Canadian unionist protests Odah’s sack

A retired officer of the Canadian Labour Congress,CLC, Mr. Paul Puritt, has protested the termination of the appointment of the General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress,NLC, Comrade John Odah  and

called for his reinstatement.

He said the termination of Odah’s appointment, “lacks any semblance of due process and undermines the credibility of the NLC”.

In a letter to the NLC president, Abdulwaheed Omar, Mr. Puritt who had worked  with the NLC on its education programmes especially the establishment of the rain school wrote “Mr. President, Even though I am retired, I have stayed in touch with several people both within and outside of the NLC who are deeply concerned about the organization and its mandate to represent workers in Nigeria.

Those I have corresponded with in Nigeria and outside as far away as South Africa are unanimously outraged by the recent abusive treatment of Comrade John Odah”.

Vouching for the integrity of Comrade Odah, Mr. Puritt who facilitated NLC,s working relationship with the CLC said he had worked “ closely with John from 1996 to 2001 in an education project on democracy in West Africa along with participants from Nigeria and four other West African national centres.  I have since followed very closely John’s tireless efforts on behalf of the NLC and the workers it represents.”

“John is an honest and hard-working trade unionist.  In spite of his brief episode with a partial Bell’s palsy and the demands of his family, I have always been amazed at how John placed the needs of the NLC above all else, with no reference to personal remuneration or ambition for himself.”-Vanguard

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