hashim’s intervention underscores a recurring theme in Nigeria’s political economy: the organised labour movement has historically served as a counterweight to executive overreach. With a career spanning student union activism in the 1980s to serving as National Publicity Secretary of the National Democratic Labour Party in 1996, Hashim brings long-standing credibility to this call.
He commended Ajaero for steadfast and courageous leadership in defending workers’ rights despite mounting pressures and intimidation, noting that such commitment has earned global recognition, including the Arthur Svensson Prize for Trade Union Rights to be conferred in Oslo.
