A foremost labour leader and former Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Oyekan Arije, has died at the age of 87. Arije died in the early hours of Tuesday, August 18, 2026, according to a statement by human rights lawyer and labour activist, Femi Aborisade, who described the deceased as a foremost labour leader and socialist. Aborisade, in the statement issued on Tuesday, said Arije had been active in the labour movement since the 1960s and served as Chairman of the NLC in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He recalled that he had encountered Arije during his service as a youth corps member with the NLC in the old Ondo State. Aborisade described the late labour leader as a committed advocate of the working class and the downtrodden, saying his life was defined by the struggle for justice and freedom from economic and political oppression.
