The General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Emmanuel Ugboaja, has died at the age of 60 following a protracted illness.
Ugboaja, who became the fifth General Secretary of the NLC, reportedly passed away while details surrounding his death remained unclear at the time of filing this report.
Vanguard gathered that NLC President Joe Ajaero informed members of the Congress National Executive Council (NEC), currently meeting in Enugu State, about the development after reading a letter from the late General Secretary’s family.
Ugboaja was a veteran trade unionist and lawyer who assumed the position of NLC General Secretary in August 2019.
Born on May 15, 1966, he obtained his 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.
The NLC’s historical biography identifies him as the first Nigerian lawyer to work full-time for a trade union.
His trade union career began 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’s professional career extended beyond traditional trade union activities.
Between 2006 and 2009, he worked as Coordinator, Advocacy and Mobilisation, for the Alliance for Credible Elections, a civil-society organisation involved in electoral matters.
He returned to the NLC Secretariat in 2009.
Ugboaja also played roles in two major constitutional and political reform initiatives. In 2005, he participated as a delegate at the Political/Constitutional Reform Conference convened during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.
In 2014, he was also a delegate to the Constitution Review Conference organised under President Goodluck Jonathan.
Before becoming General Secretary, Ugboaja served as Principal Assistant General Secretary and Head of Industrial Relations and Organising at the NLC.
He was selected in 2019 to succeed the retiring General Secretary, Peter Ozo-Eson, following a competitive selection process.
The NLC National Executive Council subsequently ratified his appointment at a meeting in Kano on August 21, 2019, with the appointment taking immediate effect.
He thus became the fifth General Secretary of the labour centre since the NLC was established in 1978.
As General Secretary, Ugboaja played a central role in the NLC’s administration, industrial relations, negotiations with government and employers, policy development and nationwide mobilisation of workers.
One of his early major assignments came during negotiations over the implementation of the N30,000 national minimum wage in 2019. Organised labour had threatened industrial action before an agreement was eventually reached.
Ugboaja remained involved in major labour-government negotiations throughout his tenure and continued to serve as an important voice within the labour movement.
In April 2026, he signed an NLC directive directing workers in states that had yet to fully implement the 2024 National Minimum Wage Act to participate in street rallies on May Day.
His career spanned private legal practice, trade union administration, civil-society advocacy and national policy engagement, making him one of the experienced figures in Nigeria’s organised labour movement.
Ugboaja’s death marks a significant loss to the NLC, where he spent decades advocating for workers and playing a key role in the affairs of organised labour.