The remains of Abdul Kareem Adebayo Motajo, the former general secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), will be committed to mother earth today, Thursday, 11 February 2021.
Motajo died April 20, 2020 in Cuba but the global lockdown led to the delay in the shipment of his remains back to his motherland. This was announced by his son, Adebowale Motajo in a press statement.
Motajo, born 11th February 1955, worked as a fulltime secretary of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). Shortly after, during the Abacha period, he became general secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), a position he held till he was 60 years in 2015 when he retired.
It was during his period as the general secretary of NUATE, and for a few years after, he also served as a member of the Presidential Council of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU).
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His sole efforts led to winning almost a dozen affiliates of both the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). Comrade Motajo was also instrumental in the establishment of the NigerianCuba Friendship Business and Cultural Association.
In a glowing tribute, the former President of Lufthansa German Nigeria Staff Union, Rafiu Afolabi Laguda, said, “Nigeria has lost a negotiator and labour leader who believed in mutual understanding, constructive dialogue and a promoter of negotiation without bitterness. Motajo fought for the eradication of casualization of labour in the aviation industry.”
Also, the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) described him as, “a soldier in the first line of the class struggles, always ready to work, with audacity into practical work, and always fought in the first line of the WFTU for the benefits of the workers and people of Nigeria from his position as acting General Secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Workers (NUATE).”
