“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr was a social activist who was actively involved in the American Civil Rights movement from 1950 until his assassination on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, USA.
Pa Michael Athokhamien Omnibus Imoudu, also known as Pa Imoudu in his lifetime, was born on September 7, 1902 at Oke Ora, Sabongida, in Edo State.
After his education, he was very active in unionism at the Railway Workers’ Union (RWU). The organisation appointed him as the president in 1939.
Meanwhile, the Trade Union Ordinance in operation then granted the (RWU) the power to press home its demands through collective bargaining in matters affecting their members with their employers, the ‘European Lords’.
Pa Imoudu fought the government to a standstill and achieved his aims.
Through collective bargaining, he demanded for higher pay in term of wages; de-casualisation of workers; and better working conditions for all workers.
In quest for the realisation of his welfare ideologies and principles, he stepped on the ‘masters toes’ and eventually got dismissed from his job in 1943.
Pa Imoudu, also as the vice president of the African Civil Servants Technical Workers’ Union (ACSTWU), was able to agitate for “War Bonus”; Cost of Living Allowance among others, aimed to cushion the effects of the general rise in prices caused by the World War II. The demands were achieved in 1942.
This astute, strong labour leader suffered serious persecutions. He was continually detained, his movements restricted and was later released on May 20, 1945 after World War II subsided.
He was a very prominent and gadfly politician. In 1946, he joined the National Council for Nigerians and Cameroons (NCNC). He was nominated as a member of the executive council. He was one of the nominated delegates to London to protest against the 1946 Richard Constitution.
During the Second Republic, it was also reported that Pa Imoudu was a leader and the deputy national president of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP). And most interestingly, he organised scholarships for Nigerian youths in the USSR, China and Germany.
It is true that “Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another”-John C. Maxwell. Pa Imoudu had used all his capacities to influence the life of millions through selfless and sacrificial stance.
It was in recognition of this that Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in 1982, built a house and bought a car for this stout labour leader. These were gifted to him at the occasion of his 80th birthday.
In addition, the National Institute for Labour Studies located in Ilorin, Kwara State, was renamed after him by the then Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, during the May Day celebration on May 1, 1992. It is now called Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS). This is a way to immortalise his sweet memory and to commemorate his deeds and selfless service to Nigerian workers in particular and humanity as a whole.
It is imperative, however, to remind our organised labour leaders to return to the drawing board and toe the path of this revolutionary, selfless, uncompromising and gadfly leader; and reflect deeply on Pa Imoudu’s antecedents; emulate his tenets, ideologies and principles while wielding their tools to demand one thing or the other from the government. They should desist from acting the scripts of their political allies who only use them to actualise their self-centred goals at the expense of the masses.
They have to be reminded as well that high-pay today will exacerbate inflationary rate tomorrow and this would further worsen the value of the naira and purchasing power of the citizens at large. In lieu of this, we should jointly ask government to help curb further price increase on our goods and services.
Lastly, we should enjoin the Federal Government to invest in mechanised agriculture to help ensure food security for the nation
If these and some other relevant measures are deployed by the union leaders, it is then we can boast of a truly more pro-active, independent, and reliable labour union that has the interest of the masses at heart.
Akintibubo writes via [email protected]
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