Why Comrade Mbaraonyeobi Udokporo Deserves Posthumous National Honour

By UZOMA ISIAKPU*

Posthumously, Comrade Sir Bernard Mbaraonyeobi Udokporo (KJSI), who passed away fifteen years ago, will be 99 on Wednesday, December 25, 2024. Of noble birth, he was begat into the family of Warrant Chief Hyacinth Nkwocha Udokporo and his wife, Madam Helen Adaure of Umuonu Ihiagwa in Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State on Sunday, December 25, 1925.
In his 84 earthly journey, Chief B. M. Udokporo (Ochiagha Ihiagwa), a great man of stature, virtue, candor, valour, integrity, and intellectual sagacity was most altruistic in the service of his community, state, region, and nation. He served with passion, dedication, and commitment. The pioneer President-General of Ihiagwa, the selfless service of Comrade B. M. Udokporo, was more pronounced in the labour movement, which he bestrode nationally and at the global stage for upward of forty-four years.
Comrade B. M. Udokporo was Chairman, Aba Council of Labour, Secretary General, defunct Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation (ENDC), Acting General-Secretary, Agricultural and Allied Workers Union of Nigeria (AAWUN), Vice President, antiquated United Labour Congress (ULC), President, failed Biafra Trade Union Congress (BTUC), and ultimately, African Regional Representative at the International Federation of Plantation, Agriculture, and Allied Workers (IFPAAW) International Labour Organization (ILO), Geneva, Switzerland. For his diligence, honesty, transparency, and prudence, he functioned in that capacity for two terms of ten years.

A cerebral intellectual, Comrade B.M. Udokporo earned a Master’s degree in Labour Relations/Cooperative from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA. Having graduated from Ruskin College, Oxford, United Kingdom, he also earned a diploma from Kampala Labour College, Uganda, all in Labour Relations/Cooperatives. He was a lecturer in the Trade Union Adult Education Department of the University of Ibadan and attended the Trade Union Education Centre, Washington, DC, USA, as well as several International Labour Organization (ILO)-sponsored courses. He had a proficiency certificate in Airframe Station Post Mechanic from the Royal West African Air Corps (RWAAC) Oshodi-Lagos, GCE, and Standard Six Certificates.

Author of many books, including Rural Labour in Africa, Labour Movement in Africa, and Trade Unionism: The Global Perspective, among others, Chief B. M. Udokporo was a member of the Federal Public Account Committee, a member of the National Provident Fund, a member of the National Labour Advisory Council, a director of East Central State Cooperative Wholesale Association Limited, and a part-time secretary of Golden Guinean Breweries Limited Umuahia Abia State, just to mention a few.
An exceptional unionist of all times, Comrade B. M. Udokporo was distinguished in his career as one of Nigeria’s most outstanding labour leaders. Incomparable, he was a patriot and man of integrity.
For the record, in 1976, the Federal Military Government under General Olusegun Obasanjo instituted a Commission of Inquiry to probe the prevailing gale of corruption and other unwholesome activities that characterized the labour movement then in the country.

Searchlight of the inquest centered mainly on Michael Imoudu, Wahab Goodluck, and Bernard Udokporo. After a thorough interrogation by security agencies and the investigative panel headed by Justice Duro Adebiyi, nine labour leaders across the country were barred from participating in union activities for some years. It was only B. M. Udokporo that was given a clean bill of health.
Based on his impeccable character and exoneration, the then Minister of Labour and Employment, Major-General Henry Adefope appointed spotless and unblemished Comrade B. M. Udokporo, Nigerian Labour Ambassador. He was the country’s sole delegate to the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) organized World Employment Conference in 1976 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Four years later, the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 1980 appointed Comrade B. M. Udokporo the African Regional Representative of the International Federation of Plantation, Agriculture, and Allied Workers (IFPAAW), Geneva, Switzerland. The only Nigerian to have been so appointed, due to his effectiveness, efficiency, ingenuity, and prudence in managing the fund of the organization, B. M. Udokporo made Nigeria proud. His tenure was not only renewed, but when he voluntarily retired in 1990 at the expiration of his second term, the organization wanted him to continue. A principled man, B. M. Udokporo, resisted the pressure to stay and finally bowed out in 1991 when the management could not persuade him to remain.

It is also worth nothing that Comrade B. M. Udokporo was instrumental to the formation of both the Aba and Ihiagwa Civil Defense Corps, of which he was deputy leader and leader, respectively. The pacesetting initiative of this nationalist with futuristic instincts was thirty-six years later, precisely in 2003, adopted by the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration with the establishment of the present-day Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

Sadly, it appears that the profound contributions, exemplary character, and deep love for his fatherland demonstrated by Comrade B. M. Udokporo, were for reasons both seen and unseen, not fully recognized during his lifetime. In the light of this, we respectfully suggest that the honour he rightfully deserves be extended to him posthumously. A National Award in his name would not only recognize his legacy, but also offers a meaningful tribute that both honors the past and inspires future generations.

• ISIAKPU Is a Media/PR Consultant