Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed that Nigeria’s organised labour movement was, at a critical stage in its history, funded by foreign intelligence agencies, a development he said exposed the country’s labour system to external control and raised grave concerns about national sovereignty.

Obasanjo made the revelation at the 85th birthday celebration and public presentation of the memoir of a former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Hassan Sunmonu, titled “Memoirs of an African Trade Union Icon: Organise, Don’t Agonise”.

The gathering of labour leaders, policymakers and civil society actors evolved into a broader reflection on the past, present and future of trade unionism in Nigeria.

According to the former president, Nigeria’s labour space during the Cold War era was dominated by two powerful labour organisations which, though Nigerian in name, were allegedly financed and influenced by opposing global power blocs.

He said one faction received support from the Soviet Union’s KGB, while the other was funded by the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency, a situation he described as unhealthy and dangerous for an independent nation.

“As far as you remember, when Gooduck was leading one of the two major labour then Adebola, these two labour organizations are Nigerian labour organizations but they were not organized or funded by Nigeria,” Obasanjo said. “I don’t know if you know that, but that was the reality.

“One was being financed by KGB, that is the truth, and the other one was being financed by CIA, that was the truth, and then I came on the scene.”

He explained that this reality shaped his resolve, as military Head of State, to reform the labour movement and insulate it from foreign interference by building a structure that was organised, controlled and financed by Nigerians.

“I needed a Nigerian labour union organised by Nigeria, controlled by Nigeria, financed by Nigeria. So I decided there was going to be a labour union reform,” Obasanjo said, recalling that the reform process was spearheaded by Justice Adebiyi.

He noted that Sunmonu was among those who initially questioned his involvement in labour matters.

Obasanjo said, “Hassan was one of those who was forefront to ask, what do I know about labour that I’m asking for reform? What is my business?”

Obasanjo said the reform process eventually led to the restructuring of trade unions and the enactment of laws that gave birth to the Nigeria Labour Congress as a unified national platform.

He stressed that the emergence of the NLC leadership was achieved without direct government interference, restoring credibility to organised labour and fostering relative industrial stability.

“Of course, I don’t know anything about labour but I know that I wanted a Nigerian labour organization organized by Nigeria, headed by Nigeria, and funded by Nigeria,” he said.

“When Justice Adebiyi finished his job and we reformed the labour and party law establishing NLC, what happened? Without government’s hand, they elected their leader and Hassan became the first leader they elected. I don’t know how I felt at that time, but I felt comfortable.”

Sunmonu, who led the NLC from 1978 to 1984, is widely regarded as one of the architects of modern trade unionism in Nigeria.

Reflecting on his relationship with Sunmonu, Obasanjo said government and labour were bound to interact and even depend on each other, but must do so without compromising their independence.

He recalled advising Sunmonu to openly criticise government policies after private engagements in order to preserve labour’s credibility and the trust of workers.

He added that the introduction of a compulsory check-off system ensured sustainable union funding and permanently eliminated foreign financial influence from Nigeria’s labour movement.

Obasanjo further praised Sunmonu for elevating Nigerian labour on the continental and global stage, describing him as the most influential figure in the country’s labour movement after the late Pa Michael Imoudu.

The occasion also provided a platform for the current President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero, to deliver a blistering critique of contemporary economic policies, new tax laws and Nigeria’s rising public debt. Ajaero warned that the systematic exclusion of labour from critical policy processes was deepening poverty and undermining democratic governance.

He argued that the philosophy captured in Sunmonu’s memoir, Organise, Don’t Agonise, stood in sharp contrast to what Nigerians were currently experiencing, accusing the government of preferring “enrage over engage.”

“Tax laws that tax the national minimum wage, impose heavier burdens on workers and the poor, and worsen excruciating poverty are not progressive but regressive,” Ajaero said.

He insisted that labour was deliberately excluded from the Presidential Committee on Tax because workers were “meant to be on the menu.”

Raising broader concerns about governance and accountability, the NLC president echoed Sunmonu’s recent public interrogation of Nigeria’s growing debt profile.

“Where are all the monies being borrowed by the federal government?” he asked. “It is from this standpoint that we must speak directly to the Nigerian Government.”

Ajaero warned that bypassing key stakeholders, distorting Acts of Parliament and ruling “by strong arm” eroded public trust and threatened national stability.

He said the central message of Organise, Don’t Agonise also imposed a responsibility on the state to engage citizens sincerely rather than provoke frustration and social unrest.

“The philosophy of ‘Organise, Don’t Agonise’ also implies that the state has a duty to engage, not enrage.

There is an urgent need for deeper, more sincere, and structured engagement with the trade union movement at all levels,” he said.

“Policies, from fuel pricing to taxation, from wage to social services, must be crafted with the active, respected input of those who represent the workers and the broader masses.”

“To sideline the organised voice of labour is to design policies on shaky, exclusionary foundations, destined to generate crisis and agony as is being witnessed currently,” he added.

The NLC president also demanded the immediate constitution of the PENCOM board and called for clarity and restraint in the implementation of the new tax laws, warning that persisting on the current path was dangerous for tax administration and democracy.

While celebrating Sunmonu as a symbol of courage, integrity and principled engagement, Ajaero said the event had transcended personal honour and become a moment of national reckoning on the condition of Nigerian workers.

He urged the Federal Government to urgently address workers’ wages ahead of the next statutory minimum wage negotiation and called for a decisive shift toward inclusive governance.

“Comrade Sunmonu, as we launch your book today, we pledge to keep its central message alive,” he said.

“We will continue to organise. We will continue to challenge power. We will continue to fight for a Nigeria where no worker has to agonise over poverty, insecurity, heavy taxation or a stolen future riddled with national debt.”