The General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Emmanuel Ugboaja, has died at the age of 60 following a prolonged illness.
Ugboaja’s death was communicated to members of the NLC’s National Executive Council during a meeting in Enugu, after the organisation’s President, Joe Ajaero, received a letter from the late labour leader’s family.
Details surrounding his death were not immediately disclosed.
Ugboaja was a veteran trade unionist and lawyer who served as the fifth General Secretary of the NLC. He assumed the position in 2019, succeeding Peter Ozo-Eson.
Born on May 15, 1966, Ugboaja studied Law at the University of Calabar and graduated in 1987. He initially spent several years in private legal practice before joining 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, an affiliate of the NLC. He eventually rose to become the union’s General Secretary, a position he held from 2000 to 2005.
Ugboaja was also involved in civil society activities. Between 2006 and 2009, he worked as Coordinator of Advocacy and Mobilisation at the Alliance for Credible Elections, an organisation focused on electoral matters, before joining the NLC Secretariat in 2009.
His career also included participation in major national reform initiatives. He served as a delegate at the 2005 Political and Constitutional Reform Conference convened under former President Olusegun Obasanjo and later participated in the 2014 Constitution Review Conference under former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Before his appointment as General Secretary, Ugboaja served as Principal Assistant General Secretary of the NLC and headed its Industrial Relations and Organising department.
As General Secretary, he played a key role in the NLC’s negotiations with government and employers on issues affecting Nigerian workers, including minimum wage implementation and other labour-related matters.
He was involved in negotiations surrounding the implementation of the ₦30,000 national minimum wage introduced in 2019 and remained active in labour campaigns following the subsequent increase of the national minimum wage to ₦70,000 in 2024.
In April 2026, Ugboaja signed an NLC directive urging workers in states that had yet to fully implement the 2024 National Minimum Wage Act to participate in street rallies during the May Day celebrations.
Ugboaja’s death marks the loss of a prominent figure whose career in organised labour spanned more than three decades. His legal background, union experience and involvement in national policy and labour negotiations made him one of the experienced voices within Nigeria’s labour movement.
The NLC is expected to address the issue of succession and continuity within its leadership following his death.
