By VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG
TODAY in Ede, Osun State, friends, colleagues, associates among others, will gather to pay their last respect to Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde, Principal Private Secretary to Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, who was gruesomely and heartlessly murdered in the wee hours of Friday, May 4, 2012, in his residence, Benin City, the Edo State Capital, as his remains would be committed to mother earth.

Ever since the news of the devilish act broke out in the that fateful day, Labour leaders, workers, activists, governors among other Nigerians have continued to not only condemn the heinous crime, but rain curses on the four-man  perpetrators and their sponsors who have become an instrument for the devil.

*Late Olaitan Oyerinde

Until he was dastardly murdered by yet-to-be-identified assassins, Comrade Oyerinde was the Deputy General Secretary of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, on secondment to Governor Oshiomhole.

Though the Inspector General, IG, of Police, is said to have offered N10million reward for useful information that could lead to arrest of the evil men, the general consensus is that the Federal Government of Nigeria and its security agencies must track down the murderers of this detribalised and patriotic young Nigerian who gave his all to the service of fatherland.

Oyerinde murder, not an isolated attack

While lamenting his murder, National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, said this sad development came barely one week after the seeming orchestrated attack on the convoy of Comrade Governor Adams Oshiomhole that claimed the lives of three (3) Journalists and left several others injured.

According to a statement by Oladele Hunsu and Issa Aremu, President and General Secretary of NUTGTWN respectively, “The cowardly murder of Comrade Olaitan is not only a great loss to the current administration of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the good people of Edo State that he diligently served for almost four (4) years, but also to all of us in the labour movement.

He was until his death also the Deputy General Secretary of the NLC on leave of absence to Edo State. Comrade Olaitan as he was popularly called was a tested Comrade. We bear testimony to his hard work and dedication at the Congress.   He was so humble and dedicated. He was among the first political appointees made by the Comrade Governor of Edo State shortly after his assumption of office as Governor of Edo State.”

“Textile Union particularly bears the burden of the vacuum created by the dastardly murder of a worthy Comrade.  His last support to the union was during our last Delegates’ Conference held in Asaba in March 2012 and his intervention to ensure our members in Edo get the bus promised to them by the Edo State government.

Comrade Olaitain hails from Osun State but he got the first appointment as Principal Private Secretary of a governor in Edo State.  By his appointment the Comrade Governor commendably demonstrated his belief in pan Nigerian vision. He was truly a global citizen. His death came exactly when his services and energy were most needed in the great task of Edo State governance.

Demand for justice

The union threw its weight behind the call by the government of Edo State on the Nigeria Police to unearth the murderers and get them prosecuted, saying “the union and the generality of our members, we commiserate with the Comrade Governor of Edo State, the family of the deceased, NLC and the governments and good people of Edo and Osun States on the great loss. This singular murderous attack on our Comrade is also an attack on us all.”

Integrity Group of industrial unions mourn

Similarly, Integrity Group of industrial unions, IGIU, while condemning the cold blooded killing, said the heinous murder had deprived Nigeria of one of her best brains and committed comrades in the labour movement.

In a statement by Comrade Peters Adeyemi, who is also the General Secretary of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Related Institutions, NASU,  said “We wish to note that it is in recognition of Comrade Oyerinde’s intellect and commitment that he rose within ten years to the top hierarchy of the labour movement as Deputy General Secretary of the NLC. As international secretary of the Congress, the late Comrade Oyerinde made many friends for the trade union movement from around Africa and beyond.”

“We urge the Federal Government to immediately set up the process for a diligent investigation of this brutal assassination and bring anyone found culpable to face justice no matter how highly placed such as person might be.

We shall forever remember our departed comrade as a detribalised and patriotic young Nigerian who gave his all to the service of fatherland; first in the student union movement (where he rose to be a member of the national executive of the then vibrant National Association of Nigerian Students,NANS, and later the Nigerian labour movement, before he went on secondment to serve Edo State, where he met his premature death.”

JAF recalls his activism

For the umbrella body for pro-labour civil society organisations, Joint Action Front, JAF, there was no doubt Comrade Oyerinde death was a politically motivated assassination.

JAF in a statement by Dr. Oladipo Fashina and Comrade Abiodun Aremu, JAF Chairperson and JAF Secretary, said “Olaitan lived a life of struggle for the emancipation of the Nigerian masses right from his student days at the University of Lagos and in the glorious era of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS.

Before joining the NLC, he was an Assistant General Secretary of the Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ISSSAN, and he participated in several popular struggles under the platform of Labour and Civil Society Coalition, LASCO.  JAF strongly holds that the murder of Olaitan Oyerinde as a clear case of political assassination, which all those who cherish a humane society free from poverty, disease and illiteracy, must condemn.”