The immediate past President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) Ayuba Wabba has paid glowing tributes to a former president of the NLC, Comrade Ali Chirom who died on Tuesday at the age 91 at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Borno State capital
In a tribute he made on Tuesday, Wabba described the late Chiroma as a great Iroko tree who died after about seven decades of service and commitment to the working people of Nigeria and the masses.
Wabba recalled that the late unionist was NLC President from 1984 – 1988 in the heydays of military rule, saying “Comrade Ali Chiroma served tall with gusto and pride traversing the heavily mined field of military dictatorship.
The former NLC president again described Comrade Chiroma as a strong leader who was most profoundly exemplified in the epoch of the resistance by the NLC and her allies in the labour movement against the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) of the General Ibrahim Babangida administration.
“After one of the major protests against SAP, the military came down hard on the NLC and invaded the Congress national secretariat. A number of officers of the Congress were picked up and detained by the military. Comrade Ali Chiroma had travelled out of town.
“When Comrade Ali Chiroma returned from his trip, he quickly drove to the detention centre and announced to the bemused soldiers that he was the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress and that he came to know why his comrades were detained.
“He demanded that if the soldiers were not willing to release the detained comrades, they should also take him into custody because he was not leaving without his comrades. Of course, the soldiers grabbed him and shoved him into the cells with his comrades.”
He said the late Chiroma contributed immensely to national development and was duly recognised by the Federal Government which earned him the national honours of Member of the Order of the Niger (MON).
Wabba said his late leader Ali Chiroma lived a life of pristine principles and unwavering commitment to advancing the welfare of workers and social justice in Nigeria.
“Comrade Ali Chiroma led from the front and refused to shy away from speaking truth to power. Comrade Ali Chiroma made a lot of sacrifices for the progress, unity and solidarity of the labour movement from his mother union, the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria and the Nigeria Labour Congress where he rose to the pinnacle of his career.
“I am privileged to drink from the fountain of wisdom of a great iroko like Comrade Ali Chiroma,” Wabba said, adding that Chiroma’s fountain of wisdom was also available for the international working class movement as he was a two term member of the Governing Board of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and also served on the Committee of Freedom of Association.
“Rest in Power, Baba Ali Chiroma. Your good works, institutional impact and profound contributions to the task of nation building are your legacy written in gold and etched in the sand dunes of times, forever!” Wabba noted.
