BY IDUH ONAH
ALTHOUGH this column ordinarily appears every Wednesday, I have found myself compelled by both reason and sentiment to either bring it forward or muster sufficient mental energy to publish twice for the week. I chose the latter because some occasions, especially birthdays, simply refuse to wait for editorial routines. Today is one of them. It marks the 66th birthday anniversary of Comrade John Ejoha Odah, a man I have known long enough to understand that celebrating him is about far more than acknowledging another year added to his age. It is about recognising a life that has remained remarkably consistent in conviction, uncommon in humanity and, above all, unbroken in spirit.
In an era, particularly in our country – Nigeria – hen public life often rewards expediency over principle, John represents a vanishing breed. He has spent virtually his entire life in the service of causes greater than himself – social justice, organised labour, democratic governance and the dignity of the ordinary worker.
His approach to conflict is equally instructive. Unlike many who treat adversaries as battles to be won instantly, John believes that such challenges should be approached like a marathon race rather than a hundred-metre sprint. That philosophy has remained with me because it explains so much about the way he responds to provocation. He is rarely in a hurry to respond to antagonism. He trusts patience more than impulse, endurance more than spectacle. He believes time has a remarkable capacity to reveal truth without unnecessary drama. While others exhaust themselves chasing instant victories, John quietly prepares for the ‘marathon’ race.
What has always fascinated me is not merely the positions he has occupied or the battles he has fought, but the man, the character, behind those battles; the quiet strength that has enabled him to remain standing even after absorbing blows that would have left many others permanently embittered.
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I have watched him endure betrayals that came, not from declared opponents, but from comrades he trusted, mentored and, in many cases, helped to build into leaders. They were people into whose lives he invested immeasurable goodwill, opportunities and personal sacrifices. Ironically, some of them eventually became the architects of his political and institutional displacement.
The betrayal was not simply personal but ideological and institutional. In pursuing narrow ambitions, they helped reduce what was once the admired, militant and populist Nigeria Labour Congress into a feeble shadow of the formidable institution that once commanded the reverence of governments, the confidence of workers and irrevocable admiration of the Nigerian masses.
Whenever I reflect on those events, I find myself dwelling less on those who betrayed him than on John’s response to their betrayal. He neither descended into bitterness nor allowed disappointment to poison his faith in people. There was no campaign of recrimination, no obsession with revenge, no desperate attempt to settle scores. Instead, he simply continued being John Odah. That, perhaps, is the greatest lesson I have learnt from him.
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John has a philosophy of friendship that many people find difficult to understand. He does not allow another person’s conduct to redefine his own character. He believes friendship is measured by one’s values, not by another person’s failings. He once told me that once you are friends with anybody, you must be ready to be friends with both that person’s strengths and weaknesses.
I have witnessed in him the remarkable evidence of this philosophy.
One of the principal actors in the coalition that orchestrated his removal from office later sought admission into the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) but encountered a hitch his acceptance. As a respected alumnus of NIPSS and labour, John’s intervention was sought. Most people would expect him to remember the injury and quietly decline to help. Instead, he intervened to facilitate the admission by travelling from Abuja to Kuru. I remember thinking at the time that only someone completely at peace with himself could rise above such profound personal injury. Some may call that weakness, but I have come to regard it as moral strength.
The same disposition defines almost every aspect of John’s life. He possesses an almost incurable generosity. Indeed, one of his greatest virtues is also one of his greatest vulnerabilities. He simply lacks the capacity to say no when someone approaches him for financial assistance. Even when he has little or nothing, he somehow convinces himself that there must still be something to share. I have seen him assist people who neither deserved it nor appreciated it. Some of them eventually turned against him. Yet his generosity never became conditional. He gives because giving has become part of his nature, not because he expects gratitude in return.
