ULC Mourns Comrade Uche  Durueke

***Says His Contributions to Labouri struggles was remarkable

By UDO ONYEKA

United Labour Congress of Nigeria, ULC,  has said the death of Comrade Barrister  Uche Wisdom Durueke came as a rude shock which has left a big hole in the hearts  of members.

A statement signed by ULC president, Comrade Joe Ajaero, wich disclosed that Barr Durueke was killed when his electric generator exploded while he was refilling its Tanks, said the death is disheartening because it occured when the organised labour was fashioning new legal frameworks to govern the nation’s industrial relations space.

” It is most disheartening to hear of his passing especially in this tragic manner. Late Durueke was a great pillar of support to the labour movement and contributed immensely to the debate, advocacy and deepening of the nation’s Industrial Relations laws both in theory and in practice. He was looking forward to the various conversations leading to the passage of the various Acts that would run the Employment relations clime in the country. He had hoped to use the opportunity to create a fair and just workplace for Nigerian workers that would serve as the fulcrum for driving national progress.

” Barrister Durueke was unarguably one of the most outstanding human rights lawyer and activist in the country. He was a Senior member of the nation’s Bar given his over three decades in practice and input into both judicial and legal processes in the country. He would have assuredly been coronated a Senior Advocate many years ago if not for his inclination to the ideology of the left  and defense of the common man and oppressed Nigerian workers.

”  He will be sorely missed. We urge the body responsible for Legal Privileges to make him a SAN posthumously since he was being considered for the award before his untimely death”, the statement said.

According to Ajaero, Barr Durueke who died on May 14 held legal retainership in many trade unions in the country; which gave him the opportunity to witness first-hand the travails of the Nigerian workers in our various workplaces and to which he devoted most of his time fighting to correct.

ULC  President  said the late comrade would be mostly remembered his struggle against.   ” the many illegal actions of the Rochas Okorocha led administration in Imo state.”

” When Imo state Pensioners were owed huge arrears and the government had chosen to cut most of the pay due to the pensioners with the active connivance of the compromised state leadership of a Labour centre at that point. The State NUP actively supported by Late Wisdom ” Durueke took up the challenge and successfully challenged that impunity in the Courts and Government’s decision was reversed and the Pensioners received their due.

” His commitment to the Civil Society movement in Nigeria remained unquestionable. He was virtually involved in almost all of the nationally organised platforms for the advocacy and protection of the rights and privileges of the Nigerian people.  He was willing to spend and be spent for the benefit of Nigeria and especially the emancipation of the downtrodden masses and enthroning an egalitarian society that unfetters the powers of the people to continuously contribute to the growth and development of the nation.

” A pioneering member of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) which was the first and foremost Civil Society organisation in Nigeria, Durueke held many positions both in the Zones and at the national level which included the Vice President and subsequently the President. He played active roles in positioning and strengthening CLO and provided part of the intellectual depth that made the CLO what it was at that time”, Ajaero said.

Futher Ajaero said one of the things that endeared him to many was his fervent attempts in reaching out to other CSOs and the trade unions in an effort to revive the waning CLO even when others had abandoned the organisation and in the face of the incredible oppositions by the government and internal schisms, adding that he also sought and built collaborations both with industrial unions and the centres including other CSOs to ensure the survival of his beloved CLO not for the sake of just the organisation but for what the organisation stands for as a pivot in reawakening the CSO movement in Nigeria.

ULC also said the late comrade would be remembered for fighting impunity in Nigeria because he wanted a nation that would be able to provide basic infrastructure  for the citizenry. “He was an advocate for Socialising basic utilities and was thus against the unwholesome sell of the Electricity industry in Nigeria.

” His death came as a result of the neglect of the nation’s leaders to provide basic utilities for its citizenry especially constant power supply. If there was constant supply of power, perhaps, Durueke would not have had any need to refill the tank of his electric generator. If there was electricity, the generator would not have exploded. If there was electricity, he may not have died just like many other Nigerians that have lost as a result of irresponsibility by leadership of the nation at various levels”.

ULC condoles with his immediate family especially his wife and other members of the nuclear family who will feel his exit more than us. We pray that the good Lord will grant them the fortitude to bear the loss.

“We urge the Human rights community, the nation’s Bar and other stakeholders in the labour movement not to mourn without ceasing but to be consoled in the fact of the exemplary life he lived and the many lights he lit in the lives of many. He will want all of us to continue from where he stopped ensuring that the little fires continue burning into huge balls of fire that would break all the gyres of oppression holding the peoples of this nation down”, the statement said.