By AKANIMO ETUKUDO

Some notable events in the life of a nation often produce special leaders who leave an indelible landmark even when they are long gone. Those of us who were in Lagos and saw it all through the civil war attribute the construction of fly-overs in Lagos, begun during the war, to the foresightedness of Femi Okunu, then Commissioner of Works and Housing. The other monuments in Lagos – The National Stadium and the National Arts Theatre – are a tribute to the visionary and creative mind of late Chief Tony Enahoro, then Commissioner for Labour and Sports as well as Commissioner for Information.

Chief Anthony Enahoro (left) as a Federal Commissioner for Labour and Sports in 1976, during a courtesy call by Mr. Akanimo Etukudo (right), while an unidentified official of the Ministry looks on.

However, there are some institutions unseen by the ordinary eye that always remind us of Chief Tony Enahoro as a prolific thinker, unflagging in his pursuit of order and justice in our national life. At the beginning of the civil war industrial relations moved to the centre stage of polity as the incidence of strikes by workers soared to such an embarrasingly high level that government was urged by one of the trade union leaders in the Daily express of November 1, 1969 “ to check the excesses of politically minded trade union leaders who serve as puppets of politically ambitious elements operating behind the scene”.

To further complicate the war situation the bitter east-west ideological cold war rivalry permeated the ranks of the then four central labour centres to such an extent that at a stage the country was not only at war with itself, but appeared also to be at war with the rest of the world. Government was thus bent on securing social and labour peace on the home front to enable it safely prosecute the war.

Lot fell on Chief Tony Enahoro to ensure that government secured such peace. The chaotic industrial relations situation tested his genius as a political icon. He moved in swiftly. To contain and defuse the spate of workplace disputes government passed the Compulsory Arbitration Decree which not only compelled parties to take their disputes to arbitration but also to accept the award as final without appeal.

Then followed a series of other government measures to ensure fair treatment of workers as well as restore order and discipline at work: the old labour code was replaced by a new Trade Unions Decree; the Old Wages Board Act was replaced by a new Wages Board and Industrial Councils Decree; all the central labour centres were to disaffiliate from all foreign trade unions except the OATUU (Organisation for African Trade Union Unity); a government essential services decree was passed prohibiting strikes in some public and private services; the work week was reduced from six to five days; to cap it all a high powered commission was set up – the Abiodun Commisison – to reduce the number of trade unions based on occupation and craft to only a handful of big national industrial unions. Collective bargaining was henceforth to be conducted at industry level and no longer by house unions.

This was a master stroke. Former rival trade unions in one industry had to sit as one union on the same side of the negotiating table and negotiate a single agreement with management.

The prevailing industrial relation system in the country is a testimony to the indefatigable energy, devotion and dedication of the late Chief Tony Enahoro to the cause of orderly peace and justice for every citizen of Nigeria.

All the new government measures were introduced not as a government fiat but after due consultation with management and labour on the platform of the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC). At a meeting in 1972 with The Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) Chief Enahoro noted that it was “a Nigerian tradition to achieve ends by persuasion rather than by force”.

But vintage Enahoro was at his best when mediating between management and labour. He would first meet with each side to a dispute separately to listen, learn, understand and appreciate their point of view. Then at a joint meeting,as he addressed both parties,he would gauge their mood and at a stage suggest and they would accept to go back and negotiate the issue again and reach agreement on their own. At the Annual General Meeting of NECA in 1973 he emphasized government policy to give support to collective bargaining “as the best means for regulating wages and other conditions of employment’’.

My one-on-one encounter with the late Chief Enahoro was when he was informed I wanted to present my first book on Industrial Relations to him in his office. He requested me to send him a copy of the book in advance to glance through, which I did. A week later he told me he was ready to receive me in his office. During our discussion he displayed a thorough mastery of the gist of the book, “Multi-Employer Bargaining”. As I left his office he intoned, “Let’s have another one, please”.

When I was a little boy I used to repeat the old cliché; “we live in deeds and not in years”. The late Chief Tony Enahoro lived both in deeds and in years. ETUKUDO, Pioneer Executive Secretary , Nigeria Bankers Employers Association, NECA.