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Perhaps this explains why younger comrades, junior staff and ordinary workers at the Paschal Bafyau Labour House naturally gravitate towards him. These include not only NLC staff but staff of other organisations that operated in the building. John’s respect for the human person has never been determined by titles or status. Whether he is speaking with a director, a cleaner, an office assistant or a security guard, one encounters exactly the same courtesy, dignity and warmth. There is no hierarchy in his humanity. He invests in people instinctively, often without calculating what returns they might offer him in the future.
If I were asked to describe him in a few or single word(s), I would choose neither ‘Labour leader’ nor ‘Activist’ nor ‘Patriot’, important as those descriptions are. I would simply say he is UNBROKEN. Unbroken by betrayal. Unbroken by disappointment. Unbroken by institutional politics. Unbroken in his belief that justice still matters, that friendship should survive injury, that people deserve dignity irrespective of status, and that a life devoted to the common good is still worth living. For that, and much more, I celebrate him today.
His approach to conflict is equally instructive. Unlike many who treat adversaries as battles to be won instantly, John believes that such challenges should be approached like a marathon race rather than a hundred-metre sprint. That philosophy has remained with me because it explains so much about the way he responds to provocation. He is rarely in a hurry to respond to antagonism. He trusts patience more than impulse, endurance more than spectacle. He believes time has a remarkable capacity to reveal truth without unnecessary drama. While others exhaust themselves chasing instant victories, John quietly prepares for the ‘marathon’ race.
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In many ways, he imitates nature itself. Nothing in nature hurries, yet everything eventually fulfils its purpose. The seasons arrive in their appointed times. Trees mature without anxiety. Rivers find their destinations without competing with one another. John seems to have borrowed that philosophy from nature. He is never in unnecessary haste. Sometimes that patience has served him extraordinarily well, enabling him to make thoughtful decisions and preserve relationships that others would have destroyed in moments of anger. At other times, it has undoubtedly cost him opportunities that required quicker responses. But even then, he refuses to become someone else merely to satisfy the irritation of the moment.
His academic training in Sociology and Political Sociology perhaps explains another remarkable characteristic I have often described as his gift for “sociological economy.” John possesses an instinctive understanding of people, institutions and social relationships. He expends neither words nor influence carelessly. He understands where to intervene, when to remain silent and how to separate personalities from principles.
Despite his adversities, John has never sacrificed ideological clarity. His commitment to organised labour, democratic governance and social justice has remained as consistent today as it was during his student activist days at the University of Jos, through his years in the Nigeria Labour Congress, and currently as Executive Secretary of the Organisation of Trade Unions of West Africa.
Looking back, I am reminded of his 50th birthday celebration sixteen years ago. What should ordinarily have been a social gathering became a national conversation about leadership, governance and the future of Nigeria.
The late Professor Festus Iyayi delivered a lecture that challenged the nation’s conscience, while distinguished Nigerians from diverse political and ideological backgrounds gathered around a man whose life had already become synonymous with commitment. The commemorative book presented on that occasion bore the title: Homage to Commitment. Sixteen years later, I find that title even more appropriate. Time has only deepened its meaning.
As John turns 66 today, I am persuaded that the greatest tribute one can pay him is not merely to recount the offices he has held or the achievements that adorn his public record. Public offices come and go. Titles fade. Institutions evolve. What ultimately endures is character, and that is precisely where John Ejoha Odah towers above many of his contemporaries.
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If I were asked to describe him in a few or single word(s), I would choose neither ‘Labour leader’ nor ‘Activist’ nor ‘Patriot’, important as those descriptions are. I would simply say he is UNBROKEN. Unbroken by betrayal. Unbroken by disappointment. Unbroken by institutional politics. Unbroken in his belief that justice still matters, that friendship should survive injury, that people deserve dignity irrespective of status, and that a life devoted to the common good is still worth living. For that, and much more, I celebrate him today.
Happy 66th Birthday, Comrade John Ejoha Odah. May your years ahead continue to bear witness to the quiet triumph of principle over expediency, character over ambition, and hope over cynicism.
Onah is the Editor-in-Chief of NATIONAL RECORD. This column, which usually comes out every Wednesday, is published today as a special edition in tribute to Comrade Odah at 66.
