President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajero has described late President Muhammadu Buhari as a patriotic servant leader who stood with the people and put the country first

Ajaero stated this in a condolence message he personally signed, saying that Buhari saw to it that workers were not sacked, no matter the difficulties during his second coming as civilian ruler.

“For us in the unions, Buhari came fighting the unions and mass-retrenching workers, leading to indescribable suffering during his tenure as a military head of state.

“However, as a civilian president, Buhari saw to it that no worker was laid off (not even during the Covid-19 pandemic).

“He repeatedly gave facilities to state governments to clear the backlogs of salaries and pensions as well as to enable them to regularly pay salaries (although some governors betrayed this trust),” Ajaero said.

The labour leader added: “Although Buhari increased the pump-price of petroleum products, he stoutly refused to sell off the refineries or devalued the Naira.

‘Buhari consistently identified with worker-issues/values including resisting pressure to adopt fundamentalist market policies as part of the process of protecting workers and ordinary people.
“In the late President, therefore, we have lost a leader who corrected his mistakes against workers, during his second coming.

“He stood with the people and country, a leader who truly put the country first no matter the cost”.

Ajaero said NLC was deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Buhari, and the members’ hearts were with the immediate family, friends and associates in their trying moments, especially his wife, Hajiya Aisha.

He stressed that the late President gave his best to the country and prayed to Allah to forgive his sins as well as grant him peaceful repose.