Meet the new General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, on Friday announced Peter Ozo-Eson as the new General Secretary.

Until his appointment, He was the Chief Economist and Head of Research Department of the Congress.

Mr. Ozo-Eson’s appointment as substantive General Secretary of the Congress was announced in a communiqué at the end of NLC’s National Executive Council, NEC, meeting in Enugu.

Since the internal crisis that rocked the Congress came to climax with the removal of the then General Secretary, John Odah, on May 24, 2011, the NLC Secretariat was left in hands of officials in acting capacity.

Following Mr. Odah’s formal retirement later on April 30, 2013; Owei Lakemfa, a senior assistant secretary, was appointed to serve briefly as acting General Secretary of the Congress.

When Mr. Lakemfa later moved over to the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity, OATUU, as Secretary-General, Chris Uyot took over.

Ozo-Eson’s appointment

“An internal advertisement“ was recently issued in the NLC office, announcing plans for election during the NEC meeting.

When the election held, Mr. Ozo-Eson defeated two other candidates, including the acting General Secretary, Mr. Uyot

A member of the 12-person representation of the NLC to the recently concluded national Conference, Mr. Ozo-Eson, who holds a Doctorate degree in International Trade and Finance from the Carleton University and Masters degree in Economics, was the Director of Research and Chief Economist for the Congress since 2003.

Born June 29, 1948 in Benin City, Edo State, Mr. Ozo-esan, a staunch unionist attended St. Paul’s Seminary, Benin City (1963-1967); University of Ibadan (1971-1974); United Nations Institute for Development and Planning, Dakar, 1977; and Carleton University, Ottawa, (1977-1982).

A Life Member, Nigerian Economic Society, NSE, and Member, Nigerian Society of International Affairs, Mr. Ozo-Eson worked variously as Research Assistant, NISER, University of Ibadan, Ibadan (1975-1977); Part-Time Teaching Assistant, University of Ibadan, Ibadan (Department of Economics), (1975-1976); Part-Time Teaching Assistant, Carleton  University, Ottawa, (1978-80); Sessional Lecturer (Teaching Fellow), Department of Economics, Carleton University, Ottawa, (1980-82) and  Lecturer 1, Department of Economics, University of Jos (1982-1985).

He also worked as Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Jos (1985 – 1993); Visiting Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Sussex, U.K, (1988-1989); Acting Director, University of Jos Consultancy Services, 1990; Director of Research and Education, Textile Workers’ Union of Nigeria, Kaduna (on sabbatical leave from the University of Jos), 1992-1993.

Between 1993 and 2001, Mr. Ozo-Eson served as an Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Jos, and later Acting Executive Director, Centre for Advanced Social Science, Port Harcourt (1998-2000), before becoming Director of Projects, Centre for Advanced Social Science, Port Harcourt, (1998–2003).

A long standing civil society activist, Mr. Ozo-Eson at various times also held positions such as President, Mid-West Students’ Association, University of Ibadan, and Deputy Chairman, University of Ibadan Students’ Union Executive (1972-1973); President, Economics Students’ Association, University of Ibadan (1973-1974); Secretary, African
> Students’ Association, Carleton University, Ottawa (1977-1978) and President, African Students’ Association, Carleton University, Ottawa, (1978-1979).

Other positions included Chairman, University of Jos Staff Consumer Cooperative Society (1985-1986); Chairman, Faculty Examinations Malpractice Committee (1986-1988); Chairman, Vice Chancellor’s Probe Panel on the Finances of the Students’ Union Executive, University of Jos, 1987; Chairman, Vice Chancellor’s Probe Panel on the Sale of Kitchen Equipment, University of Jos, 1989.

Apart from serving as member of a team of six that developed the Senior Secondary School Economics Curriculum for the Federal Ministry of Education (1985-1986), Mr. Ozo-Eson was also Member of National Universities Commission Accreditation Panels to Bayero University,

Kano; University of Maiduguri and the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna (1990-1991); Member, ASUU National Negotiating Team, 1992 -1996 and 2009 as well as Member, Presidential Study Group on the Monetization of Fringe Benefits in Nigeria, 1992.

He was also Member, National Economic Advisory Council (1994-1999) (2008–2009); Member of Research Team for the Survey on Nigeria by International IDEA, 2000 (Carried out Informal Sector Survey in the South – South, Eastern and Western zones); Associate Editor, Nigerian Journal of Economic and Social Studies (2001–2003); Conference Editor
> and Member of Council, Nigerian Economic Society (2001–2003) and Member, Drafting Team for the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), 2004.

He was the Technical Adviser to Community Action for Popular Participation (CAPP) on Budget and Economic Literacy Workshops and Budget Monitoring under the USAID sponsored PROSPECTS project, 2004; Member, Drafting Team for the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy – 2 (NEEDS-2), 2007; Consultant (Ministry of Interior) for the Medium Term Sector Strategy (MTSS), 2008; Member, National Economic Intelligence Committee, 2009 –2012, and Member, Steering Committee of Vision 2020 since 2008 till date.

Mr. Ozo-Eson, who has represented the NLC in various negotiations with government involving various labour related issues, has written over 53 research publications on topics concerning finance, money and general labour matters