The Contributions of Organized Labour to National Development- The Nigerian Experience AAU JMS Vol. 1, No. 1, December 2010. 83 The Contributions of Organized Labour to National Development- The Nigerian Experience Emmanuel Obukovwo Okaka 1 E-mail:emokaka@yahoo.com . 08067516868 Edio Eriaguna 2 E-mail: edioeriaguna@yahoo.com . 08138820951 Abstract Trade unions all over the world are regarded as confrontational, antagonist and opposes and anyone hardly sees something good emanating from these groups. Yet they have contributed to the overall development of national growth. In some cases they have contributed to the political independence of these countries from colonial authorities, and may have added their weight to economic development. Trade unions have not only organized the masses with a view to improving material situation and condition of labour in general, but have taken a more revolutionary step to unite, discipline and educate the masses with a view to the abolition of capitalism. Instances have shown that organise labour have even taken on issues that are not related to trade unionism, an example is one of the requests made by Nigerian Labour Congress to the Federal Government of Nigeria to increase its spending education and provide potable drinking water for its citizens, and Labour’s hard line on political issues such as June 12, 1993 Presidential elections reults. In the course of this research a total of two hundred and forty-six respondents were surveyed using the random selection method and the data was overwhelming as over seventy percent of the respondents totally agrees that labour has contributed in one way or the other to national development. Introduction One major area of interest in labour is the effectiveness of these organizations to remain financially stable and its ability to work within established political, economic and social systems despite the supportive or disruptive features of the social environment such as mass media, legislation and the ability of labour leaders to satisfy member’s goal and interest. This has been a major driving force that has enabled organized labour to succeed in its efforts to assist members. One way organized labour has done this, is to contribute in whatever way they can to national development. Examining the main goal of establishing trade unions, can 1 All communication should be sent to Emmanuel Obukovwo Okaka; Department of Political Science and Sociology ,Western Delta University, Oghara 2 Department of Management Sciences, Western Delta University, Oghara.