BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
The Nigeria Labour Congress, Osun State Chapter, has been enmeshed in a fresh crisis over leadership positions.
The union has been factionalised as efforts to elect new leaders of the NLC in the state have been met with stiff resistance by aggrieved members who allegedly sponsored some “unidentified persons” suspected to be thugs to abort the conference.
Following the expiration of the tenure of the Jacob Adekomi-led Osun NLC, the union decided to hold its congress on March 7, 2023 and elect a new set of executives to pilot its affairs.
Members of the union who had been chosen as delegates had arrived at the Women and Children Development Initiative Foundation, Osogbo, the venue of the 13th State Congress of the NLC in Osun State.
However, just as accreditation was ongoing, some hoodlums, armed with dangerous weapons and assorted charms, stormed the venue, chased out members of the union and ultimately altered the process.
This has created a vacuum in the union as stakeholders alleged that the factional crisis within the Medical and Health Workers Union of the NLC was responsible for what led to the invasion of the venue of the congress and subsequent disruption of the election.
Amid this allegation, a contender for the position of the Chairman of the Congress, Christopher Arapasopo, who is the state chairman of the Nigeria Civil Service Union in Osun State, said he and the other contestant, Olumide Faniran, of the National Association of the Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, had no hands in the crisis.
Instead, he said the unscrupulous elements might have taken advantage of the crisis and factional disputes within the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria to scuttle the process.
“What we saw that day is condemnable. A union is having factions among them, which is the Medical and Health Workers in Osun. In 2011, there was an election of the Nigeria Labour Congress in Osun, which the medical and health workers didn’t participate in. They were not allowed to go in and vote. The same thing happened in 2015 and 2019. Election is never a do-or-die affair and so, I want us to allow peace to reign.
“I couldn’t identify any of those who came to disrupt the Congress. It was during the accreditation of candidates. We suddenly saw some unidentified persons holding dangerous weapons and charms. We had to run away and that was how the election was aborted,” he explained.
He said the caretaker committee would be inaugurated by the national leadership of NLC for the conduct of a fresh election at a later date.
“My opponent is a gentleman and I know he wouldn’t try that (sponsoring thugs). I know that there are two factions of medical and health workers. One is led by Comrade Oyebode and there are cases at the Industrial Court and other courts, so, I can’t speak on it. I just want all members of NLC to know that a house divided against itself cannot stand. If I am elected, I am going to bring the factional groups together,” he promised.
As accusing fingers were pointed at the medical and health workers, the South-West Vice-President of the union, Olufemi Adebisi, denied the allegation of factions in the union, saying a group of the NLC that felt it might be defeated in the election, might have been responsible for the attack on members of the union.
Narrating his ordeals at the disrupted conference, Adebisi said, “Tuesday, March 7, 2023, was a terrible day. It is sad the way the Congress ended. The WOCDIF centre, venue of the conference, was invaded by thugs. The national delegates had to leave the venue. We don’t know those who invited the thugs or why they attacked.
“They had started the accreditation process. About four unions, including the Medical and Health Workers Union, NASU, NUT and Pensioners were outside waiting to be accredited. It was at this point that a group of unidentified persons bombarded the place with dangerous weapons and charms. I don’t really know what caused this but I think the Medical and Health Workers Union had the highest number of delegates at the conference and a group that felt they might be defeated might want to apply such a devilish tactic to scuttle the process.”
“There are two groups in the union, one led by Arapasopo, the other led by Olumide Faniran. Everyone wanted us to their sides. We had 91 delegates that day. We could not do any other thing again immediately we were attacked. I was chased with charms,” he stated.
The National Vice President of the Medical and Health Union insisted that there was no faction in the union, saying, “The issue of factions in the union had been laid to rest as far back as 2019 by the virtue of the Court of Appeal, Akure. As we speak, we don’t have superior judgment and so, we don’t have a faction. The union in November, 2022, put up a caretaker committee in the state under the leadership of Comrade Mrs. Esther; so, that’s the leadership we have in the state.”
Adebisi said the union went into the Congress with a united front in line with the orders of the National Secretariat. According to him, the national leadership of the NLC has now taken a position on the leadership vacuum of the state chapter, saying, “We are going to appoint a caretaker committee for NLC in the state in due course but as at today, there is a vacuum, we don’t have leadership of NLC in Osun State.
Pending the resolution of the leadership crisis in the state, stakeholders, including Arapasopo and Adebisi, have called for peace and unity in the interest of the union.
Efforts to reach Comrade Olugbenga Oyebode, the alleged factional chairman of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria in Osun State didn’t yield any result.
