The Deputy National President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Chief Comrade Chika Onuegbu has passed on.
Comrade Onuegbu until his passing also served as the National Industrial Relation Officer of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
Confirming his death, a close associate, Oraye St. Franklin posted on his Facebook page paying respect to Chief Onuegbu.
He wrote “A family source has confirmed that Chief Chika Onuegbu, the Deputy National President of Trade union Congress (TUC), Former Chairman, TUC Rivers State and National Industrial Relation Officer PENGASSAN, has passed on”‘.
“This is heart breaking to say the least. He is a man with whom I shared very close affinity for about 2 decades on and off battle grounds. To think that we spoke on phone just about 2 weeks ago, makes it even more shocking”, Franklyn said.
Franklyn went further to say in his post that “Chika was a good fighter for Nigerians. He was a people person, compromising only to uphold the common good and not to undermine it. He was a Labour leader with a difference. He would be greatly missed. I will miss a good friend, dearly”.
REPORT AFRIQUE as at the time of filing this report is yet to confirm the cause of his death.
What we know about Chief Comrade Chika Onuegbu
With over 22 years post-ICAN & CITN qualification experience, Chief Comrade Hyginus Chika Onuegbu (JP) is a Fellow of both in the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN.
He is also a Justice of the Peace (JP), a member of the International Labour and Employment Relations Association (ILERA), an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM) and a Licensed Human Resources Professional with over 12 years’ practical experience in Labour and Employment Relations.
Chief Chika Onuegbu bagged an LLM in International Commercial Law with Distinction from the University of Salford, Manchester, United Kingdom; an M.Sc. Economics degree from the University of Calabar, Nigeria; and an MA Leading Innovation and Change degree from York St. John University, York, United Kingdom.
Until his death, he served as the Deputy National President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria(TUC) and One of the 3 persons representing the TUC in the ongoing Review of Nigerian Labour laws by the National tripartite committee headed by the Hon. Minister of State for Labour.
He was also the Chairman PENGASSAN and NUPENG Joint National Committee on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
Formerly the State Chairman of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) Rivers State from 2009 to 2016, Onuegbu worked as an Employee/Industrial Relations Adviser for the Shell Companies in Nigeria.
Chief Comrade Chika Onuegbu was the National Industrial Relations Officer of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) from 2011 to 2014; and Zonal Industrial Relations Officer of PENGASSAN Port Harcourt Zone from 2008 to 2011.
During Onuegbu’ s tenure as the National Industrial Relations Officer and Zonal Industrial Relations Officer of PENGASSAN, not less than a hundred industrial disputes were resolved.
A more outstanding achievement is the avoidance of hundreds of potential disputes through proactive engagement framework with employers of Labour and Government agencies and capacity building for the Union Officials.
He also served as Chairman NUPENG & PENGASSAN Joint National Committees on Free Trade Zone and Labour Laws (2012 -2014); and Alternate Chairman, PENGASSAN Constitution Review Committee that produced the current PENGASSAN Constitution.
Chief Comrade Hyginus Chika Onuegbu is not just a labour leader but an accomplished intellectual, and a well sought-after Resource Person.
He has to his credit over 40 scholarly publications on the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, Labour and Industrial Relations.
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