The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says Late President Muhammadu Buhari was a patriotic servant leader who stood with the people and put the country first, no matter the cost.
Comrade Joe Ajaero, NLC President, stated this in a condolence message he personally signed and made available to newsmen on Monday in Abuja.
“For us in the unions, Buhari came fighting the unions and mass-retrenching workers, leading to indescribable suffering during his tenure as a military head of state.
“However, as a civilian president, Buhari saw to it, that no worker was laid off (not even during the Covid-19 pandemic).
“He repeatedly gave facilities to state governments to clear the backlogs of salaries and pensions as well as to enable them to regularly pay salaries (although some governors betrayed this trust),” Ajaero said.
The labour leader added: “Although Buhari increased the pump-price of petroleum products, he stoutly refused to sell off the refineries or devalued the Naira.
‘Buhari consistently identified with worker-issues/values including resisting pressure to adopt fundamentalist market policies as part of the process of protecting workers and ordinary people.
“In the late President, therefore, we have lost a leader who corrected his mistakes against workers, during his second coming.
“He stood with the people and country, a leader who truly put the country first no matter the cost”.
Ajaero said NLC was deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Buhari, and the members’ hearts were with the immediate family, friends and associates in their trying moments, especially his wife, Hajiya Aisha.
He stressed that the late President gave his best to the country and prayed Allah to forgive his sins as well as grant him peaceful repose.
NAN reports Buhari passed away on Sunday in a London hospital.
His death was announced by his family in a statement issued by his former spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu.
President Bola Tinubu had announced a national mourning with flags lowered half‑mast and the Vice‑President, Kashim Shettima dispatched to United Kingdom to convey Buhari’s body home.
Buhari served as Nigeria’s President from 2015 to 2023 and previously as a Military Head of State from 1983 to 1985
