TUC President Osifo Returns For Second Term

• TUC President Osifo Returns for Second Term.
• Osifo urges urgent government action on insecurity, economy, education.
• Labour leader links food crisis, insecurity, and child labour to bad policies.

The National Administrative Council of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has officially ratified the nomination and election of its President, Festus Osifo, for another four-year term.

The announcement was made on Friday evening during the inaugural quadrennial National Delegate Conference held in Abuja.

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that prior to the election, Osifo voiced strong concerns over Nigeria’s worsening economic conditions, stating that the hardship has heavily burdened Nigerian workers. Speaking on the conference theme, “The Future of Work – Ensuring Fair Labour Practices and Economic Justice in a Digital Era,” he painted a grim picture of the realities facing the working class.

He decried the rapid devaluation of the Naira under the Tinubu administration, noting that it has severely diminished the purchasing power of workers across the country. Osifo also highlighted the escalating insecurity across several states, particularly Plateau, Benue, and Borno, and linked the growing food insecurity to the inability of farmers to access their farmlands due to safety threats.

“One of the reasons food prices are skyrocketing today is actually because of the insecurity we are having in places like Plateau, Benue, Borno, and I could go on and on,” Osifo said. “The middle belt of Plateau and Benue is actually the food basket of our country, and this has greatly affected us.”

He urged the government to take decisive action in restoring security, stressing that ensuring the safety of citizens remains the government’s primary responsibility.

Osifo further drew attention to the alarming unemployment rate, warning that joblessness is fueling the country’s insecurity crisis.

“We have a lot of Nigerians, youths that are unemployed; we are actually feeding the insecurity net,” he explained.

Raising another critical issue, the TUC president lamented the increasing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, estimated between 20 million and 40 million. He described the situation as unacceptable and called on all tiers of government to prioritize education urgently.

“We cannot have a country where we have between 20 million and 40 million out-of-school children. We don’t feel that this is correct; we think it’s wrong,” Osifo declared.

He warned that the high number of out-of-school children paves the way for widespread child labour, an issue the International Labour Organisation (ILO) continues to battle globally.

Emphasising that education remains crucial to national development, Osifo urged for a united front by federal, state, and local governments to tackle the crisis head-on.

“We must all come together to quickly address the issues affecting out-of-school children,” he concluded.

Osifo’s re-election marks a continuation of his leadership at a time when the labour movement faces mounting challenges amid Nigeria’s evolving economic and social landscape.

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